Onyeka Akumah: The Man Powering Farms and Transportation with Simple Tech

Onyeka Akumah has always believed that real change comes from solving everyday problems. Born on October 21, 1984, in Lagos, he spent part of his childhood in Sokoto State, where he saw how hard life could be for small farmers.

That early mix of city life and rural challenge gave him the idea that if he could bring simple tools to people who needed them most, he could lift the whole community out of struggle.

He studied Applied Information Technology at Sikkim Manipal University in India, which gave him the skills to do just that.

From Corporate Roles to Farming Innovation

After returning to Nigeria, Onyeka worked at the British Council and later in marketing at GTBank, Jumia, and Konga. He learned that online tools could reach people where traditional methods failed and that Nigerians were ready for services that worked smoothly on the internet.

In late 2016, he and four co-founders launched Farmcrowdy, a platform that let city investors fund rural farms. Before Farmcrowdy, farmers struggled to get money for seeds or equipment and often sold at low prices.

Through the platform, investors backed specific farm projects, and farmers gained reliable income and better inputs. Within months, thousands of growers joined, and early capital from backers like Techstars helped the service expand rapidly.

Tackling City Transport with Treepz

Having seen how Farmcrowdy helped farmers, Onyeka turned to another major need: safe, reliable transport in the city. In 2019, he co-founded Treepz (then Plentywaka).

Frustrated by crowded buses, long waits at run-down stops, and hidden fees, he built a simple app to book seats on clean, air-conditioned shuttles. Treepz bought its own vans and partnered with transport unions to bring order and online ticketing to a chaotic system.

In its first year, the service carried hundreds of thousands of riders in Lagos and soon expanded to Ghana and Uganda.

Onyeka never lost sight of one guiding idea: tech should serve people, not the other way around. He often says a good product works so smoothly that users barely notice it. That shows in Farmcrowdy’s clear planting schedules and in Treepz’s timely reminders and smart pick-up suggestions.

Mentorship and Recognition

Onyeka’s work has earned wide recognition in Nigeria and beyond. Awards and mentions in Quartz Africa and Forbes name him among leading innovators.

Yet he stays hands-on, mentoring young founders at events and online, sharing his experiences from securing his first funding for Farmcrowdy to managing drivers and routes at Treepz.

Today, Onyeka sits on several startup boards and has helped launch new ideas like Crowdyvest, which lets people invest in socially driven projects, and RentSmallSmall, which brings online tools to Nigeria’s rental market.

He also supports WO Community, where African tech founders share advice and form partnerships. Looking ahead, he plans to add farm-to-table traceability for Farmcrowdy, grow Treepz into more cities, and explore fields like healthcare logistics and energy.