Two Nigerian founders — Ikenna Nzewi and Uzoma Ayogu — have raised over $10 million in Nigeria’s palm oil industry. The founders, Americans of Nigerian descent, returned to Nigeria to tackle challenges in Africa’s largest oil palm market.Born and raised in the United States, Ikenna studied computer science at Yale University while Ayogu earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University.Their company — Releaf — was founded in 2017. Evolving from an agricultural marketplace into a tech-driven processor focused on Nigeria’s palm oil industry.
Releaf addresses a critical bottleneck in the palm oil value chain: smallholder farmers face challenges cracking nuts with varying shell thickness
