Nela Duke Ekpenyong

Nela is an investor, award winning conservationist, philanthropic advisor, and social entrepreneur. For over a decade, she has worked with leading institutions focused on large-scale growth and development in Africa.

Nela is the co-founder and CEO of LEGA.C Capital, where she oversees the firm’s accelerator, Akoda. LEGA.C is a multi-family office that supports the wealth and growth of innovators, entrepreneurs, and high-net-worth families. Through Akoda, Africa’s first biomimicry accelerator, they invest in ventures that integrate biomimicry into their tech-enabled solutions, bringing nature-inspired innovations to life. Nela has successfully leveraged her network of UHNIs, HNIs, and innovators to collaborate and address Africa’s complex social and environmental problems.

Formerly, she served as a Partner at Ingressive Capital, a $50 million Fund II, African- focused, early-stage Venture Capital firm. She also sat on the board of Harambeans, where she served as the Chief of Staff and managed their multi-million-dollar fund, which supported the growth of tech-enabled ventures such as Andela, Flutterwave, and Yoco through convenings and venture capital.