Fara Ashiru Jituboh, co-founder and former CEO/CTO of Nigerian fintech startup Okra, has stepped down to join Kernel, a UK-based Revenue Operations (RevOps) company, as Head of Engineering. Her move marks a big shift for both her and Okra, which has played a major role in growing Africa’s open banking space.
Jituboh left just months after Okra launched Nebula, its cloud infrastructure service. This shift signals a fresh direction for the fintech firm, especially as it moves away from open banking and focuses more on cloud technology.
Raised in the United States but born in Nigeria, Jituboh earned a degree in Computer Science from North Carolina A&T State University. She mastered over 20 coding languages and worked with top companies like BMW, JP Morgan Chase, Fidelity, and Canva before returning to Nigeria.
She co-founded Okra in 2019 with David Peterside. Her decision came after facing trouble connecting Nigerian bank accounts to fintech apps she used. That frustration led her to build a financial platform that could allow apps and banks to exchange real-time data through APIs.
Okra launched officially in January 2020 and quickly connected to all major Nigerian banks. It recorded 99.9% uptime and supported over 400 businesses, including Interswitch, Access Bank, and Renmoney. Under Jituboh’s leadership, the startup helped power features like account verification, digital payments, and customer identity checks.
Funding and Growth
In 2020, Okra raised $1 million in pre-seed funding from TLcom Capital. It followed up with a $3.5 million seed round in 2021 led by Susa Ventures, bringing its total raised funds to over $15 million.
Jituboh stood out as a hands-on leader. She helped design Okra Lite, a simplified version of the platform for smaller companies. Her ability to turn user feedback into working solutions earned her strong praise from both investors and customers.
In October 2024, Okra made a major shift by launching Nebula, a cloud service built to compete with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. This move came as a response to rising costs caused by Nigeria’s weakening naira, which made foreign cloud services too expensive.
Nebula runs on high-tier local data centers and allows businesses to pay in naira. This local approach also supports Nigeria’s data protection laws. Jituboh once said on LinkedIn, “For too long, Africa has leaned on imported solutions… Now, there’s a cloud built here for us.”
Okra’s switch to cloud services came at a time when interest in open banking was slowing down. Reports say the company stopped at least three of its earlier products due to lower demand. The shift to cloud was meant to create more stable revenue in a tough market.
What’s Next for Fara Ashiru Jituboh at Kernel?
Now at Kernel, Jituboh takes on a new role where she’ll lead engineering efforts at the UK-based RevOps startup. Kernel helps companies improve how they manage sales and revenue processes using smart software tools.
Jituboh’s strong background in systems engineering and infrastructure makes her a perfect fit for Kernel. Her departure leaves questions about Okra’s next steps, especially as it grows its cloud offerings.
For Jituboh, this move is a chance to bring her talents to a new market. Just as she helped shape fintech in Africa, she may now help transform revenue operations in the UK and beyond. Her journey shows how African tech leaders are making their mark on the global stage.
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