UrbanGeekz 50: Software

Tope Awotona – Calendly

Tope Awotona was recently recognized as one of America’s wealthiest immigrants. His startup, Calendly, a scheduling software that helps busy professionals schedule appointments and events, is worth $3 billion. 

Tope Awotona, one of a handful of Black tech billionaires in the U.S. was the recipient of the 2021 Atlanta Business Chronicle Most Admired CEO Award and 2019 Comparably Best CEOs award. He was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and moved to the U.S. in 1996 after his father’s death.

He founded Calendly in 2013 with the vision of simplifying scheduling for everyone without the back-and-forth emails. With Tope’s strategic direction, the platform has grown and evolved to over 10 million monthly users and counts Lyft, Ancestry.com, Indiana University, and La-Z-Boy among its customers.

The startup raised $350 million in Series B funding in 2021 with participation from investors like OpenView Venture Partners, Iconiq Capital, and Atlanta Ventures. 

Sara Menker – Gro Intelligence

Sara Menker is a strong advocate in the global fight against food insecurity around the world. After experiencing the extremes of famine while growing up in Ethiopia, Sara’s startup, Gro Intelligence, uses artificial intelligence to forecast global agricultural trends and battle food insecurity.

In 2017, the startup raised $17.4 million in a Series A round and then $85 million in a Series B round in 2021. Some of Gro Intelligence’s investors include Intel Capital, Africa Internet Ventures, DCVC, GGV Capital and Rethink Food

Menker is a Trustee of the Mandela Institute For Development Studies (MINDS) and a Trustee of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). She was named a Global Young Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2014 and is a fellow of the African Leadership Initiative of the Aspen Institute. In 2021, she was included in the Time 100, Time‘s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Bloomberg’s New Economy Catalyst. 

George Azih – LeaseQuery

George Azih is a financial authority and leading expert on lease accounting, specializing in technical accounting and accounting research. In 2019, George’s startup, LeaseQuery raised $40 million in Series A funding from Goldman Sachs’ merchant banking division.

It was the first outside investment for the startup, which was created in 2011. LeaseQuery enables organizations to move leases and SaaS subscription data out of spreadsheets and into a secure cloud. George took LeaseQuery from a one-person startup to a thriving company with 180 employees—in less than six years.

George Azih was on the University of Georgia’s 2020 Bulldog 100 list of fastest-growing alumni-owned businesses. He was recently named in Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting. LeaseQuery ranked among the fastest-growing companies in North America on the 2022 Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ for the third year in a row.