In celebration of International Women’s Month, 100 Women in Finance Nigeria convened female professionals, investors, founders, and ecosystem leaders for an insightful evening on Women Advancing Angel Funding and Impact at Aruwa Capital Management in Victoria Island, Lagos. The event was co-sponsored by Africa Finance Corporation and Aruwa Capital Management and organised in collaboration with the Lagos Angel Network.
The session featured an inspiring talk by Biola Alabi, Vice Chair of the Board of Governors at Lagos Angel Network and Partner at Delta40. She reflected on her unconventional career journey – from working at Daewoo in South Korea and the United States, to early startup risk-taking with BigWords.com in Chicago, to roles with Sesame Workshop in New York and South Africa, and later leadership roles in African media with Econet and MultiChoice. Today, she is active in venture capital and angel investing.
A central theme of the evening was the strong parallel between venture capital discipline and personal wealth-building, particularly for women.
Key takeaways included:
- Think like a portfolio manager for your own wealth. Just as VCs build diversified portfolios knowing not every startup will succeed, women should diversify across asset classes, income streams, and currencies to manage risk and capture upside.
- Treat capital – money, time, etc – as investments, not donations. Venture investing requires structure, diligence, and accountability, and the same mindset should guide how women deploy their personal resources, including time.
- Understand the macro context behind every investment decision. Just as founders must design business models that respond to economic realities, individuals should make financial decisions that reflect inflation, career cycles, geography, and life stage.
- Underwrite your life the way VCs underwrite startups. Strong projections require realistic assumptions – factoring in life events, emergencies, and long-term costs such as healthcare or fertility planning when building personal financial strategies.
The session concluded with a live founder pitch by Kehinde Banasko, founder of Skill Ladder, an AI-powered skills assessment and workforce intelligence platform designed specifically for Africa’s unique career paths and labor market, giving attendees the opportunity to see angel investing in action.
Participants left the conversation energized and inspired, seeing more clearly how venture investing principles can serve as a powerful framework for building long-term financial security and impact.