| Intro | Nigerian businessperson |
| Is | Businessperson |
| From | Nigeria |
| Type | Business |
| Gender | male |
| Birth |
21 October 1984, Sokoto, Nigeria |
| Age | 36 years |
| Star sign | Libra |
Onyeka Akumah (born 21 October 1984) is a technology entrepreneur with focus on the agriculture, real estate, and transportation sectors. He is popularly known as the founder and CEO of Farmcrowdy Limited. Prior to founding his company in 2016, Onyeka Akumah is credited to have been involved in the success of various tech and e-commerce companies in Africa where he held top positions and played major roles in contribution to their growth.
Early life and education
Onyeka was born in Lagos State, and just before he was 2 years old, his parents relocated to Sokoto State, North-west Nigeria where he then did his Primary and Secondary School education. Onyeka earned his Bachelor’s degree at the Sikkim Manipal University India where he graduated with a Grade A or First Class Honours in Applied Information Technology.
Career
Onyeka ventured into entrepreneurship at a very young age, building startups even while he was still in the University recording successes and failures as he grew. After obtaining his first degree, Onyeka started his work experience with British Council as a Webmaster before going on to join Deloitte as the E-Marketing Coordinator for East, West and Central Africa. In 2010, he was the Online Marketing manager for Wakanow, then later had a stint with GTB to launch the SME Market Hub Onyeka is an e-commerce expert whose experience span top e-commerce companies such as Rocket Internet owned Jumia, Konga and Travelbeta leading their marketing and commercial activities.
Farmcrowdy
In November 2016, Onyeka, together with his co-founders Ifeanyi Anazodo, Akindele Philips, Christopher Abiodun, and Temitope Omotolani founded Farmcrowdy Limited, an agricultural digital platform connecting small scale farmers to investors with the goal of boosting the food production in Nigeria. Farmcrowdy, took off very fast, receiving its first angel investment of $60,000 a month after launch and in 2017, got a $1 million seed investment at the Techstars Atlanta Accelerators Programme. Today, the company has grown to a team of 55 individuals who have worked with over 25,000 rural farmers across 16 states in Nigeria including Kano, Niger, Nasarrawa, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Edo, Akwa-Ibom, Lagos, Plateau, Kaduna, Adamawa, Niger, Kwara, Abuja, Sokoto, and Benue. Farmcrowdy is described by the Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo as the company creating the new wealth in Agriculture and was later honoured with the National Productivity Order of Merit by President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.
In August 2019, Oyo State announced a partnership with Farmcrowdy to onboard 50,000 rural farmers in Oyo State.
Personal life
Onyeka lives in Lagos, Nigeria. When he is not doing business or investing in startups, Onyeka enjoys speaking and teaching at various events and workshops.
Awards and recognition
- 2020 Top 10 Nigerian CEOs Under 40 Years
- 2020 Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 at the GAGE Awards
- 2019 The 100 Most Outstanding Individuals in Africa – The Africa Report
- 2019 26th Most Influential Young Person in Nigeria
- 2019 JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons Of Nigeria
- 2018 Top 5 Outstanding Entrepreneurs in Nigeria
- 2018 Quartz List of Africa’s 30 Innovators in 2018
- 2018 100 Most Influential Young Persons in West African Under 40 for 2018
- 2018 Imperial Integrated Project- Award of Honor 2018
- 2018 Upgrade Africa Award of Excellence 2018
- 2018 Nigeria Technology Awards – Tech Entrepreneur of the Year
- 2017 Top 20 Young Entrepreneurs to Watch in Africa by the African Youth Forum in Egypt
- 2017 Nigerian Technology Awards – Start-up CEO of the Year 2017
- 2017 Impact Award 2017 in Agriculture
- 2015 Nigeria Technology Awards – Digital Marketing Personality of the Year 2015
- 2013 1st runner up – National Youth Merit Award in Innovation
- 2010 3rd Best Website Designer for 2009 in the National Web Design Competition organized by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development in Nigeria
- 2009 Brown Heart Charity Award for Young Role Models under 30
- 2002 Delta State Scholarship for Academic Excellence