Top 10 Most-Funded Startup Founders in 2025 and Why Investors Backed Them

In 2025, funding was allocated to startup founders who built for hard problems. Investors wrote larger cheques only for entrepreneurs running businesses with clear revenue logic, robust corporate governance, and models that can withstand Nigeria’s harsh realities, such as power, cross-border payments, retail distribution, and the complex logistics of moving people and goods. 

The standout pattern was concentration. Data show that 98 startups raised capital in 2025, but only 11 companies accounted for an estimated 83% of the total inflow. In plain terms, most startups raised capital, but the largest sums went to a tight circle of executives whom investors believed could execute in a challenging global funding climate.

This shift suggests that, for Nigeria’s startup economy, credibility and innovation are inseparable twins at the top of the investor checklist. 

Below is the top 10, ranked by the amounts raised in 2025, and what each founder’s path says about where investor confidence is settling.

10.  Mouloukou Sanoh – MANSA ($10m)

Sanoh is the founder and CEO of Mansa, a stablecoin-powered fintech focused on liquidity for remittance and cross-border payment flows in emerging markets. His positioning is not “consumer fintech” in the usual sense. He is supporting transaction flow rather than chasing mass downloads.

Sanoh studied at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and has extensive experience in Web3 and investment. He previously led one of Africa’s largest Web3-focused venture funds and built Cassava Network, which is described as one of the continent’s notable crypto companies. He is also listed as a Forbes 30 Under 30 nominee.

In 2025, Mansa raised $10 million in a combination of debt and equity, with the funds intended to support transaction liquidity rather than customer acquisition. 

9. Victor Alade – Raenest ($11m) 

Alade, co-founder and CEO of Raenest, raised $11 million in a Series A round in February 2025. Raenest focuses on helping African startups and freelancers handle multi-currency accounts, compliance, taxes, and team expenses.

He graduated from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, and is among a wave of locally trained founders now attracting global capital. Before Raenest, he worked as a senior software engineer at Jumia and Andela.

The round was led by QED Investors, with participation from Norrsken22, Ventures Platform, P1 Ventures, and Seedstars. For a young company, that investor mix signals early institutional confidence.

8. Ayoola Dominic – Koolboks ($11m) 

Dominic founded and leads Koolboks, which develops renewable-energy refrigeration for off-grid and underserved markets. In Nigeria, where food and medicine storage is a major problem, this is the kind of “boring but critical” infrastructure investors increasingly like.

Dominic studied pharmacy at Obafemi Awolowo University and earned a master’s degree from EDHEC Business School. His career path is unusually global and operational. He worked at L’Oréal and Robert Walters and later served as Director of Operations for the Middle East and Africa division at Servier in France.

In August 2025, Koolboks raised $11 million in a Series A round led by KawiSafi Ventures and co-led by Aruwa Capital, with participation from All On and others. Koolboks uses a pay-as-you-go model, matching affordability with infrastructure delivery.

7. Femi Adeyemo – Arnergy ($15m)

Adeyemo founded Arnergy in 2013 and has spent more than a decade building distributed energy solutions for homes and businesses across Nigeria. In 2025, Arnergy raised an additional $15 million in April as an extension of its Series B, bringing total Series B funding to $18 million.

His education runs across engineering and finance. He attended the University of Ibadan, got a master’s degree in metallurgy and materials science from the University of Lagos, attended KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and later earned a master’s in finance from London Business School.

He has also worked across finance and operations, including roles at PwC, First Securities Discount House, and Huawei. 

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6. Christopher Longbottom – MOPO ($15m)

Longbottom co-founded and leads Mopo, which provides battery rentals through solar-powered hubs in underserved communities. The model is designed for areas where grid reliability and upfront device costs remain real barriers.

He is a graduate of the University of Stirling. Longbottom has spent more than a decade building long-cycle energy infrastructure across Africa. 

In 2025, Mopo secured about $15 million in combined debt and grant funding to expand its hubs and battery assets.

5. Deepankar Rustagi (Omnibiz) – $20m

Rustagi founded Omnibiz, a B2B commerce business digitising informal retail supply chains, one of the hardest parts of Nigeria’s economy to organise, but also one of the biggest.

He studied at Visvesvaraya Technological University and built a career around manufacturing and supply chains. Prior to Omnibiz, he worked at Dfil Group and Lucky Fibre and also founded earlier ventures, including VConnect and Mplify Limited.

In April 2025, Omnibiz raised $20 million in a Series A round backed by Norfund, Timon Capital, Aruwa Capital, Ventures Platform, and Flour Mills of Nigeria. With nearly 600 employees, Omnibiz is also one of the country’s largest B2B startup employers, another credibility signal investors tend to respect.

4. Adeola Adedewe (Kredete) – $22m

Adedewe is the founder and CEO of Kredete, which focuses on embedded credit, payments, and financial management tools for individuals and businesses.

He holds a BSc in Accounting and Finance and an MBA from The City University of New York. He is also a Techstars alumnus and has worked in finance and compliance-heavy environments. He was an accounting manager at WeWork, a senior underwriter at JPMorgan Chase & Co., and then a tax and audit accountant at KPMG.

In September 2025, Kredete raised $22 million in a Series A round led by AfricInvest, with participation from Partech Africa and Polymorphic Capital. 

3. Ridwan Olalere (LemFi) – $53m

Olalere co-founded LemFi, also known as Lemonade Finance, to address a specific pain point: affordable and reliable cross-border banking for Africans in the diaspora.

He studied physics and electronics at Bells University of Technology and later attended Shenyang Institute of Aeronautical Engineering. His career includes being Country Manager at Uber and holding senior engineering and operations roles at Flutterwave and OPay.

In January 2025, LemFi raised $53 million in a Series B led by Highland Europe and Left Lane Capital, with participation from Y Combinator and Endeavor. 

2. Tosin Eniolorunda (Moniepoint) $100m

Eniolorunda is the founder of Moniepoint (TeamApt) and one of the most established fintech operators in the country. He studied engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University and later attended Lagos Business School.

Before founding Moniepoint, he spent five years at Interswitch, advancing from senior software engineer to unit head of application development and product manager.

In 2025, Moniepoint raised a combined $100 million across two venture rounds backed by Visa, Development Partners International, LeapFrog Investments, Google for Startups Black Founders Fund, and Verod Capital. With over 4,500 employees, the company falls within the “institutional scale” category, precisely where institutional investors tend to feel safer.

1. Chief Diana Chen (LagRide) $100m

At the top is Chen, founder and chairman of Lagride, a Lagos-backed mobility platform described as public infrastructure delivered through private-sector execution. The structure is unusual: Lagos State Government is listed as a co-founder, placing the startup at the intersection of policy, transport planning, and private management.

Chen is also chairman of CIG Motors Group Nigeria and vice chairman of the China–Africa Business Council (Nigeria). She is a graduate of Peking University HSBC Business School, founded Choice International Group over 23 years ago, and has spent more than 11 years operating in Nigeria, playing a central role in China–Nigeria commercial relations.

In December 2025, Lagride secured a $100 million strategic investment from United Bank for Africa. The scale of that cheque, and the “strategic” label, suggests a partnership approach.