Yele Bademosi has stepped down as chief executive officer of Onboard after nearly five years at the helm, transitioning to the role of chairman. Meanwhile, Paul Oladimeji, who was previously product lead for Nestcoin, assumes the position of CEO.
The announcement came on August 31, 2026, via a statement shared by Bademosi on social media, outlining the leadership change as part of a broader structural evolution for the company.
Onboard was spun out of Nestcoin in 2023 and is a global money application that enables users receive, spend, and send US dollars, other major currencies, and stablecoins. The platform focuses on expanding access to financial services for individuals and businesses in Africa and other emerging markets.
That spinout followed a difficult chapter for Nestcoin. The company had raised one of the largest seed rounds in African crypto history, then lost a significant portion of its treasury when FTX collapsed in late 2022. Onboard emerged the following year as the product Nestcoin built its next phase around. A shift from crypto-native positioning toward regulated fiat and stablecoin rails aimed at users who wanted to move dollars, not speculate on tokens.
Oladimeji brings deep institutional knowledge to the CEO role. He has played a central part in developing the products and infrastructure that power Onboard today. Most recently, he oversaw the creation of Onboard Business and the Onboard API, both of which are growing in importance as the company expands its offerings.
That expansion puts Onboard in a crowded field. Nala, Chipper Cash, Lemfi, Zepz are all competing for the same cross-border dollar-access users. Onboard’s bet is that combining fiat and stablecoin infrastructure under one API gives it a faster path into business use cases than rivals built primarily around consumer remittance.
Before joining Onboard, Oladimeji spent more than eight years building technology products, including financial infrastructure at TeamApt, which later became Moniepoint.
In his statement, Bademosi framed the decision in his own words: “As the regulatory landscape for digital financial services continues to evolve, we’ve been thinking carefully about how Onboard should be set up for its next phase,” Bademosi said. “Having worked closely with Paul over the last four years, I have enormous confidence in his ability to lead the company from here.”
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Leadership transition and strategic direction at Onboard
As CEO, Oladimeji will take charge of day-to-day operations. Bademosi, in his new capacity as chairman, will remain actively engaged, concentrating on capital allocation, strategic partnerships, investor relations, and governance while supporting Oladimeji and the wider team through the company’s ongoing transition.
The transition coincides with Onboard’s evolution from a primarily consumer-focused platform into a broader financial services and infrastructure provider. Through Onboard Business and the Onboard API, the company is working to connect local currencies, dollars, and stablecoins across emerging markets, serving both individual users and business clients.
Bademosi said Onboard’s mission remains the same even as the operating model shifts, with the coming months focused on regulatory groundwork in Nigeria and scaling the business and API products under Oladimeji’s direction.
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Last updated: September 1, 2026
