Corporate venture capital (CVC) offers a rare win-win for Africa’s startup funding sector, as it can increase how much African startups raise and the speed at which these large companies innovate. It’s not surprising that over 70% of African investors think the same.
Abdulyekeen Abdulazeez, the innovation venture manager at Wema Bank, a Nigerian bank with a $552 million valuation, is one of those investors. After working at Ventures Platform and Lagos Angel Network, he’s been helping Wema Bank invest in and build startups.
“If we want investors who truly understand the market, people who understand the local context, the operational realities, and what it takes to build in Africa, then corporates are among the best positioned,” Abdulazeez told . “Many of them have survived and scaled through decades of economic cycles, regulatory uncertainty, and infrastructural gaps. That depth of experience is invaluable.”
At Wema Bank, his work focuses on funding early-stage startups and providing them with resources and support that can help them reach product-market fit (PMF). The bank’s portfolio startups use its wallet and payout products, and are connected to Wema’s customer base, partners, and internal teams.
“We give startups immediate access to the kind of infrastructure and credibility that would normally take them months or years to build on their own,” Abdulazeez said. “Through our digital platforms, APIs, and operational resources, startups can plug directly into the systems they need to launch quickly.”
The bank is sector-agnostic and invests in startups building competing products, with an average check size of $40,000. “We don’t view innovation that overlaps with traditional banking lines as a threat. Instead, we see startups as indispensable allies.”
Outside of his work as an investor, he is also a co-founder of Ule Homes, a rent-financing startup based in Lagos. He met his two other cofounders during his postgraduate programme, and a shared problem with house financing led to the startup’s creation.
For this week’s Ask an Investor, I spoke to Abdulazeez on how Wema picks its portfolio startups, the type of support it offers, and how corporate venture capital works in Africa.
How does Wema Bank define its corporate venture mandate?
Our corporate venture mandate is focused primarily on strategic returns. We back startups in ways that go beyond funding by providing access to our infrastructure, tools, and platforms. For example, startups leverage our wallet APIs and payout API through AlatPay, which offers solutions similar to Paystack but faster and more cost-effective.
In some cases, we also become clients of these startups, using their services within our operations. This creates a mutually beneficial relationship, where startups gain access to real-world markets and operational support, while the bank strengthens its ecosystem and strategic capabilities.
A key element of this thesis is our flagship Hackaholics initiative. This platform is specifically designed to provide high-potential startups with the necessary infrastructure, mentorship, and capital. Through Hackaholics, we have had the privilege of supporting over 100 successful ventures, including notable names such as TeamApt (now Moniepoint), Plumter, Feegor, MyItura, and Build Africa, among others.
What gaps or opportunities in Nigeria’s financial ecosystem inform your investment thesis today?
I wouldn’t describe it as gaps in the financial sector; rather, we recognised a major opportunity. Startups and innovators are here to stay, and they’ve shown incredible agility and speed in solving real market problems. The regulatory environment also gives them enough room to experiment and innovate, which has contributed to their rapid growth.
Seeing this, we asked ourselves, ‘How can we support this momentum in a way that adds real value?’
That led us to focus on providing startups with what they often need most—market access, infrastructure, credibility, distribution, and operational support. We help them enter the market faster and scale more efficiently.
Which fintech segments interest you?
The fintech segment that currently excites me most is the tap-to-pay, tap-to-tap, and phone-to-pay space. I believe this area represents the next major wave of growth for fintech in Africa. This is driven by high mobile penetration rates and the massive potential to leverage the increasing adoption of AI for smarter, more secure, and personalised payment solutions.
My interest is particularly heightened because we are actively engaged in this market through a strategic partnership. We support GoTap, a promising fintech company focused on disrupting and innovating the tap-to-pay market. GoTap participated in our accelerator program, and we have been highly encouraged by their progress and potential for future success.
How does Nigeria’s current macro environment reshape what you consider “venture-backable” in 2025?
Nigeria’s macro environment has definitely reshaped what we consider “venture-backable”, but not in a limiting way; rather, in a more disciplined and opportunity-focused way. High interest rates and regulatory shifts have forced founders to build with stronger fundamentals, clearer unit economics, and faster paths to sustainability. That is a positive shift for the ecosystem.
In this environment, what becomes venture-backable are startups that demonstrate resilience, capital efficiency, and the ability to localise their solutions to Nigeria’s unique market realities. We are seeing more founders designing products that hedge against FX exposure, diversify revenue, or leverage technology to reduce operating costs. These are the kinds of models that can not only survive macro pressures but grow through them.
What internal incentives govern your decisions—who inside the bank needs to buy into a deal before you proceed?
Our decisions are governed less by individual incentives and more by institutional alignment and a clear mandate from the Bank’s leadership. Wema Bank is proudly recognised as one of the most forward-thinking financial institutions in Africa. Our management team operates with a deep understanding of the innovation ecosystem, particularly the critical need to support young and early-stage innovators.
The true internal incentive is the bank’s core commitment to innovation. This commitment is evidenced by our history, having built Nigeria’s first fully digital bank, ALAT. Our leaders’ buy-in is systemic and based on this shared, forward-looking vision, not on individual departmental targets. We are led by a management team that empowers us to execute the strategy because they fundamentally believe in the ecosystem.
How does the CVC arm coordinate with the bank’s product, digital, and innovation teams?
Our corporate venturing arm is designed to be fully integrated with the Bank’s core innovation engine, ensuring that our strategic support translates directly into institutional value. The corporate venturing arm sits within the bank’s broader innovation structure. We operate under the Innovation Division, which also houses the ideaxlab—the bank’s first innovation lab, led by our Head of Innovation, Solomon Ayodele. Many of the bank’s digital products and solutions have been built within this lab, which reflects how deeply innovation is integrated into our operating model.
The CVC arm does not function in isolation because of this structure. We work closely with the product, digital, and innovation teams to ensure alignment, seamless execution, and shared value creation. This collaboration is especially important when startups in our network leverage the bank’s infrastructure or APIs or participate in our accelerator programs. Over the years, we have had startups come through these programs, and many continue to engage with the bank through our digital and product teams.
What metrics define success for you?
For us, success is defined by tangible value creation for the startups we support and for the bank. We look at metrics such as how effectively startups are able to leverage our infrastructure, their speed to market, and their progress toward achieving product-market fit. We also track adoption of our APIs, quality of engagement with our digital platforms, and the strength of the partnerships formed.
On the bank’s side, success is measured by how these collaborations enhance our innovation pipeline, contribute to new product ideas, and deepen our understanding of emerging customer needs.
What’s one underappreciated startup KPI you care deeply about?
It is the Net Promoter Score (NPS). While many metrics focus on raw adoption or revenue, NPS provides an unparalleled insight into the true health and future scalability of a product, making it a critical strategic metric for us.
It’s a simple but powerful measure of what your customers are saying about you, whether they’re satisfied, willing to refer your product to others, and likely to become repeat users. Many founders overlook NPS, but it’s critical because it directly signals customer loyalty and potential churn. A strong NPS shows that your product resonates with users and can help you grow sustainably through referrals and retention. For me, it’s one of the most telling indicators of a startup’s long-term health and market fit.
Walk me through your investment approval workflow—from sourcing to IC.
The process typically begins with sourcing, which involves identifying promising early-stage innovators through Hackaholics, industry events, referrals, and direct outreach. Once identified, startups are brought into the Ideax Lab, where they go through our accelerator program. This helps us work closely with them to deepen clarity around their solutions, strengthen their path toward product-market fit, and determine the type of support they need.
As Venture Success Manager, I oversee scouting to hands-on support, working directly with Solomon Ayodele, the Head of Innovation. Together, we evaluate the startups’ progress and determine how the bank can best support them with infrastructure, market access, or collaboration opportunities. This is only possible because management has given us a clear mandate, and approvals are straightforward and without unnecessary bottlenecks.
How do you avoid the internal bureaucracy that often slows down CVCs and frustrates founders?
For an institution as large as a bank, some level of bureaucracy is inevitable. However, we’ve been very intentional about ensuring it never becomes a barrier for the startups we support. When we choose to back a startup with our infrastructure or resources, we streamline the entire engagement process to make it as fast and frictionless as possible.
My background as both a founder and someone who has worked in traditional VC helps me understand the pace at which startups operate and the urgency they require. With that awareness, our team has removed unnecessary layers and created a direct, seamless path for founders to access what they need. The goal is simple: no delays, no bottlenecks — just clear, fast, and supportive engagement that enables startups to move at their natural speed.
What are the most successful ways your portfolio companies have integrated with the bank?
The most successful integrations happen when these startups can plug directly into the bank’s infrastructure or when we adopt their solutions internally.
A number of the startups we’ve worked with now leverage our wallet APIs, payout APIs through AlatPay, and other digital tools to power their products. In some cases, the collaboration is even deeper — the bank becomes an early customer, using their technology to solve internal needs or enhance specific product lines. These are the integrations that deliver the strongest outcomes: where the startup scales through access to our infrastructure and market credibility, and the bank benefits from fresh ideas, efficiency, and innovative solutions.
Do you ever invest without guaranteed integration or partnership?
For the startups we work with, there is usually some natural alignment with our internal structures that they can leverage, such as our APIs, digital platforms, or operational resources. While we don’t require guaranteed integration or formal partnerships, these touchpoints create opportunities for collaboration that benefit both the startups and the bank, without restricting their independence or innovation.
What non-fintech categories are strategically relevant for the bank: climate/energy, identity, data infrastructure, security, AI, agent networks, mobility?
We look across industries like climate and energy, identity, data infrastructure, security, AI, agent networks, and mobility to see where there are opportunities to integrate innovative solutions with our services.
Our goal is to identify startups that can leverage our infrastructure, complement our offerings, and create value for both the bank and the broader ecosystem, regardless of the sector they operate in.
In your experience, what kills Nigerian startups fastest today: unit economics, regulatory pressure, weak governance, or market adoption issues?
The single fastest killer of Nigerian startups today is weak governance, which fundamentally ties back to the founding and management team’s dynamics and capabilities.
While regulatory pressure, poor unit economics, and market adoption issues are significant hurdles, they are often symptoms of a deeper problem rather than the root cause of failure. A strong, resilient founding team can pivot and adapt to adverse regulatory changes or challenging unit economics.
If a startup is not as strong as its founders, it is highly vulnerable to failure. We often see startups collapse due to issues stemming from: co-founder disputes, poor management.
This is why, during due diligence, investors spend considerable time confirming that the founders are the right fit for the market and the proposed solution. The capacity of the founding team to maintain strong internal governance, manage crises, and attract top-tier talent is the ultimate difference between survival and swift failure. A solid team can overcome economic headwinds; a fractured team will sink a perfectly good business idea.
