In 2025, Nigeria’s startup founders emerged not just as entrepreneurs, but as key economic actors, directing hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign and domestic capital into critical sectors of the economy.
Beyond products and sectors, investors concentrated hundreds of millions of dollars behind a small group of executives whose professional histories, governance discipline, and execution track records inspired confidence in a cautious global funding climate.
Nairametrics data shows that while 98 startups raised funding during the year, just 11 companies accounted for an estimated 83% of total capital inflows, underscoring how investor capital increasingly clustered around founders with institutional credibility and long-term execution track records.
Founders such as Oluwatosin Michael Eniolorunda of Moniepoint, Chief Diana Chen of Lagride, and Ridwan Akangbe Olalere of LemFi stood out not merely for the size of capital raised, but for the depth of experience they brought into payments, mobility, and energy sectors critical to Nigeria’s financial inclusion, infrastructure resilience, and productivity growth.
No publicly available information exists on the dates of birth for Chief Diana Chen, Adeola Adedewe, Deepankar Rustagi, Victor Alade, Seyi Ebenezer, Mouloukou Sanoh, and Christopher Longbottom.
Across fintech, energy, retail, and logistics, 2025 reinforced a defining shift in Nigeria’s startup economy, leadership credibility, governance maturity, and capital efficiency now matter as much as innovation itself.
Founders who attracted most startup funding into the economy in 2025
- 2025 funding: $10 million (Debt component)
- Startup founded: 2023
- Sector: Fintech (Stablecoin & Liquidity)
- Co-founder(s): Nkiru Uwaje
Mouloukou Sanoh is the founder and CEO of Mansa, a stablecoin-powered fintech providing liquidity for remittance and cross-border payment flows in emerging markets. A Forbes 30 Under 30 nominee, Sanoh operates at the intersection of blockchain infrastructure and traditional financial rails.
Educated at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sanoh brings deep Web3 and investment experience to Mansa. Before founding the company, he ran one of Africa’s largest Web3-focused venture capital funds and previously built Cassava Network, one of the continent’s notable crypto companies.
In 2025, Mansa raised a total of $10 million, split between debt and equity, to support transaction liquidity rather than customer acquisition. The funding reflects Sanoh’s infrastructure-first approach to fintech, positioning Mansa as a back-end enabler within the global payments ecosystem.
