Tolu Adetuyi

Tolu Adetuyi

Innovator ·Venture Architect ·Forbes Tech Council '24

Co-Founder & Chief Innovation Officer at Prembly(YC W22)

I build interconnected systems that expand economic participation and infrastructure across emerging markets.

My work entails gathering and synthesizing global and local intelligence, building strategic relationships, and converting both into tangible products, scalable ventures, high-value deals, and institutional leverage. I do this through designing systems, building ventures, structuring deals, investing directly, and developing founders.

Over the past decade I have built at the intersection of identity, compliance, financial infrastructure, and capital formation across Africa. At Prembly I am building the trust infrastructure layer that enables businesses to verify, transact, and grow with confidence. Before Prembly, I led growth at Moniepoint, where I helped build the distribution network that now powers billions of dollars in transactions across Africa. Through that experience, I witnessed firsthand that the greatest barrier to scale was not technology itself, but the absence of trusted infrastructure and effective distribution.

I hold a first-class degree in Computer Science and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Morgan State University, where I graduated as a GSBM Scholar.I am also a lifetime member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the international business honor society. My work sits at the intersection of technology, capital, and African economic development.

Current Work

Prembly(YC W22)Co-Founder & CIO
Identity, Fraud Prevention & Compliance
Energy & Physical Infrastructure
Chronicles of InnovationExecutive Curator
Innovation Documentary Series
ZeroToActAuthor
Actionable Global Intelligence Brief

Core Areas of Focus

Trust InfrastructureApplied AIDigital Identity & ComplianceCross-Border Financial SystemsCapital FormationDistribution InfrastructureAfrican Industrial & Energy InfrastructureE-Mobility & Energy TransitionHuman Capital DevelopmentEmerging Market Economic Systems

Featured

Lagos Tech Fest 2023: Identity verification, compliance, and reducing fraud for African startups.

Speaking & Panels

Latest Writing

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Featured Press & Publications

Active Investment Thesis

Powering Nigeria: Infrastructure Fund 1

Over the past decade, I built and scaled Africa's digital trust infrastructure. Now, I am targeting the physical foundation, building this fund for those who believe that Africa's digital economy cannot outrun its physical infrastructure deficit. The energy bottleneck is a 100 billion dollar capital allocation opportunity.

Infrastructure Fund 1 is structured to completely bypass the legacy grid. By deploying private capital into highly efficient commercial power assets with proven demand, we generate resilient, asset backed yield while solving a generational bottleneck. Our initial focus is embedded commercial and industrial energy infrastructure with predictable demand, strong cash flow characteristics, and clear expansion pathways across underserved economic clusters. For fellow founders and capital allocators ready to build, I invite you to review the core thesis.

Read the Manifesto