Wale Ayeni
Managing Partner / Co-head of Helios Digital Ventures
Frontier technology and frontier markets create unmatched opportunities to deliver impact and build transformative businesses across Africa.
Sector expertise
Wale Ayeni brings over 18 years of global technology and venture capital experience to Helios. His career spans multiple roles at the intersection of technology and investment. Before joining Helios, Wale was Head of Direct Venture Capital Investments at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. At IFC, he established its venture capital practice in Africa and co-headed disruptive technologies and VC investments for emerging and frontier markets globally, managing a portfolio of over $2.5 billion.
Prior to IFC, Wale led venture capital investments in Silicon Valley for Orange, focusing on cutting-edge sectors like FinTech, Blockchain, Big Data, and Virtual Reality. He began his career as a microprocessor design engineer with Intel and Qualcomm before transitioning to JP Morgan’s Technology Investment Banking group in San Francisco, where he executed over $12 billion in tech transactions. Throughout his career, Wale has served on the boards of several high-growth African tech companies, including BOLT, TradeDepot, and TwigaFoods, and on advisory committees for early-stage VC funds such as Partech Africa and TLcom.
Wale holds an MBA from Dartmouth College and a Bachelor’s degree with distinction from Moscow University. A Kauffman Venture Capital Fellow and recipient of the Top Global 100 Rising Stars award in Corporate Venture, Wale also serves on the Dartmouth Tuck EMEA Council.
Passionate about Africa’s startup ecosystem, Wale is committed to matching frontier technology with frontier markets to drive transformative impact. He finds fulfilment in working with early-growth, founder-led tech companies at the Series B+ stage, helping them build long-lasting digital businesses with a strong African nexus.
To Wale, Africa is home. Growing up on the continent instilled a deep sense of purpose and pride that drives his work. For him, Helios Digital Ventures represents a unique opportunity to deliver large-scale, impactful investments in frontier markets—areas often overlooked by global capital.
Outside of work, Wale enjoys staying active and traveling.
