- Moniepoint has been in the news as it recently attained unicorn status and appointed a CFO for its Microfinance Bank
- Behind the successes Moniepoint has recorded is Tosin Eniolorunda, its co-founder and Group CEO
- TheRadar beams the light on Eniolorunda, from his early days in Ibadan to becoming one of Africa’s biggest fintech CEOs
The fintech also appointed Bayo Olujobi as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of one of its subsidiaries, Moniepoint Microfinance Bank (MFB). Olujobi has over 20 years of experience in the financial sector and was the Chief Financial Officer of Stanbic IBTC Bank (a member of Standard Bank Group) and a Non-Executive Director of Stanbic IBTC Capital, the investment arm of Stanbic IBTC Holdings.
Behind Moniepoint’s strides since it entered Nigeria’s fintech space nine years ago is Tosin Eniolorunda, the unassuming co-founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of the company.
Tosin Eniolorunda is the force behind Moniepoint’s strides
Tosin Eniolorunda, the first of three children, was born in Lagos in September 1985 to an engineering contractor father and a teacher mother. Though from Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State, Eniolorunda spent his early life in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Education
Eniolorunda attended the University of Ibadan Staff School between 1990 and 1995 before proceeding to Command Day School, Odogbo Ibadan, for his secondary school education between 1995 and 2001.
While in secondary school, Eniolorunda was a member of the Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS) club.
Between 2001 and 2007, Eniolorunda studied Mechanical Engineering at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
Career
Eniolorunda’s career started from his internship days with Schlumberger Limited, Port Harcourt in 2005. Upon graduation, he proceeded to work as a Senior Software Engineer at Interswitch, Nigeria’s pioneer integrated payments platform between 2009 and 2012.
He was the Unit Head of Industry Verticals and Solutions Application Development at Interswitch from April 2013 to September 2014 and then became a product manager from September 2014 to January 2015.
In 2015, Eniolorunda launched TeamApt, which metamorphosed into Moniepoint Inc. in 2023 alongside an ex-colleague, Felix Ike. The vision of the app was to provide financial solutions to businesses, a vision the company has lived up to, giving its support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
TeamApt operated for three years before its Series A funding in 2019, when it raised $5.5 million.
Eniolorunda said the delay in fundraising enabled the company to pursue its goals without being bogged by the burden of liquidity while delivering value to partners and shareholders.
He said, “It was not a conscious decision from the beginning not to raise funds. It is kind of difficult to build a product and raise funds at the same time, and a lot of startups get stuck in the limbo of not being able to build the product because the founder is stuck trying to raise funds.
“Choosing an enterprise path meant that we had more liquidity to pursue our goals. And we created a lot of value for our early partners and shareholders.”
Recognition
Eniolorunda, Felix Ike and Moniepoint have a handful of recognitions to their credit. On June 25, 2021, Endeavor announced Eniolorunda and Felix Ike as Endeavor Entrepreneurs. Eniolorunda graced the cover of the 2021 August-September edition of Forbes Africa Magazine and was listed among the 100 most influential Africans in 2022.
Moniepoint’s achievements and growth trajectory within a few years of entering the fintech space earned it second place on the Financial Times list of Africa’s fastest-growing companies in 2023.
Moniepoint has made giant strides in nine years
The Series C funding that saw Moniepoint become a unicorn boosted the fintech’s valuation to at least $1 billion, increasing it from around $400 million in a 2022 funding round where it raised $50 million.
Moniepoint has been committed to driving financial inclusion in Nigeria by providing retail banking services and agent banking and caters to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The company has shown great prospects, especially with digital payments, as its transaction value grew by over 205 per cent and processed 5.2 billion transactions worth over $150 billion.
Moniepoint, among other fintechs, proved its mettle again during the recent bank system upgrades that stranded customers of traditional banks.
The fintech said it currently processes over 800 million transactions, with a monthly total value exceeding $17 billion, while maintaining profitability and has experienced a 2,000 per cent growth since entering the personal banking space about a year ago.
Meet Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company
Meanwhile, TheRadar reported that Nvidia recently surpassed Apple as the world’s most valuable company and currently leads the world’s three trillion-dollar-worth companies which include Apple, Microsoft and Amazon.
Behind the strides recorded by Nvidia is 61-year-old, Jensen Huang, who founded the company in 1993 and has served as its president, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors since inception.
