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Nine startups raised a combined $11.3 million in September 2026, as funding for Nigerian startups fell sharply from the $364.1 million recorded by 20 companies in August.
The September total represents a 96.9% month-on-month decline, or $352.8 million less than the previous month’s figure.
Despite the slowdown, investors continued to back businesses operating across fintech, mobility, semiconductor technology, cybersecurity, waste management, agriculture and food, and other services.
The funding transactions included debt facilities, seed investments, pre-seed rounds and venture investments, highlighting the different ways startups are financing expansion and operations.
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Behind these businesses are founders and chief executives responsible for setting strategic direction, managing operations and attracting capital to support growth.
Here are nine startup CEOs whose companies secured funding in September 2026.
1. Yinka Adewale — CEO, Nomba ($3 million)
Yinka Adewale is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Nomba, a Lagos-based fintech company focused on payment and financial services infrastructure.
The company raised a $3 million debt facility through CardinalStone Finance Company Limited in September to expand its cross-border payments infrastructure.
Adewale co-founded Nomba in 2017 alongside Pelumi Aboluwarin. He studied Mechanical Engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University.
In 2023, Nomba raised $30 million in a pre-Series B funding round led by Base10 Partners, with participation from Helios Digital Ventures, Shopify, Partech and Khosla Ventures.
The latest financing adds to the company’s funding history as it continues to develop payment solutions for businesses.
2. Oluwaseyi Adefemi — CEO, Drive45 Mobility ($3 million)
Oluwaseyi Adefemi is the founder and chief executive officer of Drive45 Mobility, a Lagos-based transportation company established in June 2021.
The company secured a $3 million senior debt facility in September to strengthen its balance sheet and support expansion into Port Harcourt, Abuja, Kano and Kaduna.
Drive45 provides mobility solutions to local and international businesses, using a vehicle subscription and rent-to-own model that gives companies and individuals access to vehicles without the full upfront cost of ownership.
Adefemi holds a bachelor’s degree in Geology and Earth Science from the University of Ado-Ekiti and a master’s degree in Business Management from Harvard University.
The latest financing is expected to support the company’s expansion into additional Nigerian markets.
3. Ola Fadiran — CEO, ChipMango ($2.1 million)
Ola Fadiran leads ChipMango, a semiconductor technology company headquartered in California, with secure engineering design centres in Lagos and operations or sites in South Africa, Rwanda and Malta.
In September, the company raised $1.9 million in a seed round involving Atlantica Ventures, DFS Lab, Madica, Kaleo Ventures, Trilinear Technologies and other investors. It also secured a separate $200,000 venture investment from Madica, bringing the combined amount to $2.1 million.
Founded in 2022 by Fadiran and Chief Operating Officer Jovan Andjelich, ChipMango operates in the deep-technology sector, where semiconductor design and engineering capabilities underpin a wide range of computing and electronic products.
Fadiran previously spent more than six years at Intel Corporation as an artificial intelligence hardware designer and architect. He also worked at Boeing for six years in roles including Lead ASIC Architect, Lead FPGA Design Engineer, and Director of Marketing and Business Development.
He holds an MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business.
4. Samuel Ogbonyomi — CEO, Aeon Cyber Defense ($1 million)
Samuel Ogbonyomi is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Aeon Cyber Defense, a Nigerian cybersecurity startup that raised $1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by defence technology company Terra Industries.
Ogbonyomi co-founded Aeon with Ben Eluan and Alex Idowu. The founders initially built the business in 2026 from within PipeOps, a cloud infrastructure management platform where Ogbonyomi also serves as co-founder and CEO.
He studied Computer Science at Landmark University and previously worked as a founding member and Visual Design Lead at Flux.
Terra Industries’ participation in Aeon’s funding round connects two companies operating in Nigeria’s broader technology ecosystem. Terra had also featured among the country’s significant startup fundraisers in August 2026.
The investment provides Aeon with capital to develop its cybersecurity business as demand for digital security solutions grows.
5. Ayodele Banjo and Lawson Nzekwe — Co-CEOs, Ororo Waste Management ($1 million)
Ayodele Banjo and Lawson Nzekwe are the co-founders and co-chief executives of Ororo Waste Management, a Nigerian-founded company focused on collecting, tracking and exporting used cooking oil for conversion into biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel.
In September, the company secured an investment commitment of up to $1 million from Rising Tide Africa, a women-led pan-African angel investment network.
Ororo operates at the intersection of waste management and clean energy, sourcing used cooking oil that can serve as a feedstock for alternative fuels.
Banjo holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from University College London, which he completed in 2009. Nzekwe, who co-founded the company in 2021, is also a graduate of University College London.
The funding commitment accounted for approximately 8.8% of the total startup funding recorded in September, based on the reported $11.3 million aggregate.
6. Daniel Enesi — CEO, Noma Services Consolidated Limited ($700,000)
Daniel Enesi is the chief executive officer of Noma Services Consolidated Limited, an Abuja-based agribusiness and commodity trading company.
Founded in 2023, Noma Services aggregates and processes crops including rice, maize, sorghum and beans.
The company secured a $700,000 debt financing facility in September from Sahel Capital through its Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA).
The financing provides capital to support a business model centred on agricultural supply chains, commodity aggregation and processing.
Enesi holds a Bachelor of Technology degree from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, and an MSc in Risk and Investment Management from Queen’s University Belfast.
He has more than 10 years of experience in risk and investment-related roles across several sectors and previously worked as a project manager at Shuwari Industries Limited.
7. Adeshina Adewumi — CEO, Trade Lenda ($200,000)
Adeshina Adewumi is the chief executive officer of Trade Lenda, a Nigerian digital financial services platform founded in May 2021 to provide financing solutions for small businesses.
The fintech startup received $200,000 from Village Capital in September as part of a combined $450,000 deployment involving Trade Lenda and AirSmat.
Trade Lenda offers digital business loans, embedded finance and Sharia-compliant financing. The company says it has supported more than 260,000 small and medium-sized enterprises and farmers across five of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, with women accounting for 66% of its customers.
Adewumi holds an Accounting degree from Bowen University, a postgraduate diploma from Lagos Business School and an MBA from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.
The investment adds to the capital available to the company as it seeks to expand access to financing for small businesses.
8. Soji Sanyaolu — CEO, AirSmat ($200,000)
Soji Sanyaolu is the founder and chief executive officer of AirSmat, a Lagos-based climate technology company established in 2019.
The startup received $200,000 from Village Capital in September as part of the organisation’s combined $450,000 deployment to AirSmat and Trade Lenda.
AirSmat focuses on converting agricultural waste into biochar-based fertiliser, while using artificial intelligence, drone technology and farm data to improve agricultural productivity.
The company plans to use the capital to commission a commercial factory for its fertiliser products and expand production. It also works to scale carbon removal across Africa through initiatives such as TradeCarbon.
Sanyaolu studied Electronic and Computer Engineering at Lagos State University.
AirSmat’s business model links agricultural waste management with climate technology, creating a potential revenue stream from materials that might otherwise be discarded.
9. Israel Dára Sobaloju — CEO, Pewbeam ($100,000)
Israel Dára Sobaloju is the founder and chief executive officer of Pewbeam, a Nigerian church technology startup that raised $100,000 in a venture round backed by Resilience17.
Pewbeam launched publicly on March 20, 2026, and provides an artificial intelligence-powered platform designed to support live worship services.
Its desktop application listens to sermons, interprets their context and automatically displays relevant Bible verses, presentation slides and lyrics on screens in real time.
The product is aimed at helping churches coordinate multimedia presentations during services.
Sobaloju is an AI-native design engineer and product designer with a background in product development. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Soil Sciences from Obafemi Awolowo University and currently works as a product designer at Moniepoint Group.
The investment provides capital for the young startup to develop its technology and pursue growth in the church technology market.
