Impact Airelobhegbe

Yo, you gotta hear about Impact Airelobhegbe. This guy’s a straight-up game changer. So, he’s a co-founder and COO of Lenco, this sick pan-African digital bank that’s all about making multi-currency banking and expense stuff for Africa’s biz owners way easier. They kicked off in 2021 and got into Y Combinator’s W22 batch, which, no cap, is a huge deal. YC doesn’t just take anyone, so that already tells you Impact’s got serious chops.

But here’s the thing, Impact’s been grinding for over a decade. Started out at Guaranty Trust Bank in 2009, doing commercial banking, you know, the real deal in finance. Then, he jumped into tech, working as a Network Ops Engineer at ipNX Nigeria. That’s the kind of behind-the-scenes tech stuff that keeps the lights on. Later, he was a Site Engineer at GOLTECH ENERGY, so he’s got that engineering hustle in his blood.

He’s also done a lot in the startup scene, leading at Oga Web Inc., where he was COO and handled venue partnerships at ogaVenue. That’s from 2016 to 2021, so he’s been running ops, building teams, and scaling stuff. Plus, he was Head of Ops at OGA Hotels, so he’s been deep in the trenches, turning ideas into real businesses. His background is super solid, electrical and electronics engineering from Ambrose Alli University, then a Master’s in Electronics and Telecom from the University of Benin. Dude knows tech from the ground up.

What’s crazy is, all that experience, banking, tech, startups, clearly shaped him. He’s driven by more than just making money; he’s got this bigger vision: transforming banking for Africa’s 50 million businesses. That’s a huge problem, and he’s jumped into it headfirst. You can tell he’s genuinely motivated by building stuff that actually impacts people, not just chasing shiny VC checks.

Living in Lagos, Nigeria, he’s part of this new wave of Black founders who are crushing it on the global stage, YC being a prime example. That’s no small feat. It shows he’s got that entrepreneurial fire, the grit, and the vision that’s gonna change how Africa does banking.

So, to sum it up, Impact’s this guy who started from local banks, got tech skills, led startups, and now he’s building a pan-African bank that could totally shake up the continent’s financial game. His process’s about real hustle, never settling, and always pushing to solve big problems. No bullshit, he’s the real deal.