# Oumar Rafiou Barry

> Oumar Rafiou Barry is the co-founder and CEO of Cauridor, a payments infrastructure company connecting international transfer operators with African banks, mobile wallets and cash networks. Originally from Guinea, he trained as a mechanical engineer in Canada, worked at Hydro One and pursued an academic career at Central Michigan University and Virginia Tech. His remittance businesses grew from the difficulty of getting money to family back home.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Cauridor
- **Organizations:** Cauridor, BNB Transfer Corp, EZ Money Transfer, Virginia Tech, Central Michigan University, Hydro One, Ulendo, ChargeAutomation
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Education:** B.Eng. in Engineering (Honours), Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University), M.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University), Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Toronto
- **Known for:** 2020 National Science Foundation CAREER Award recipient., 2019 ASME Best Paper Award recipient, as listed by Virginia Tech., Co-founded Cauridor, which reported $500 million in total payment volume for 2024.

## Career timeline

- **2006-2007** — Intern at Pratt & Whitney Canada.
- **2008-2015** — Design engineer at Hydro One.
- **2011-2013** — Founded and led EZ Money Transfer.
- **2014-2022** — Founded and led BNB Transfer Corp; company histories date its operating launch to 2014.
- **2015-2018** — Assistant professor at Central Michigan University.
- **2018-2022** — Assistant professor at Virginia Tech.
- **2020** — Received an NSF CAREER Award for research into a self-powered power-line robot.
- **2022** — Co-founded Cauridor with Abdoulaye Bah; promoted to associate professor at Virginia Tech.
- **2025** — Cauridor disclosed a $3.5 million seed financing round.
- **2026** — Cauridor appointed Awa Koné COO and received investment from Proparco as part of its Series A financing.

## Achievements

- 2020 National Science Foundation CAREER Award recipient.
- 2019 ASME Best Paper Award recipient, as listed by Virginia Tech.
- Co-founded Cauridor, which reported $500 million in total payment volume for 2024.
- Cauridor received the 2026 Africa CEO Forum Disrupter of the Year award.
- A graduate-student team in his lab won second place in the 2022 EnergyTech University Prize national competition.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Cauridor reported a three-week partnership tour with 23 meetings across Senegal, Mali, Togo and Benin; the tour was led by operating executives, not Barry.
- **2026-06** — Cauridor published its announcement of the 2026 Africa CEO Forum Disrupter of the Year award.
- **2026-05** — Proparco announced a $2 million investment, bringing disclosed total Cauridor funding to $13 million; the Series A was still being completed.
- **2026-04** — Cauridor appointed former Flutterwave Global Head of Operations Awa Koné chief operating officer.

## Links

- Website: https://www.vibrolab-orb.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafioubarry/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/oumar-rafiou-barry
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26