# Melanie Okuneye-Williams

> Melanie Okuneye-Williams is Chief of Staff to the CEO at Nerdio, the Chicago-based Azure automation company that raised a $500M Series C from General Atlantic in 2025 after crossing $100M in ARR. Before Nerdio she founded Akoma Health, a teletherapy platform serving Africans on the continent and in the diaspora, grew it to profitability and exited. Earlier she spent nearly five years at Goldman Sachs in private wealth and markets coverage in London and New York, was a general partner at Baron Davis Ventures and worked with WME's corporate arm. Stanford GSB MBA, PPE from the University of York.

- **Role:** Chief of Staff to the CEO at Nerdio
- **Organizations:** Nerdio, Akoma Health, Baron Davis Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Bain & Company, William Morris Endeavor, Barclays
- **From:** Nigeria
- **Nationality:** Nigerian, raised in the United Kingdom
- **Education:** MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business, BA, Philosophy, Politics and Economics, University of York
- **Known for:** Founded and exited Akoma Health after taking it to profitability, Selected as 1 of 40 startups from 4,000 for Google's Black Founders Fund, Nearly five years at Goldman Sachs across London and New York

## Career timeline

- **pre-2015** — Treasury Trading internship at Barclays
- **2015** — Graduates University of York with PPE
- **2015-2020** — Nearly five years at Goldman Sachs, London Sales and Trading then New York Markets Coverage Group for ultra-high-net-worth clients
- **2020-2022** — MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business, internships at Bain and William Morris Endeavor
- **2022** — Founds and leads Akoma Health, teletherapy for Africans and the diaspora
- **2022-2024** — General Partner at Baron Davis Ventures, portfolio across health, fintech and consumer tech
- **2025** — Named Chief of Staff to CEO at Nerdio

## Achievements

- Founded and exited Akoma Health after taking it to profitability
- Selected as 1 of 40 startups from 4,000 for Google's Black Founders Fund
- Nearly five years at Goldman Sachs across London and New York
- General Partner at Baron Davis Ventures
- Head of Strategy for Women in the City Afro-Caribbean Network
- Angel investor

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — Appointed Chief of Staff to the CEO of Nerdio.
- **2025-03** — Nerdio closes $500M Series C from General Atlantic and crosses $100M ARR.

## Links

- Website: https://getnerdio.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-okuneye-williams-b02b0161/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/melanie-okuneye-williams
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-09