Gbemi Akande Email & Phone Number

Austin, Tx, Us

Stanford, Ca, Us

Focus Areas: Enterprise Innovation & AI Strategy

Lagos, Ng

I Co-founded Pacer Ventures, a Pre-seed VC Firm and Venture Studio, building and investing across the African Continent.Portfolio companies include Optimus AI Labs, Ziki.ai, Domineum Blockchain Solutions, Fuspay Technologies

Optimus AI Labs is an AI-native software development lab, serving enterprise clients across Europe, North America and Africa. We build applications 3X faster and at a fraction of the cost of traditional development shops. I am a co-founder and founding board member. Helping navigate the international expansion and strategic alliances around the world.

Toronto, Ontario, Ca

Elevate's innovation team partners with Canada's largest Enterprises to design execute their innovation strategies by creating innovation incubators programs and collaborations at the intersection of technology, arts, and social innovation.• Led the implementation and management of innovation programs in collaboration with industry partners• Built Canada’s first ecommerce and retail tech accelerator program as a partner with Moneris (Canada’s leading payments provider); within the incubator, led a program management team that Incubated 40+ early-to-growth stage startups across 6 cohorts, achieving a 10% MoM average sales growth, total fundraising of $25M+ and one exit; average net-promoter score across cohorts was eight• Led the startup incubator/accelerator program team focusing on sales, GTM operations, product strategy, product development, and fundraising strategy for startups; this program management involved 60+ stakeholders, mentors, domain experts, and contractors• Cultivated multi-year innovation partnerships with key clients, including some of Canada’s largest Corporations• Executed tech innovation programs aligned to the technology roadmap of clients; innovation programs were centered around exploring corporate-startup collaborations on emerging technologies• Recruited startups across Canada by prioritizing Women and Black-led founders

Toronto, Ontario, Ca

The DMZ is Canada's leading Startup Accelerator with over 800 startups incubated and $2.5Billion in total funding raised. My work included the following:•Managed the DMZ Accelerator Program (Canada’s YCombinator), working directly with SaaS andCybersecurity startups on product strategy, marketing, customer success, and operations; managed aportfolio of 25+ startups with 12% average growth during and after the accelerator cohort program.•Worked with 50+ early-stage startups on product strategy and design sprints using frameworks like leanstartup and design thinking toolkits

Toronto, Ontario, Ca

• Led end-to-end development of Over-the-Top (OTT) streaming products across Android, Roku, and FireTV platforms, ensuring seamless user experiences and high performance• Collaborated with cross-functional teams, including engineering, design, and marketing, to deliver feature-rich OTT applications within tight deadlines, prioritizing features based on user insights, competitive analysis, and technical feasibility• Managed platform-specific requirements, optimizing video streaming, navigation, and performance for device compatibility across Android, Roku, and FireTV• Monitored and improved product performance, achieving 20%+ increase in engagement each quarter• Oversaw integration of third-party services, such as analytics tools, payment gateways, and ad SDKs, to enhance user engagement and monetization

Toronto, Ontario, Ca

TribalScale Venture Studio is a division of TribalScale. The Venture Studio focuses on creating software products and launching + scaling them as new businesses in collaboration with entrepreneurs, corporations, and investors.• Designed and executed the Venture Studio innovation program; oversaw the entire process which included ideation, product development, project management, business strategy, investment and launch • Managed a cross functional team which included product managers, designers and engineers to plan and develop scope, deliverables, required resources, work plan, budget and launch of new initiatives• Achieved one Exit in 12 months of operations

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Ae

Emirates NBD is the largest Banking Group in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. My work included the following:• Developed an innovation process while working with multiple cross-functional teams. Managed multiple emerging technology product development projects, working with software engineering and design teams• Led partnerships with over 100+ fintech startups in multiple countries, developing proof of concepts in emerging technologies

Denver, Us

My role as Innovation Strategy Consultant involved the development of innovation strategies for enterprise clients, and also managing product innovation, business model design and go-to-market planning within a startup accelerator.

Master Of Science - Ms, Management

Master Of Business Administration (Mba)

B. Eng (Hons.), Mechanical Engineering