By Alexander Chiejina
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Targets next Nigerian unicorns, outliers, multipliers, high-impact entrepreneurs!
Global entrepreneurship network, Endeavor, said its board of directors has appointed Ireayomide Oladunjoye as managing director and chief executive of the company in Nigeria with effect from 6 February 2023. She takes over from Tosin Faniro-Dada, who has led the organisation’s operations for two years.
“Leading the Endeavor Nigeria team for the past two years has been one the most incredible journeys of personal and professional growth, and 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,” said Tosin Faniro-Dada, outgoing managing director and CEO.
Before joining Endeavor, Ireayomide was head, startups at Lagos Innovates. She was responsible for developing and implementing government-led programmes to support an enabling environment for tech startups and innovation driven enterprises to thrive in Lagos State.
“I’m excited to join the Endeavor Nigeria network as managing director and CEO. 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 Endeavor entrepreneurs and the next generation of founders and innovators,” said the new managing director and CEO.
“We are delighted to welcome Ireayomide as managing director. We believe her perspective and expertise will add immense value to Endeavor and the high-impact entrepreneurs we support as we continue to scale as an organisation,” said Atedo Peterside, chairman, Endeavor Nigeria.
Established in 1997, Endeavor is a mission-driven, global organisation leading the high-impact entrepreneurship movement. Endeavor 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.
Endeavor 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 Nigeria’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. In Nigeria, we aim to select four to six companies a year, and today there are 33 Endeavor entrepreneurs leading 16 companies in the portfolio.
