Festus Owumi
Co-Founder & CTO at Bridgecard (YC S22)
Leading fintech innovation, building infrastructure that enables global financial inclusion
About Festus
With over six years of experience and exceptional expertise in the financial technology sectors, Festus Owumi is a dynamic leader, seasoned software engineer and entrepreneur.
As a co-founder of Bridgecard, Festus propelled the company, securing $1.4 million in funding and a spot in the prestigious YCombinator - the leading American technology startup accelerator. Out of over 19,000 applicants from around the world, Festus was one of the 7 Nigerian founders who successfully got into the program.
Festus has significantly impacted financial services by building a quality and stable infrastructure enabling fintechs to issue debit and credit cards. In the past, Africans found it difficult to pay for global services from companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon, due to certain government regulations. However, Festus's work at Bridgecard has solved this problem and contributed significantly to the advancement of the African fintech landscape.
Global Business Events
Key Achievements
YCombinator Success
Festus was one of only 7 Nigerian founders accepted into YCombinator's prestigious program out of over 19,000 global applicants.
Bridgecard Growth
Festus secured $1.4M in funding and grew Bridgecard to process $1.3M monthly in transactions, issuing over 80,000 cards.
Kippa Impact
Festus contributed to Kippa's growth to 500,000+ users and securing $8.4M in seed funding.
TradeDepot Expansion
Festus helped TradeDepot expand to 100,000+ merchants and secure $110M in funding.
Technical Leadership
Festus led multiple engineering teams and developed critical financial infrastructure.
YC Judge
Festus was selected as a distinguished judge for Y Combinator's Winter 2024 program, evaluating thousands of startup applications alongside industry leaders like YC CEO Garry Tan, Nicolas Dessaigne (Algolia), and Tom Blomfield (Monzo).
Industry Recognition
Festus was selected as one of the top 50 Data Scientists in Africa during the Access Bank DataHack 2019.