# Tope Alabi

> Tope Alabi, also identified publicly as Temitope Alabi, is the co-founder and CEO of Afriex. An electrical engineering graduate of the University of North Texas with experience at Wix, IDEO and ConsenSys, he returned to Nigeria in 2019 and helped build a cross-border payments business out of transfer problems he experienced himself. Afriex joined Y Combinator’s Summer 2020 batch and later expanded into payment infrastructure for businesses.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Afriex
- **Organizations:** Afriex, ConsenSys, IDEO CoLab, Wix, Y Combinator
- **Nationality:** Nigerian
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, University of North Texas
- **Known for:** Co-founded Afriex in 2019 with John Obirije., Built a company accepted into Y Combinator’s Summer 2020 batch., Led Afriex through its $10 million Series A in 2022.

## Career timeline

- **1998** — Moved with his family to the United States; in a January 2025 podcast, he recalled arriving in Houston on May 27, 1998.
- **Before 2019** — Worked in software at Wix and ConsenSys and was a fellow at IDEO CoLab; individual employment dates are unconfirmed.
- **2019** — Returned to Nigeria and co-founded Afriex with John Obirije.
- **2020** — Afriex participated in Y Combinator’s Summer 2020 batch.
- **2021** — Afriex announced a $1.2 million seed round in March.
- **2022** — Afriex raised a $10 million Series A co-led by Sequoia Capital China and Dragonfly Capital at a reported $60 million company valuation.
- **2025** — Afriex expanded payment services into China, India and Pakistan.
- **2026** — Published expansion lessons in June; Afriex announced a Global Innovations Bank sponsor and settlement partnership in August.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Afriex in 2019 with John Obirije.
- Built a company accepted into Y Combinator’s Summer 2020 batch.
- Led Afriex through its $10 million Series A in 2022.
- Featured in MIPAD’s 2023 Business and Entrepreneurship recognition.
- Afriex reported more than $600 million in annual payment volume and business-payment coverage across more than 35 countries in August 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Afriex announced a sponsor and settlement banking partnership with Global Innovations Bank, effective Q2 2026, to support its B2B Payments API; it reported more than $600 million in annual payment volume.
- **2026-06** — Alabi published a first-person essay on the local operating lessons from expanding Afriex into more than 30 countries.
- **2025-07** — Afriex expanded into China, India and Pakistan; Alabi said 90% of transactions completed in under two seconds and noted that China had not yet reached the same speed.

## Links

- Website: https://afriex.com/tope
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/topealabi
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/topealabi_

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/tope-alabi
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22