KC Efosa Obano

I’m really excited to be turning 30! I’ve always kept my age a secret, because I’m usually younger than people I support or partner with. But as I reflect on this birthday, I’m realizing that age is only a number. And I love this pic, because it reminds me of what’s possible when I don’t let “getting old enough” stop me - from living purposefully 😅 If you’re reading this, I’d like to say a BIG thank you for your support with my story. I’m currently prepping for the chapter where I launch my most important startup so far (marriage 😅), with the best co-founder ever (my amazing fiancee). And I hope to be the best husband & father I can be, with God’s help. The best gift anyone can give me this year, is your support with this chapter (through the link in my bio!) Thinking back to 20, I also remember how stressed I was about the decade ahead. With what I know now, this is what I’d tell 20 year old Efosa / KC. I hope it encourages someone in a similar season, regardless of your chapter: • It’s okay to always be the youngest in the room, and it’s never too early to get started. Time, not money, is actually the most expensive resource • Stop being anxious about your future, God has such a beautiful plan for it. Surrender to that, trust in Him, and stop trying on your own. You can truly do all things, through Christ who strengthens you • Sacrificial love & a heart of service, are key drivers of impactful leadership. Truly loving + serving your team members, customers, and partners - will create huge impact, and help you become a better leader • Build for eternity. The world as we know it, is going to be restored to how God meant it to be. How can you play a part in this? Your purpose sits at the intersection of the burden(s) you feel more than others - about things wrong in the world; and the unique gifts you have been given to fix them

Forever grateful to call you mine.. God knew exactly what our hearts needed 💍❤️ 13/02/26 - Efosa & Ada - a love story written by God. Swipe to the end, for the video recap! #BackToEden 📸 @luckygrapherr 🎥 @theresolution__ 🎇 @flikfireworks 🍛 @wajiskitchen

2025 was a year of huge growth for me. I’ve been on a holiday break from my crazy schedule, and so grateful as I reflect on the best moments 🙏🏾 This year I spent more time with God than ever before.. and despite all His gifts shared in the post, I still experienced moments of extreme hurt. I’ve learned that truly doing life with Him, doesn’t mean we won’t have tough moments.. but that if we let Him, He uses our deepest moments of pain - to prune us in preparation for the perfect gifts He has in store for us, at the perfect time. He also gives us His constant love & peace - that aren’t affected by those experiences, or by how “good” or “bad” we are 2026 feels like it’s going to be His most impactful one so far with me.. and I can’t wait for what He has in store. Please help me pray for the grace to stay rooted in Him, no matter what 🙏🏾 Finally if you are reading this, thank you so much for the part you played in my 2025. I pray next year is your best one yet as well, filled with His constant love and peace. Please give Jesus a chance if you haven’t already.. and I promise He’ll blow your mind away. If you had a tough year, or just feel encouraged to reach out after reading this. Please feel free to dm ❤️

Has God ever used someone’s journey to guide your steps? I just had breakfast with a mentor whose story has, and I feel led to share this The first time I met Iyin Aboyeji @iaboyeji was when he spoke to my high school class in Nigeria, just before graduation. He finished earlier from the same school (@ljcabuja ), and came back to share advice for life after. At the time, US and UK were the main college destinations for our students, but he told us about this place called “Canada” where he just finished from @uofwaterloo . The question I asked him after, guided my decision to attend @uoft I followed his journey, watching him move back to build 2 of Africa’s billion dollar unicorns (@thisisandela & @theflutterwave ). Then starting @anafricanfuture , investing in 100+ companies now worth over $6 billion - including the next unicorn (@moove_io ). But what inspired me most, was how rooted this all was in Christ. No one’s perfect, and he’s faced his fair share of criticism. But he’s tried to live out Matthew 5:16 & 6:33 with God’s grace, encouraging me to do the same. After I finished school and worked a bit, he also inspired me to leave my comfort at Dell, to build @africanimpactin & @bfncommunity . And today he still helps me with advice - on everything from building back home, to prepping for balancing my work with a family in future. I can’t wait to share what we’re partnering on I post this to remind us (and myself) - that we never know whose journey we are shaping with ours. I currently struggle with meeting the volume of requests I get for advice, but this has convicted me to try harder in paying it forward. And when we meet people we can learn from, let’s not be afraid to ask the question in our hearts. You never know where it could lead..

yesterday, i was surprised with this award for advancing Canada-Africa partnerships 🙏🏾 huge gratitude to my teams @africanimpactin & @bfncommunity for the work behind this. and to God for His continued grace through Christ ❤️ super grateful to the team at @africanadasummit and whoever nominated me. @tundetash you did such a great job with the event!

@bfncommunity is receiving $1m from a long time supporter! When I left the comfort of my tech job at Dell to start BFN in 2021 with no funding, I had no idea what God had in store. With all your support and His grace, we’ve now raised millions - which has helped Black founders create hundreds of millions in financial value (revenues & funds raised) & provide thousands of jobs through our programs, growing to a community of 10,000. But there’s still so much more to do, and it feels like we’re just getting started We’re incredibly grateful to Som Seif, Wes Hall, University of Toronto Entrepreneurship, and all our financial partners - for your support in keeping this dream alive. And our amazing BFN team (staff, EIRs, Experts) for the tireless work behind the scenes. My deepest gratitude goes to our founders & community members, for showing everyone what’s possible when we support #Blackfounders. Like Som said at the end of his speech, we are trusting that you’ll ensure what we are building outlives all of us 🙏🏾

Reflecting on my birthday retreat this year, I’m filled with so much gratitude. If only my one year old self (on the left) knew the crazy story ahead of him.. that would make him have white hair in his youth 😂 (I just took the picture on the right 😅) God has given me many gifts in my last chapter, and I only share a few of these to give Him all the credit. His grace with more awards (2 & 3 from @globeandmail change makers & @mipad100 ), His impact on ppl through @africanimpactin & @bfncommunity (4, 5, 6), special memories with my family (7 & 8), and life changing experiences that are planting some exciting seeds (9 & 10 with 800+ in @faithdrivenentrepreneur & @faithdriveninvestor w @nickvujicic @henrykaestner ). But none are as sweet as His gift of a more intimate friendship with Him, which He wants with all of us And great as things may look, there were still many difficult moments in my last chapter. Jesus actually told us it would be this way (John 16:33) & thankfully left us with His peace & Holy spirit that surpass all understanding - no matter how painful things get (John 14: 26 - 27). This is what keeps me going, and my encouragement to anyone in such a season I’m very excited to see what He has planned in my next chapter, and grateful to all of you reading this. Thank you for your love & support! ❤️

Yesterday, I was granted citizenship by Canada! Reflecting on my move from #Nigeria 12 years ago. I had a different plan for my life and where I wanted to study, but God led me here. Navigating all stages of the immigrant journey - from an international student with no community, to the post graduate work permit and permanent residency years, full of changing policies and anxiety. Drive my desire to build a better future for my communities - on the continent & diaspora I am extremely grateful to Jesus for helping me to keep going. And to my parents who sacrificed so much to give my brother and I a better life. I am also thankful to all the institutions & people that have supported me since I moved here. Thank you! @bfncommunity , @africanimpactin , @uoft , @delltech - thank you!

2024 was a special year. very long reflection post.. first, so much to be thankful for! in pics: - consciously (re)dedicating my life to Jesus (1st & 2nd). i was baptized as a baby, and started my real r/ship with God in 2016. but i felt led to knowingly do this in june with friends.. & life fully dependent on Him has been amazing - deepening our intimacy through daily conversations & more time in His word. He wants to guide every area of our lives.. and His promises are true! some of my faves are now hung by my bed (3rd) - growing @bfncommunity & @africanimpactin with amazing ppl, supporting thousands, graduating new cohorts, moving to BFN’s new space & expanding to AII’s 5th country (Botswana) (4 & 5) - celebrating special milestones with some of my favourite people (6 & 7) - working with partners to break the record for black representation, at north america’s largest tech conference (1) - meeting drogba (1) & watching messi live! (8) - getting this surprise gift after completing our toughest, but most special AIC cohort so far (9) - finding this beauty on our Gaborone safari 😂 (10) then, what i learned: i tried to spend the year doing what i shared in my 2023 recap, with more balance. there was progress with my health & fitness.. but i lost consistency during stressful work seasons. i also struggled to keep up with the volume of requests for my time, as we helped more people. please forgive me for the very late replies. 2025 will need better systems, and more leaders that i’m trusting God to send our way, before we can scale any further. big shoutout to @wowitsfaizah & @osas_obano , who were perfect gifts this year ❤️ i also made mistakes that led to God’s loving discipline, and His pruning. Hebrews 12: 5 - 10 helped me through them, and i’m so grateful for the growth finally, i learned about His empowering grace. beyond forgiveness, He can also help us live as Jesus taught, if we rely on Him. and His ideal plans for us are much bigger & fulfilling than ours my desire for 2025 is sustained progress in my growth areas, with more consistency. and i wish the same for you! 🙏🏾

Yesterday, I was invited to participate in roundtables on the Canada-Africa strategy with the govt of Canada & the @africanunion_official As an African born and raised in #Nigeria, who moved to #Canada for university - many of us in diaspora have had to navigate the dual identifies of being “African” and “Black” with their unique challenges. I shared this in my contributions, and appealed for the strategy to be sensitive to our lived experiences with practical solutions I also shared about the need to create win-win economic impact on both sides - through entrepreneurship, thoughtful allocation of international development & trade dollars, and skill development leading to meaningful employment. With over $1 billion sent to Africa from Canada in 2023 alone, there’s a huge opportunity for our leaders to leverage the power of our diaspora community & partner with the private sector. Our work @africanimpactin & @bfncommunity is contributing to this by God’s grace - with millions dedicated to helping our companies build global businesses; helping our youth get paid jobs; and helping our students access financial support Huge thanks to Prime Minister @justinpjtrudeau & Canada’s Ministers of Foreign Affairs @melaniejoly , Int’l Development @ahmeddhussen & Export Trade & Dev @mary_ng - for their approach in working with African countries as partners. I enjoyed meeting them alongside the AU Chairperson (Moussa Faki) and learning about the collaboration. Promising updates were shared, and I encourage everyone to learn about them through the link in my bio Finally, a big shoutout to MPP Arielle Kayabaga and the @global.affairs.canada team (especially Justine & Crista) for being amazing champions for our community. And to the many partners turned friends, who have also been working hard through their various orgs to ensure this gets implemented with our needs in mind. There’s still a lot to do to get there, and it’s important we work together to get our communities informed & engaged. Too many to mention, but this collage shows some of my best moments leading up to yday :)

BFN’s 3rd anniversary - A Celebration of #BlackExcellence in Entrepreneurship! When we started the @bfncommunity in 2021, we couldn’t have imagined how far we’d come. In just 3 years - we have supported thousands in tangible ways (funding, jobs, programs), and created millions in financial value. But most importantly, we are gradually achieving our mission of creating an inclusive community for #Blackfounders at all stages. It’s not been as rosy as it sounds.. and we still have so much to improve on. But moments like Friday fill me with gratitude (you can check out the pics through the link in our bio! 📸 by @luckygrapherr ) To our graduating 2024 cohorts - thank you for raising the bar as high as you have. You are our strongest ambassadors yet, and we’re all excited for what you’ll go on to achieve together To our team, sponsors and partners - thank you for believing in the vision, and helping us make it real (Ministry of Citizenship & Multiculturalism, @uoft , @blkopportunity , @kpmgcanada , @delltech ) And especially to everyone reading this - thank you for your continued support and patience with us. It truly takes a village This year has been the most demanding so far, and I’ve been forced to reflect on my “why” behind all the work. I can’t thank God enough for His grace and direction with everything. Trusting Him to help me learn and grow from the lessons in this season 🙏🏾

Join us for a sit down with @efosaobano , our founder and @wowitsfaizah , our program coordinator as they chat about BFN’s turning 3! Celebrate three years of BFN at our Demo Day and 3rd anniversary celebration happening on September 27! RSVP with the link in our bio. We can’t wait to see you!