Founders52 Episode 47 Arun Iyer -Founder, Alpha Direct

Arun Iyer is a Co-Founder & CEO at Alpha Direct Insurtech

Tijan is a serial entrepreneur with a background in Finance and Marketing. After graduating at the top of his class summa cum laude with a BS in Mathematics, Tijan began his career at Goldman Sachs, the premiere investment bank on Wall Street.

Victoria Peill is a Kenyan social entrepreneur and education innovator passionate about reshaping how children learn across Africa. She is the founder and CEO of Duara Education, an organization that builds small, community-based microschools run by empowered female educators. Through Duara, Victoria is reimagining what quality education looks like — shifting it from expensive, centralized systems to locally rooted, affordable, and human-centered learning spaces. With a background in education and leadership, she believes that lasting change begins with teachers and that every child, regardless of background, deserves access to meaningful learning within their community.

Manuel Seiffe is the co-founder and CEO of M-Power Ventures, a climate and fintech startup that provides solar energy infrastructure in emerging markets, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa. An entrepreneur and enthusiast for renewable energy, he has a professional background in the solar sector and previously worked for Deutsche Bank. He co-founded M-Power in 2017, and his expertise includes solar, business development, and strategy, particularly within Africa.This video shows Manuel Seiffe presenting his company at a conference in 2019.

Jonatan Allbäck is the Co‑Founder and CEO of NjiaPay, a Payments‑as‑a‑Service company spun out of Talk360 in late 2024 Disrupt Africa+11africatechsummit.com+11Disrupt Africa+11. He brings over 15 years of experience in fintech and global payment systems, having previously held senior roles at Adyen and Skipify, where he worked with major clients like Meta, Microsoft, and Netflix africatechsummit.com.Under Allbäck’s leadership, NjiaPay raised more than $1 million in pre‑seed funding led by HAVAÍC, with backing from investors across Africa and Europe TechTrendsKE+7Fintech Magazine+7thelagostoday.com+7. Based in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, the company tackles Africa's fragmented payments landscape by offering a single integration for multiple PSPs, using AI-powered routing to optimize transaction success and lower costs for merchants thelagostoday.com+11Disrupt Africa+11Fintech Magazine+11.Allbäck is dedicated to empowering small and mid-market businesses by turning payment complexity into an operational advantage, enabling better conversion rates, seamless financial operations, and digital growth opportunities across the continent.

Background: Michael Louis is the visionary founder behind Cerebrium, a platform designed to simplify the deployment of machine learning models on serverless GPUs with lightning-fast performance — under 5 seconds startup time imdb.com+5youtube.com+5youtube.com+5.Entrepreneurship: As CEO, he spearheads Cerebrium’s mission to make AI deployment seamless and accessible, empowering developers and teams to scale ML workflows with minimal infrastructure overhead .Industry Positioning: Under his leadership, Cerebrium positions itself at the intersection of machine learning and cloud infrastructure, enabling efficient, on-demand GPU usage for AI applications .

Adeola Adedewe is a visionary entrepreneur and fintech expert dedicated to transforming financial access across Africa. He is the Founder and CEO of Kredete, a digital lending marketplace that leverages AI and blockchain technologies to connect borrowers with lenders, aiming to democratize access to credit for individuals and small businesses across the continent . Prior to founding Kredete in 2021, Adeola served as the Financial Director at Solijun Nig Ltd from 2014 to 2018 and founded AlFeAde Records in 2018. He also holds a board position at Telleso, Inc. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance, a Master of Science in Business Administration and Management, and another Master of Science in Accounting and Finance, all from The City University of New York. In 2021, he completed an Executive MBA in Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies at Harvard Business School .Adeola's leadership at Kredete has been instrumental in pioneering fintech solutions that enhance financial inclusion, reflecting his commitment to leveraging technology for economic empowerment in Africa.

Youcef Rahmani is a doctoral candidate in law at the University of Oxford, focusing his research on the objectives pursued by corporate ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting obligations. He is also a researcher with the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme and leads the Sustainable Law and Finance division at Droit & Croissance. ​Rahmani holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from McGill University, a master's in economic law from Sciences Po Law School, and an MSc in law and finance from the University of Oxford. His research interests encompass the moral foundations of law and economics, corporate governance and reputation, financial regulation, and the use of technology to achieve sustainability goals. ​In addition to his academic pursuits, Rahmani is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of ToumAI Analytics, a startup that utilizes natural language processing applied to African dialects to provide enhanced data to financial markets. ToumAI aims to become a leader in supplying extra-financial data in Africa by addressing the scarcity of such information due to the low number of listed companies on the continent. The company employs artificial intelligence, particularly Natural Language Processing (NLP), to analyze rare African languages, facilitating the inclusion of local communities in global sustainability discussions. Listen to his journey with Toum AI

Roan Stoop is a seasoned professional in the financial sector, currently serving as the Co-Founder and CEO of Credit Circuit, a fintech platform that leverages technology to make receivables financing more accessible and efficient for businesses. ​With over 19 years of experience in the insurance and risk industry, Roan has honed his expertise as an actuary and quantitative risk analyst. His career includes significant roles such as Senior Quantitative Analyst at Eikos Risk Capital, Actuarial Programmer at Absa Group, and Actuarial Analyst at Discovery Limited.Roan earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Johannesburg. His extensive background and leadership at Credit Circuit highlight his commitment to advancing financial solutions that empower businesses through innovative receivables financing. ​

Moses Mukundi is a Kenyan entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Eden Care, a digital health insurance company operating in Rwanda and expanding to Kenya. Mukundi holds a Law degree from the University of Nairobi and earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.Prior to establishing Eden Care in 2021, Mukundi accumulated seven years of experience in investment banking and private equity. Under his leadership, Eden Care offers affordable and personalized health insurance plans to companies, aiming to protect the health and financial well-being of employees.Mukundi is recognized as a Harambean (H’24), a designation for African innovators tackling significant challenges on the continent. For a more in-depth understanding of his vision and the journey of Eden Care, listen to this episode