Endeavor Nigeria appoints start-up expert as new CEO

The global entrepreneurship network Endeavor has announced that its Nigeria-based board of directors appointed Ireayomide Oladunjoye as managing director and chief executive of the organisation in this country.

Oladunjoye takes over from Tosin Faniro-Dada, who has led Endeavor Nigeria’s operations for two years. Before joining, Oladunjoye was head of start-ups at Lagos Innovates. She was responsible for developing and implementing government-led programmes to support an enabling environment for technology start-ups and innovation-driven enterprises in Lagos State.

Expressing her excitement about joining Endeavor Nigeria, Oladunjoye said: “I have been a huge fan of Endeavor’s mission and team for many years. Hopefully, together with the Endeavor team, mentors and supporters, we can help uncover the next group of Nigerian unicorns, outliers, multipliers, and high-impact Endeavor Entrepreneurs.

“I’m looking forward to building on Endeavor’s great platform, selecting more high-growth companies, supporting existing entrepreneurs and the next generation of founders and innovators.”

Faniro-Dada said leading the Endeavor Nigeria team for the past two years has been a journey of personal and professional growth.

“It’s all thanks to Linda Rottenberg’s 25-year vision of transforming economies, one entrepreneur at a time. I’m delighted that I had the opportunity to be a part of this wonderful team that supports 33 high-impact entrepreneurs leading 16 high-growth companies.

“I’m happy to hand the wheel to Ireayomide Oladunjoye, who is impact-driven and committed to the future of high-impact entrepreneurship in Nigeria. I’m grateful to the board of Endeavor Nigeria, under the leadership of Atedo N.A. Peterside, for their support and look forward to Endeavor Nigeria’s continued success.”

Established in 1997, Endeavor is a mission-driven, global organisation leading the high-impact entrepreneurship movement. It was founded on the belief that job creation, innovation, and overall prosperity flourish where there is robust support for high-impact entrepreneurs.

To date, Endeavor has screened more than 60 000 individuals and selected more than 2 388 founders leading over 1,477 scale-up companies. With support from Endeavor’s worldwide mentor network, Endeavor Entrepreneurs have created over 3.4 million jobs, generated more than $28 billion in revenue each year, and inspired future generations to innovate and take risks, building strong entrepreneurship ecosystems in growth markets.

Headquartered in New York City, Endeavor currently operates in 41 growth markets throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America.

It launched its Nigeria office in 2018 to select and support the best founders of companies at the scale-up and growth stage who recognise a responsibility to pay-it-forward and multiply their impact in the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.

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