Rachael Corson & Joycelyn Mate
Co-founders of Afrocenchix
About: Rachael is Co-Founding Managing Director at Afrocenchix: an award winning scale up creating safe, effective, vegan products for Afro & curly hair. She’s spoken at hundreds community organisations, schools and universities, as well as global organisations including: Google Campus; Facebook; UCL; Brunel; the University of Birmingham; No Bull Business School; and Jamelia's Table; and appeared on London Live & the BBC. As a public speaker, Rachael is best known for her winning pitch to celebrity judges including P. Diddy, Gary Vee, Vanessa Kingori (publishing director at British Vogue) and Ashton Kutcher at the WeWork Creator awards two days before giving birth. She's a mother of two aspiring to fit 8 hours of sleep into her schedule!
Rachael studied at the Institute of Trichologists. She holds an LLB hons from the University of Birmingham and an MSc from UCL in Medical Anthropology, with a dissertation completed at the University of Cambridge Medical School. Her interests include business, health, education, technology and ethics. With a background in trichology, Rachael writes myth busting blogs about afro hair and runs workshops and webinars to educate the Afrocenchix community. When she's not raising her babies or leading creative and diverse team towards realising the global vision at Afrocenchix, Rachael plays the guitar, runs and writes sci fi.
Superpowers: Teleportation!
Tips for other founders: Always start and finish your projects with research! The data you generate will guide your actions and ensure you don’t waste energy on things that don’t fix pain points for your customers. Data doesn’t lie, but make sure you have context to make sense of it.
Christian Facey & Wilfrid Obeng
Co-founders of AudioMob
About: Christian is a former Facebook Science Partner and Google Agency Strategist. His time with Google saw him manage a portfolio worth up to $100 million in value. His passion for both games and audio led him to co-found AudioMob, and in 2020 he joined the audio advisory committee to further explore the potential of combining the two. Away from work Christian is a hip-hop and jazz producer, breakdancer and mobile game developer.
Wilfrid served in roles at Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Bloomberg, Wilfrid also stood as Google Programmatic Account Strategist, seeing him provide Amazon, Intercontinental and Hilton with technical consulting on programmatic advertising campaigns. A talented coder and software engineer, Wilfrid has been honoured with a number of awards, including a Rare Rising Stars accolade. In his spare time he enjoys public speaking, travelling and hip-hop
Superpowers: Wilfrid: Meticulous and Emotional Intelligence. Christian: Hustling!
Tips for other founders: Wilfrid: Build what is necessary and iterate based on data Christian: Rapidly build your network through conduits ( other people with substantial networks)
Christina Caljé
Founder of Autheos
About: Goldman Sachs Executive Director turned technology entrepreneur, Christina Caljé is a seasoned executive with 15+ years of diverse professional experience in start-up and multinational corporations across New York, London and Amsterdam.
Named in 2019 by Inspiring Fifty as one of the Netherlands' most inspiring women in tech and by VIVA 400 as an ‘inspiring, ambitious woman who excels in the tech field’, Christina is invited to speak at international conferences on topics such as marketing innovation, social responsibility within AI, media personalization and video intelligence.
The innovation of her technology company, Autheos, has been covered in such national publications as Emerce, Financieel Telegraaf, RTL-Z, international magazines FEED TV and Netokracija, and by tech giants Google and T-Mobile. Autheos has garnered distinction as a top ‘Startup Disrupting Media’ by EU-Startups and ‘Deep Tech Disrupting Industry’ by EIG Digital.
Alongside Autheos, Christina has served as a Non-Executive Board Member for multiple artificial intelligence startups, guiding leadership to grow their propositions to increase shareholder value.
Tips for other founders: Starting a venture, whether or not it's your first time, is quite scary and it's easy to find excuses why 'now is not the right time (global pandemic, first instance?). Recognize that it’s never going to be the right moment to start something new so, If you feel really passionately about something, just try it!
Give yourself a certain amount of time during which you can comfortably live without making any income, and set goals. Say to yourself ‘I’m going to take 6 months or a year, in order to achieve X, Y or Z’, By being goal oriented and making it tangible, it won’t feel like you’re jumping out into the abyss with no direction.
Tomide Adesanmi
Co-founder of Circuit Mind
About: Tomide is Circuit Mind's CEO. He is an electronic systems engineer who built high integrity augmented reality displays for jet fighter pilots at BAE Systems, before starting Circuit Mind.
Superpower: Complex systems; Strategy; Not getting discouraged from hearing No's.
Tips for other founders: Love what you do. "It’s hard to do a really good job on anything you don’t think about in the shower" - Paul Graham.
Osas Omoigiade & Aizar Enciso Dominguez
Co-founders of Deep.Meta
About: Osas is a steel enthusiast with a Master’s in Materials Science from Cambridge University and PhD in Metallurgy from Imperial College London. In his PhD he worked closely with a global manufacturer developing a novel production process for steel rods. Osas realised that the steel industry had been slow to adapt to new technologies because of the exceptionally high capital typically required for buying new physical assets to gain operational improvements. It was these experiences that planted the seeds for what would become Deep.Meta, a new way to advance the industry without changing existing assets. In addition, Osas is an Associate Lecturer in Engineering and youth worker mentoring 10 young black men.
Aizar has a Master’s in Mathematical Physics and taught as a Lecturer of Statistics at Instituto Politécnico Nacional in Mexico for almost two years. He was also a visiting researcher at the Los Alamos National Laboratory where he focused on data analysis of information extracted from sensors in superconducting experiments. After this, he went on to complete a PhD in Quantum Computing at Imperial College London and used Machine Learning in various applications. Post-PhD, he leveraged on this ability to lead a team in a tech start-up to develop machine learning models and now combines these experiences in Deep.meta. When Aizar is not coding, you can find him on the dance floor competing as a ballroom dancer in 10 different styles at the national level.
Superpower: Osas: Simplification of complex ideas + Navigating insular industries in the manufacturing space. Aizar: Machine learning, Data Science and Physics, Public Speaking and cultural awareness having lived in Mexico, US and UK
Tips for other founders: Never be afraid to ask a customer for what you really want. The response could be no, but the alternative is far more compelling. Ask questions! No matter how simple you think they are or conscious of being perceived as naïve. Why? You will learn something new and sometimes the answers can be more complicated than you think.
Shirley Billot
Founder of Kadalys
About: Caribbean entrepreneur Shirley Billot founded her company to become a specialist in upcycling and eco-extraction. She develops bio-active ingredients 100 percent natural made with agricultural by-products generated by the French banana sector and according to an eco-responsible approach. As active militants, Billot’s parents made her become aware of environmental and societal issues. She created Kadalys, the first organic and eco-conscious brand and global leader expert in banana science. Kadalys embodies the vision of a caring company that is socially responsible and in which there are three pillars: circular economy, green chemistry, and inclusive capitalism with 100 percent of the planter’s shareholders. Billot graduated with a master's degree in economics from Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne University and executive education in management from HEC Paris.
Superpower: - European Regional Development Fund, R&D in Biochimie, Network.
Tips for other founders: when life gets harder, always remember why you started (Creole "tchimbé raid pa moli" = Hold on tight, never give up)
Jermaine Craig
Founder of Kwanda
About: Jermaine Craig - Born in London and of Nigerian descent - has spent his career designing, and building technology products - positioning them well for scale by developing systems, processes and cultures of thinking that make building complex products easy.
Superpower: Designing out the complexity
Tips for other founders: The user experience is your opportunity to make your users feels smart, supported, successful, trusting, curious and more, whilst using your service or product. Make sure you're understanding what your users want (or don't know they want) and giving it to them
Elizabeth Nyeko
Founder of Modularity Grid
About: Previously co-founded Mandulis Energy, a renewable energy infrastructure developer that is backed by African Development Bank, KfW, UNCDF and others. Elizabeth is on the MIT Tech Review 35 Under 35 Innovator list. She started her career with investment banking at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, and has also worked in academic research at Imperial College London. She is an Oxford University alum.
Superpower: Non-equity funding; deep tech enterprise sales; Strategy
Tips for other founders: Listen to your users and interact with them as often as possible
Charles Sekwalor & Oyin Solebo
Co-founders of MoveMeback
About: Charles Sekwalor is a serial entrepreneur with a strong passion for driving social and economic change in the world through the application of business principles and bringing individuals and communities together to build solutions to complex problems. As co-founder of Movemeback, he is on a mission to build a world where anyone can access opportunity anywhere. Specifically, through Movemeback and associated initiatives Charles is committed to driving the creation of 500 million new jobs in Africa by 2036. Charles commenced his entrepreneurial journey at an early age, with ventures in his teens before joining Imperial College and graduating with an Electronic Engineering and Management Masters. He subsequently launched a corporate career spanning 8 years across Accenture, Tesco and finally McKinsey & Company, where he worked with global leaders, on their top most challenges and opportunities. Since leaving the corporate world Charles has focused his energy and time on Charles is a British born Ghanaian (better known as Chale) with a passion for all things at the leading-edge of human and technological (im)possibility and enjoys collaborating with others to solve big problems through innovation and rewriting rule books. He is an avid follower of Formula 1, enjoys travelling and amongst many things maintains a long-term side ambition to launch his F1 team and secure West Africa's first Formula 1 race.
Oyin Solebo is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for driving positive global change. As co-founder of Movemeback, she is on a mission to build a world where anyone can access opportunity anywhere. Specifically, through Movemeback and associated initiatives Oyin is committed to driving the creation of 500 million new jobs in Africa by 2036. Oyin graduated with distinction from London Business School with an Executive MBA and London School of Economics with a BSc in Economics. She was formerly an Investment Associate in Goldman Sachs’ Private Wealth Management division. She then joined Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in Lagos, helping them launch into Sub-Saharan Africa, before returning to London to become an Investment and Relationship Manager for various family offices. From a young age Oyin has been passionate about the performing arts. Despite her Nigerian heritage, Oyin can still easily be distracted by cake and a cup of tea!
Superpower: Charles: Creative problem-solving for big, complex problems and bootstrapping businesses to profitability. Oyin: Taking abstract vision and creative ideas, turning them into something tangible, marketable, and getting to operational excellence.
Tips for other founders: Charles: Don’t cut corners when it comes to building your team. Oyin: Prioritise ruthlessly - don’t get distracted by the things that don’t matter.
Joel Akwenuke, Moses Osibanjo & Cyril Yerifor
Co-founders of NewFade
About: Joel is co-founder and CEO at NewFade. He is a medical doctor with a deep desire for problem solving. This has seen him work at venture-backed health technology companies, start-up accelerators and closely with the national clinical lead for NHS innovation.
Moses is co-founder and head of product at NewFade. Currently an NHS doctor at Imperial College Hospitals. Outside of his clinical work, he has worked with Health Foundry, a health tech ecosystem and at HS. Accelerator where he helped build and scale health start ups.
Cyril is co-founder and head of operations at NewFade. A pharmacist with experience within the NHS and primary care, I have a penchant to seek simple solutions to problems. I am thirsty for knowledge and believe that turning information into action is paramount to success.
Superpower: Joel: Super problem: Identifying problems and providing simple solutions. Moses: a keen eye for product and experience. Cyril :A keen eye for structure, and an ability implement it efficiently
Tips for other founders: Experiment, fail fast and learn quickly
Richard Robinson
Co-founder of Robin AI
About: Richard (richard@robinai.co.uk) is a former lawyer, turned entrepreneur. He worked at one of the top law firms in the world, ran his own sneaker hedge fund, coached the England debate team, and is now trying to build Robin AI.
Superpower: Richard: A vivid (and active) imagination.
Tips for other founders: Talk to other founders – they are the only people will fully understand your journey.
Ivan Beckley
Co-founder of Suvera
About: Ivan Beckley - Co-founder and CEO - ivan@suvera.co.uk - UCL final year student doctor with an MSc in Health Data science. Currently an NHS England Clinical entrepeneur. Previously an intern at DeepMind Health working on translating AI research in healthcare. Superpower = Setting ambitions visions Dr
Will Gao - Co-founder and Medical lead - will@suvera.co.uk - UCL qualified medical doctor with first class BSc in Physiology. Currently an NHS England Clinical entrepreneur and previously an intern at the large media agency Havas with the pharmaceutical team. Superpower = Ability to facilitate collaboration with anyone.
Diana Lee - Co-founder and CTO - diana@suvera.co.uk - Previously 1st hire and former principal engineer at Applied recruitment. A recruitment startup spinout from the UK government behavioural insights team. Also a UCL computer science and mathematics graduate. Superpower = Setting standards for technology
Ryzard Akita - Co-founder and Head of design - ryzard@suvera.co.uk - Previously former Lead Product Designer at Airbyte - a design and software agency in England. Also a Reading university graphic communications graduate. Superpower = Keeping designs simple, useful and accessible.
Superpower: Make sure you get your market you are going after right. Make sure it’s a market that is going to become more important, to more people overtime.
Tips for other founders: Talk to other founders – they are the only people will fully understand your journey.
