Adeyemi 'Ade' Ajao

Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Base10 Partners · Joined 2017

View Live Interactive Profile →

Biography

Adeyemi 'Ade' Ajao, who has African, European, and Latin roots and was raised in Spain and Nigeria, built a genuinely rare multi-country founder track record before turning to venture capital - co-founding Tuenti while in college (sold to Telefónica for $100 million), then Jobandtalent, Identified, and Cabify, before joining Workday as VP of Technology Product Strategy. He co-founded Base10 Partners in 2017 with TJ Nahigian, building what Forbes has recognized as the world's largest Black-led VC firm, with an original thesis the two originally called 'Applied AI for the Real Economy' - a term LPs initially dismissed as too niche until AI became mainstream. Base10 commits up to 50% of its carried interest to fund student scholarships at Historically Black Colleges and Universities through its Advancement Initiative, and has grown to $2.6 billion in AUM, backing Notion, Figma, and Nubank among more than 110 investments.

Previous Experience

Notable Investments

NotionFigmaNubank NUAxleSightglassMotive

Board Seats

Career Timeline

2000s
Co-founds Tuenti, a Spanish social media company, while still in college, later sold to Telefónica for $100 million.
2010s
Founds Jobandtalent, Identified, and Cabify, then becomes VP of Technology Product Strategy at Workday.
2017
Co-founds Base10 Partners with TJ Nahigian in San Francisco.
2026
Closes $850 million for Base10's latest fund, pushing AUM to $2.6 billion, and joins the board of Motive.

Sources & References

PR Newswire ↗AfroTech via Yahoo Finance ↗