In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Olayemi Keri, one of the foremost women in technology in Nigeria. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Heckerbella, a Technology Business Transformation company, and while her list of accolades and titles runs long, she is especially committed to Rising Tide Africa which she cofounded in 2018. Rising Tide Africa is a women’s movement of women angel investors harnessing their power, network, passion and capital to positively impact and actively create a New Africa. Yemi also sits on the board and is the Director of the Lagos Angel Network. She is a member of the Board of Trustees for Nigeria's Climate Innovation Centre and is a member of the Science and Technology Policy Commission of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group.
In this episode, Yemi gives us an amazing breakdown of Nigeria's investment ecosystem and what the climate is like for women entrepreneurs.
“We are closing the gender gap. As of today, we’ve invested $1.3 million dollars. We are collaborating with other female networks on the continent as we show that we can all co-invest and bridge this gap. And somewhere in the next two to three years, the percentage of female funding will have increased from where it is today just because we have created a table and are building on it.”
in the episode:
Yemi shares how her and her co-founder founded Rising Tide Africa to introduce investment as an asset class to Nigerian women.
She then describes the gaps she saw in the general angel investment space which led to a lack of funding for women entrepreneurs.
Yemi describes how she and her co-founder have grown Rising Tide Africa with an emphasis on intentional and structured mentorship.
She then describes the difference between the older generation and younger generation of women entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
Yemi ends the episode sharing her goals to shift the funding landscape so that women entrepreneurs in Africa can thrive.