Emmanuel Adegboye is the Head of Madica, a structured investment program for pre-seed stage companies in Africa. Launched in 2022, Madica empowers underrepresented and underfunded mission-driven founders on the continent.
Before joining Madica, Emmanuel oversaw Africa strategy for Utopia, a platform for Urbantech entrepreneurs in emerging cities. As Managing Partner of Utopia Lagos, he designed and launched the Lagos Urban Innovation Challenge and Utopia’s virtual accelerator program.
Emmanuel has a comprehensive understanding of the entrepreneurial and political landscape of Africa. He has extensive experience building and leading large-scale technology projects and initiatives in emerging markets. His prior roles include designing and managing Andela’s entrepreneurship center and managing special projects and programs at Venture Garden Group. He was also a 2021 Mo Ibrahim Foundation Academy Fellow with the Africa Program at Chatham House and he continues to engage policymakers on creating an enabling environment for entrepreneurs through his contributions to Chatham House’s policy research, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group’s Digital Economy Policy Commission and the Nigeria Startup Act.
Emmanuel holds a Bachelor's degree in Engineering Physics, an Executive MBA, and further postgraduate degrees in Space Applications and Environmental Management. He is also a certified Project Management Professional.
Emmanuel believes entrepreneurs will build Africa’s future and he’s dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs solving Africa’s biggest challenges.
Efayomi has seen firsthand how startups catalyze innovation and unleash opportunity for communities. He brings experience in entrepreneurship, social impact and finance to his role at Flourish, with a focus on Africa.
Before Flourish, Efayomi was Head of Strategic Finance for Lori, a tech startup building cost-saving market infrastructure for the trucking industry in Africa. Three months after joining Lori, Efayomi was appointed Interim CFO, managing a team of 15 finance professionals across several geographies and overseeing the core financial functions. He also guided the company financially through the COVID-19 economic crisis, raising emergency capital, renegotiating significant debt, and finalizing key partnership agreements.
Prior to working with Lori, Efayomi covered Africa with venture investor Quona Capital and was an associate at Boston Consulting Group. He also worked at Jumia, where he was Head of Marketplace, growing that business from launch to roughly one-quarter of the platform’s revenue. Later, Efayomi spent six months seconded to the government of Sierra Leone, as the most senior government official leading data management in the effort to combat the 2015 Ebola outbreak.
Efayomi started his career cofounding Transparent Nigeria, a digital journalism and data sharing platform. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is based in Nairobi, where he’s training for his next marathon.
Arjuna Costa is a Managing Partner at Flourish Ventures. He co-manages Flourish, with a primary focus on venture investing across emerging markets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Before Flourish, Arjuna was a partner at Omidyar Network, where he built a global portfolio of early-stage, inclusive fintech companies. Before that, he invested equity and debt in consumer finance companies in emerging markets at The Rohatyn Group, a multi-billion dollar emerging markets investment firm.
In 2003, Arjuna cofounded a $120-million private equity fund focused on the turnaround of distressed commercial banks in Africa. The fund grew out of advising governments on the restructuring and privatization of its banking sector. He designed and implemented some of the earliest trade and investment programs for the US Government after the passage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act.
Arjuna began his career at Lehman Brothers, where he spent five years financing power plants and airports globally.
Arjuna earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in computer science from Columbia University.
Ameya invests in disruptive organizations creating economic opportunity for people in emerging markets with a focus on Africa. As a venture partner, he is based in Flourish’s London office.
Previously, Ameya worked out of Omidyar Network’s Mumbai office, where he co-led several of the firms’ early Financial Inclusion investments in India. Prior to joining Omidyar Network in 2012, Ameya was a consultant at Bain&Company, where he worked with telecommunications and IT providers in India, improving their operational efficiency and developing acquisition strategies. As part of Bain’s private equity practice, he advised clients on potential investments in the tech, media, and telecom sectors.
Ameya received a B.S. in engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.
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Brenda Wangari is the Head of Portfolio Success at Madica where she works closely with local and often overlooked founders to grow their businesses.
Prior to Madica, Brenda oversaw entrepreneur support programs in Africa at Village Capital. She worked with innovation hubs from across the continent helping them chart a path towards sustainability while scaling up the services and programs they offer to entrepreneurs.
She was lead author on two reports titled : ‘Unlocking Pipeline: A playbook on entrepreneur support in Africa' and ‘What can the World Learn from Ugandan ESOs?’ Both reports provided best practices for Entrepreneur Support Organizations, grant makers and startup investors and high-level snapshots of today's African innovation landscape.
Brenda’s prior experience includes leading business operations for the clean energy startup, business development for a gift card marketplace and tech news reporting. Brenda is an alumnus of the University of Nairobi and THNK School of Creative Leadership.
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Rose Odengo is the Head of Communication and Community at Madica, where she will build and propel the Madica story and the story of the founders we support.
Rose is a passionate storyteller and seasoned communication strategist with nearly two decades of experience building communication systems for African for-profit and non-profit organisations.
Prior to joining Madica, Rose developed organisational, communication, brand, and marketing strategies for East and Southern African for-profit SMEs and non-profit organisations funded by USAID, World Bank and DfID.
Her experience in communications ranges from advertising, public relations, brand development, journalism, digital communication and advertising, communication strategy and communication training for organisations. She has provided communication training, support, and mentorship to grassroots organisations across Sub-Saharan Africa and globally with the Segal Family Foundation and Obama Foundation.
