Nine startups raised a mixed $11.3 million in September 2026, as funding for Nigerian startups fell sharply from the $364.1 million recorded by 20 corporations in August.
The September whole represents a 96.9% month-on-month decline, or $352.8 million lower than the earlier month’s determine.
Despite the slowdown, traders continued to again companies working throughout fintech, mobility, semiconductor expertise, cybersecurity, waste administration, agriculture and meals, and different providers.
The funding transactions included debt services, seed investments, pre-seed rounds and enterprise investments, highlighting the alternative ways startups are financing enlargement and operations.
Behind these companies are founders and chief executives answerable for setting strategic course, managing operations and attracting capital to help development.
Here are 9 startup CEOs whose corporations secured funding in September 2026.
1. Yinka Adewale — CEO, Nomba ($3 million)
Yinka Adewale is the co-founder and chief govt officer of Nomba, a Lagos-based fintech firm centered on cost and monetary providers infrastructure.
The firm raised a $3 million debt facility by means of CardinalStone Finance Company Limited in September to increase its cross-border funds infrastructure.
Adewale co-founded Nomba in 2017 alongside Pelumi Aboluwarin. He studied Mechanical Engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University.
In 2023, Nomba raised $30 million in a pre-Series B funding spherical led by Base10 Partners, with participation from Helios Digital Ventures, Shopify, Partech and Khosla Ventures.
The newest financing provides to the corporate’s funding historical past because it continues to develop cost options for companies.
2. Oluwaseyi Adefemi — CEO, Drive45 Mobility ($3 million)
Oluwaseyi Adefemi is the founder and chief govt officer of Drive45 Mobility, a Lagos-based transportation firm established in June 2021.
The firm secured a $3 million senior debt facility in September to strengthen its steadiness sheet and help enlargement into Port Harcourt, Abuja, Kano and Kaduna.
Drive45 gives mobility options to native and worldwide companies, utilizing a car subscription and rent-to-own mannequin that offers corporations and people entry to autos with out the complete upfront price of possession.
Adefemi holds a bachelor’s diploma in Geology and Earth Science from the University of Ado-Ekiti and a grasp’s diploma in Business Management from Harvard University.
The newest financing is predicted to help the corporate’s enlargement into extra Nigerian markets.
3. Ola Fadiran — CEO, ChipMango ($2.1 million)
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Ola Fadiran leads ChipMango, a semiconductor expertise firm headquartered in California, with safe engineering design centres in Lagos and operations or websites in South Africa, Rwanda and Malta.
In September, the corporate raised $1.9 million in a seed spherical involving Atlantica Ventures, DFS Lab, Madica, Kaleo Ventures, Trilinear Technologies and different traders. It additionally secured a separate $200,000 enterprise funding from Madica, bringing the mixed quantity to $2.1 million.
Founded in 2022 by Fadiran and Chief Operating Officer Jovan Andjelich, ChipMango operates in the deep-technology sector, the place semiconductor design and engineering capabilities underpin a variety of computing and digital merchandise.
Fadiran beforehand spent greater than six years at Intel Corporation as a synthetic intelligence {hardware} designer and architect. He additionally labored at Boeing for six years in roles together with Lead ASIC Architect, Lead FPGA Design Engineer, and Director of Marketing and Business Development.
He holds an MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business.
4. Samuel Ogbonyomi — CEO, Aeon Cyber Defense ($1 million)
Samuel Ogbonyomi is the co-founder and chief govt officer of Aeon Cyber Defense, a Nigerian cybersecurity startup that raised $1 million in a pre-seed funding spherical led by defence expertise firm Terra Industries.
Ogbonyomi co-founded Aeon with Ben Eluan and Alex Idowu. The founders initially constructed the enterprise in 2026 from inside PipeOps, a cloud infrastructure administration platform the place Ogbonyomi additionally serves as co-founder and CEO.
He studied Computer Science at Landmark University and beforehand labored as a founding member and Visual Design Lead at Flux.
Terra Industries’ participation in Aeon’s funding spherical connects two corporations working in Nigeria’s broader expertise ecosystem. Terra had additionally featured among the many nation’s vital startup fundraisers in August 2026.
The funding gives Aeon with capital to develop its cybersecurity enterprise as demand for digital safety options grows.
5. Ayodele Banjo and Lawson Nzekwe — Co-CEOs, Ororo Waste Management ($1 million)
Ayodele Banjo and Lawson Nzekwe are the co-founders and co-chief executives of Ororo Waste Management, a Nigerian-founded firm centered on amassing, monitoring and exporting used cooking oil for conversion into biodiesel and sustainable aviation gas.
In September, the corporate secured an funding dedication of as much as $1 million from Rising Tide Africa, a women-led pan-African angel funding community.
Ororo operates on the intersection of waste administration and clear vitality, sourcing used cooking oil that may function a feedstock for different fuels.
Banjo holds a Bachelor of Laws diploma from University College London, which he accomplished in 2009. Nzekwe, who co-founded the corporate in 2021, can also be a graduate of University College London.
The funding dedication accounted for about 8.8% of the overall startup funding recorded in September, primarily based on the reported $11.3 million combination.
6. Daniel Enesi — CEO, Noma Services Consolidated Limited ($700,000)
Daniel Enesi is the chief govt officer of Noma Services Consolidated Limited, an Abuja-based agribusiness and commodity buying and selling firm.
Founded in 2023, Noma Services aggregates and processes crops together with rice, maize, sorghum and beans.
The firm secured a $700,000 debt financing facility in September from Sahel Capital by means of its Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA).
The financing gives capital to help a enterprise mannequin centred on agricultural provide chains, commodity aggregation and processing.
Enesi holds a Bachelor of Technology diploma from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, and an MSc in Risk and Investment Management from Queen’s University Belfast.
He has greater than 10 years of expertise in threat and investment-related roles throughout a number of sectors and beforehand labored as a undertaking supervisor at Shuwari Industries Limited.
7. Adeshina Adewumi — CEO, Trade Lenda ($200,000)
Adeshina Adewumi is the chief govt officer of Trade Lenda, a Nigerian digital monetary providers platform based in May 2021 to supply financing options for small companies.
The fintech startup obtained $200,000 from Village Capital in September as a part of a mixed $450,000 deployment involving Trade Lenda and AirSmat.
Trade Lenda provides digital enterprise loans, embedded finance and Sharia-compliant financing. The firm says it has supported greater than 260,000 small and medium-sized enterprises and farmers throughout 5 of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, with ladies accounting for 66% of its prospects.
Adewumi holds an Accounting diploma from Bowen University, a postgraduate diploma from Lagos Business School and an MBA from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.
The funding provides to the capital accessible to the corporate because it seeks to increase entry to financing for small companies.
8. Soji Sanyaolu — CEO, AirSmat ($200,000)
Soji Sanyaolu is the founder and chief govt officer of AirSmat, a Lagos-based local weather expertise firm established in 2019.
The startup obtained $200,000 from Village Capital in September as a part of the organisation’s mixed $450,000 deployment to AirSmat and Trade Lenda.
AirSmat focuses on changing agricultural waste into biochar-based fertiliser, whereas utilizing synthetic intelligence, drone expertise and farm information to enhance agricultural productiveness.
The firm plans to make use of the capital to fee a business manufacturing unit for its fertiliser merchandise and increase manufacturing. It additionally works to scale carbon removing throughout Africa by means of initiatives comparable to TradeCarbon.
Sanyaolu studied Electronic and Computer Engineering at Lagos State University.
AirSmat’s enterprise mannequin hyperlinks agricultural waste administration with local weather expertise, creating a possible income stream from supplies that may in any other case be discarded.
9. Israel Dára Sobaloju — CEO, Pewbeam ($100,000)
Israel Dára Sobaloju is the founder and chief govt officer of Pewbeam, a Nigerian church expertise startup that raised $100,000 in a enterprise spherical backed by Resilience17.
Pewbeam launched publicly on March 20, 2026, and gives a synthetic intelligence-powered platform designed to help reside worship providers.
Its desktop software listens to sermons, interprets their context and mechanically shows related Bible verses, presentation slides and lyrics on screens in actual time.
The product is aimed toward serving to church buildings coordinate multimedia displays throughout providers.
Sobaloju is an AI-native design engineer and product designer with a background in product improvement. He holds a bachelor’s diploma in Soil Sciences from Obafemi Awolowo University and at present works as a product designer at Moniepoint Group.
The funding gives capital for the younger startup to develop its expertise and pursue development in the church expertise market.
