Ridwan Olalere is the co-founder and CEO of LemFi, a fintech company transforming immigrant banking across the globe. Before LemFi, he trained as an aeronautical engineer in China and taught C programming. His vision led LemFi to process over $1 billion monthly for users across 20+ countries.

Ridwan Olalere has a strong foundation in science and engineering. He began his academic journey at the Federal Government Academy, Suleja, from 2001 to 2007. He then studied Physics and Electronics at Bells University of Technology between 2007 and 2008, where he joined the Health Club.

The Nigerian techpreneur furthered his studies at the Shenyang Institute of Aeronautical Engineering in China from 2008 to 2012. There, he earned a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) in Aeronautics Engineering, actively participating in the Aeronautics Students Club.

Ridwan Olalere built his career through hands-on experience in engineering, software development, operations, and executive leadership. His work continues to shape Africa’s developer ecosystem through mentorship and innovation. Here are his career transitions over the years.

From teaching code to building software

According to his LinkedIn profile, he began his career as a tutor at the Shenyang University of Aeronautics and Aerospace in 2009. There, he taught C programming to first-year students. This academic foundation sparked his passion for software.

In 2011, the Nigerian techpreneur joined NextMynds in Shenyang, China, as a product engineer. By 2012, he moved back to Nigeria to work as a software developer at NextStep Systems, Inc., focusing on mobile and desktop products for clients in the financial and education sectors. He remained there until January 2013.

Between June 2013 and February 2015, Ridwan worked at Novatia Ltd. as a software developer, building core product solutions. In February 2015, he launched bestprices.ng, a Nigerian price comparison platform, where he served as founder and growth hacker for five months.

From July 2015 to February 2016, he joined Hotels.ng as a software developer. He then transitioned to Flutterwave in April 2016, where he worked as a Senior Software Developer until January 2018.

Stepping into product and operational leadership

In January 2018, the software developer joined OPay as director of payment product, leading development for financial services. He advanced rapidly, becoming director of operations (ORide) by July 2019 and senior director of operations by September 2019, where he led ORide’s rapid growth until February 2020.

In March 2020, Ridwan became the country manager for Uber Nigeria. He led operational strategy, business expansion, and service optimisation. He held the role until November 2020.

Driving innovation as a founder and CEO

In November 2020, Ridwan became co-founder and CEO of Lemonade Finance (LemFi). The company builds financial services for immigrants. It now serves over one million customers and recently crossed US$1 billion in monthly transaction volume.

On LemFi’s origins and mission, Ridwan Olalere clarified that their company is now operating in more than twenty countries:

When we started building LemFi, we were told remittance had already been solved. But for too many people, it is still too slow, cumbersome, and expensive, with customers telling us that, in some instances, it is cheaper to send money from the US via Canada than directly to their families back home.

He added,

By targeting the communities most in need, we’ve built LemFi into the go to remittance service for one million people, supporting them in building wealth across 20 countries.

Since 2016, he has also served as founder of forLoop Africa, a long-standing developer community across Africa.

LemFi has not publicly revealed its net worth. However, the company has secured over $86 million in total funding. According to Business Daily, its latest round—a $53 million Series B—took place in January 2025.

This funding round included major backers such as Highland Europe, LeftLane Capital, Endeavour Capital, and Y Combinator. Since its launch, LemFi has served over 2 million customers across the US, UK, Canada, and Europe.

As per TechCrunch, LemFi processed over $2 billion in annual transaction volume in 2023. As of early 2025, it now handles $1 billion in monthly payment volume.

CEO Ridwan Olalere attributed this growth to the platform’s expansion into Asia, which now accounts for $160 million in monthly transaction volume and is growing at 30% month-on-month within its first year.

FAQs

Ridwan Olalere’s journey from aeronautical engineering to fintech innovation reflects a clear vision and purpose. His work with LemFi continues to impact financial access for immigrants globally. Ridwan Olalere remains a standout figure in Africa’s evolving tech space.

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Source: Legit.ng