Ireoluwa “Ire” Aderinokun, the Lagos-born, UK‑educated front‑end developer and UX designer, continues to break new ground in Africa’s tech landscape as the co‑founder, Chief Operating Officer, and Vice President of Engineering at Helicarrier (formerly BuyCoins). With roots in a childhood powered by curiosity—building her first HTML-driven Neopets fan site at age 13—Aderinokun has evolved from self-taught hobbyist into Nigeria’s first female Google Developer Expert in web technologies .
Helicarrier, which emerged from the Y Combinator‑funded BuyCoins and now operates key products like Sendcash and Sendcash Pay under its umbrella, has grown to more than 50 fully remote team members across Africa and the UK speaking.ireaderinokun.com+8ranksbusiness.com+8ranksbusiness.com+8. Aderinokun’s engineering ethos emphasizes both operational efficiency and team culture. “We rely on tools like Basecamp and an asynchronous work structure to build trust and flexibility,” she said during a May 2022 TechCabal interview pixelpioneers.co+10ranksbusiness.com+10en.wikipedia.org+10. Importantly, Helicarrier also compensates Nigerian staff in dollar-based stablecoins—an innovative way to offset inflation and empower talent nairametrics.com+7ranksbusiness.com+7aurica.ai+7.
Beyond her product leadership, Aderinokun advocates fiercely for digital accessibility and inclusion. She has repeatedly warned that developers often treat accessibility as a later-stage “nice-to-have,” rather than prioritizing it from the start weshape.tech+7siliconrepublic.com+7aurica.ai+7. At the recent Pixel Pioneers Bristol conference in June 2023, her talk focused on how CSS and JavaScript can enhance—or hinder—accessible web experiences siliconrepublic.com+2pixelpioneers.co+2pixelpioneers.co+2.
Committed to closing the gender gap in tech, she has sponsored over 50 Nigerian women through Udacity Nanodegree scholarships since 2019 nairametrics.com+5pixelpioneers.co+5udacity.com+5. Moreover, as a founding member of Nigeria’s Feminist Coalition and an active mentor in the “Road to GDE” program, Aderinokun continually uplifts diverse voices within global tech communities aurica.ai+8storytarch.com.ng+8weshape.tech+8.
Her tech journey—from studying Experimental Psychology and Law at the University of Bristol to becoming a celebrated speaker, blogger (over 100 frontend articles on bitsofco.de), and engineering leader—serves as an inspiring testament to passion-led careers ranksbusiness.com+5nairametrics.com+5speaking.ireaderinokun.com+5.
Why It Matters
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Leadership & Scale: Under Aderinokun’s technical guidance, Helicarrier is strengthening Africa’s financial infrastructure with secure, inclusive crypto and payment services.
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Advocacy in Action: By championing accessibility, gender inclusion, and employee welfare, she’s setting new standards for ethical tech leadership.
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Global Influence: As a Google Developer Expert and regular speaker at international venues, she amplifies African innovation on the global stage—and inspires the next generation of developers.
Quick Facts Snapshot
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Ireoluwa Aderinokun |
| Born | March 2, 1991, Lagos, Nigeria weshape.tech+7storytarch.com.ng+7aurica.ai+7 |
| Education | BSc Experimental Psychology & LLM, University of Bristol |
| Key Roles | Co‑founder, COO, VP Engineering at Helicarrier; Google Developer Expert |
| Advocacy | Accessibility-focused speaker; Udacity scholarship sponsor; Feminist Coalition co-founder |
What’s Next for Aderinokun and Helicarrier?
Looking ahead, Aderinokun plans to balance her management responsibilities with her passion for front-end development, continuing to explore cutting-edge web APIs and accessibility solutions storytarch.com.ng+13pixelpioneers.co+13siliconrepublic.com+13. At Helicarrier, the mission to democratize financial access in Africa remains central, fueled by expanding crypto-friendly tools and fostering inclusive, remote-first work cultures.
