Yodit Mesfin

Ethiopian tech leader accelerating Africa's startup ecosystem through mentorship and investment.

Yodit Mesfin is a visionary entrepreneur driving technological innovation in Africa through her work with Andelab, a pan-African startup accelerator. Born in Addis Ababa in 1985 to an Ethiopian father and British mother, she experienced first-hand the continent's potential and challenges growing up between the UK and Ethiopia. This dual perspective fueled her mission to position Africa as a global tech leader.

Launched in 2015, Andelab has supported over 150 startups across fintech, agritech, and healthtech sectors. Its unique '3D' model (Design, Develop, Deploy) provides seed funding, mentorship, and market access. Notable alumni include Kenya's Cellulant, a payment gateway now valued at $500M, and Nigeria's Flutterwave. Yodit's focus on inclusive innovation ensures 40% of startups are founded or co-founded by women.

Her 2018 initiative Africa Tech Leap created partnerships between African startups and European investors, securing €120M in investments. Yodit also co-founded Women in Tech Africa, a network that trained 2,000+ female engineers by 2022. Her advocacy led to Ethiopia's first national tech policy in 2020, mandating 30% tech sector representation for women.

In 2021, she launched Afroverse, an AR/VR platform teaching digital skills to rural youth. Over 50,000 students in 10 countries have completed courses on blockchain and AI through this initiative. Yodit's TED Talk 'Building Africa's Digital Future' (2022) has garnered 2.3M views, influencing tech policies in Cameroon and Ghana.

Recognized by Forbes Africa as 'Africa's Tech Transformer,' she recently established the Mesfin Innovation Fund to support climate tech startups. Her upcoming venture, Africa Cloud, aims to create a continent-wide data infrastructure by 2025, reducing reliance on foreign cloud services. Yodit's work exemplifies how strategic mentorship and investment can transform Africa into a global tech powerhouse.