She Built a Savings Empire Because Her Own Bank Kept Letting Her Down

Long before she was recognised by Forbes or named one of Time100 Next’s most influential people, Odunayo Eweniyi was a high-achieving student in Nigeria with a restless mind for problem-solving. Born to parents who were both professors, she was raised on a bedrock of education. She graduated with a first-class degree in Computer Engineering from Covenant University at 19. However, the transition from a star student to a business leader wasn't a straight line. Like many young Nigerians entering the workforce, she faced a banking system that felt rigid, inaccessible, and frankly, unhelpful for someone trying to build a small nest egg.

The spark for what would become PiggyVest, originally Piggybank.ng, didn’t come from a boardroom, but from a viral tweet. In 2016, a Nigerian woman shared a photo of her wooden "kolo" (a traditional piggy bank) filled with cash she had saved over the year. Seeing that image, Odunayo and her co-founders, Somto Ifezue and Joshua Chibueze, had a collective epiphany. People clearly wanted to save, but they were literally stuffing cash into wooden boxes because the digital banking tools available at the time weren't designed for the discipline and goals of everyday Africans. Speaking to the Yale School of Management in a 2021 interview, Odunayo reflected on this moment as the realisation that technology needed to meet people where their culture already lived.

The journey wasn't without its massive hurdles. In the early days, building trust was the hardest currency to earn. In Nigeria, where financial scams and bank failures have left deep scars in the public psyche, asking people to hand over their hard-earned money to a "startup" was a mountain of a challenge. Odunayo and her team had to navigate a complex regulatory environment that wasn't yet ready for fintech disruptors. During a conversation with TechCabal, she noted that they initially had to partner with a microfinance bank to ensure they were operating within legal frameworks while they scaled. They weren't just building code; they were building a reputation.

What makes Odunayo’s approach so distinct is her insistence on "automated discipline." She understood that human nature is prone to spending, so she helped design features like "Safelock," which allows users to lock away funds for a set period, earning interest upfront. This wasn't just a gimmick; it was a digital evolution of the traditional "Ajo" or "Esusu" savings circles common across West Africa. By 2023, the platform had grown to support over 4 million users, helping them save and invest billions of naira that might have otherwise vanished into daily expenses.

Beyond the technical success of PiggyVest, Odunayo has become a fierce advocate for women in the African tech ecosystem. After experiencing firsthand how venture capital conversations often sideline female founders, she co-founded FirstCheck Africa. This angel investment fund specifically targets "ridiculously early" stage startups led by women. As reported by Bloomberg in 2022, her goal is to ensure that the next generation of African female innovators doesn't have to fight the same uphill battles for funding that she did.

Today, Odunayo Eweniyi stands as a pillar of the Lagos tech scene, but she remains grounded in the reality of the people she serves. She isn't just focused on high-net-worth individuals; she is focused on the graduate looking for their first job, the market trader wanting to buy a shop, and the young professional dreaming of their first home. Her vision for the future is one where financial freedom is not a luxury for the elite but a baseline for every African. She continues to push for deeper financial inclusion, looking at how insurance and credit can be simplified just as effectively as savings were.

Lessons for Budding Makers

Odunayo’s journey from a frustrated bank customer to a fintech leader offers vital blueprints for anyone looking to disrupt an established industry:

• Digitise Existing Cultural Habits: Instead of trying to force a brand-new behaviour on your audience, look at what they are already doing, like using wooden "kolo" boxes, and use technology to make that traditional process safer, faster, and more efficient.

• Trust is Your Most Valuable Feature: When you are handling people's livelihoods or personal data, your security and transparency are more important than your UI; start small, partner with regulated entities if necessary, and prove your reliability every single day.