Kola Aina

Kola Aina is an advisor at CrowdForce and a general partner at Ventures Platform Fund. Kola has also served as the chairman and founder of Ventures Park and as an advisory board member of Asset & Resource Management Holding Company (ARM HoldCo). In addition, they have been a non-executive director and board chair of Trove Technologies, Inc. and an investment committee member of Acumen.

Kola has dedicated their career to empowering under-served entrepreneurs and communities in Africa. Kola is a leading source of capital, capacity building, support, and advocacy for these groups, enabling them to enhance the creation of wealth and development in Africa.

Through their work at Ventures Platform Fund, Kola has helped to invest in early-stage companies that are making a positive impact in Africa. Kola has also been instrumental in launching Ventures Park, which is a hub for entrepreneurs and startups in Africa.

In their role as an advisory board member of ARM HoldCo., Kola has helped the company become a leading financial services firm in Nigeria with interests in traditional asset management, real estate, and specialised funds across major sectors.

As the non-executive director and board chair of Trove Technologies, Inc., Kola has helped the company become a leading technology platform that allows Africans to invest in financial securities locally, within the continent, and internationally, outside the African continent.

Lastly, as an investment committee member of Acumen, Kola has helped the organisation invest in social enterprises that are creating positive change in Africa.

Kola Aina has a PgD from Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford in Strategy & Innovation, a Senior Executive Program from Harvard Business School in Africa, a Diploma from Lagos Business School in Senior Management, and an MBA and Bsc from Bowling Green State University and Savannah State University respectively. Kola was also president of the MBA Student Association and the African Students Association, and a volunteer tutor with Upward Bound.