ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator has appointed Oyin Solebo as its pioneer managing director. Oyin Solebo is an entrepreneurial leader with an investment management background, an Executive MBA with distinction from London Business School, and an Economics degree from the London School of Economics.
She is a co-founder and former COO of Movemeback, a Google-funded talent startup connecting professionals globally to African opportunities. Having started her investment career at Goldman Sachs, she comes with over 15 years of experience in strategic leadership, investment, and human capital development.
“We are confident that her presence on the team will foster the rapid innovation we support in the African startup ecosystem through this program. Being a co-founder herself, she contributes a wealth of knowledge and experience to ensure that the startups benefit from this program’s expertise to scale their businesses creatively and effectively,” Jumoke Ogundare, Group CEO of ARM Holding Company, said.
In April 2022, Techstars, a global investment business that provides access to capital, one-on-one mentorship, and customized programming for early-stage entrepreneurs, announced its partnership with ARM Labs, a Lagos-based innovation program focused on helping fintech startups. The partnership was to launch the ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator Program.
The 3-month batch program will focus on investing $120,000 each in 12 early-stage fintech and proptech startups based in Africa. It will also provide training and access to Techstars’ vast network of world-class entrepreneurs, 7,000+ mentors, 20,000+ investors, and corporate partners.
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With her new appointment, Solebo will lead the program to identify the most promising startups and founders while ensuring equal gender participation. She will also help with curating the most resourceful network of partners to help participating startups become thriving businesses and global brands.
“Whilst talent is equally distributed, the opportunity is not. Nowhere is this more obvious than on the African continent. The ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator furthers Techstars’ mission to support entrepreneurs everywhere and give startups the capital and opportunities they need to succeed, regardless of their location or background – and I’m honoured to be leading it,” Solebo said in a statement seen by Benjamindada.com.
Treepz, HealthTracka and Smallsmall are a few startups that have gone through Techstars accelerators and gone on to raise millions of dollars in funding and enjoyed accelerated growth.
The establishment of the Lagos-based Techstars accelerator led by Solebo, an experienced Nigerian entrepreneur and executive will improve access for participating startups to valuable local business and stakeholder partnerships crucial to their growth and success.
