UnwindFest Takes Founders Rant to Nairobi, Its First Stop in East Africa

The founder mixer brought 40 entrepreneurs together at Sarit Expo Centre to talk about
funding, evolution, and the real cost of building.

NAIROBI, Kenya, October 20, 2026. UnwindFest held Founders Rant X Live in Nairobi on
October 16, 2026, at Sarit Expo Centre. It was the first Nairobi edition and the eighth edition
this year, following earlier stops in Lagos, Abuja, and Accra.
Founders Rant is an experience-driven mixer that gives founders a safe, honest space to rant,
connect, grow and be mentored. It brings entrepreneurs, innovators, and creatives together
to talk openly about the pressure, the burnout, the wins, and the lessons of building a
business. The Nairobi edition was powered by the African Workforce Summit, organized by
YellowLyfe and hosted by its CEO, Seyi Olaniyan.

“We built Founders Rant because founders carry a lot in silence,” said Seyi Olaniyan, CEO of
YellowLyfe. “Taking it to Nairobi shows the conversation travels. Founders in every city deal
with the same pressure and want a room where they can be honest about it.”

Olufemi Oguntamu, CEO of Penzarville, spoke on the challenges young entrepreneurs face in
the early stages of building a business and how to get through them. He urged founders to
keep evolving, saying the ability to adapt, grow, and reinvent is what keeps a business alive
long-term.

Ayo Adewuyi, CEO of Pouchers, and Lemuel Abishua, co-founder of Vetted AI, led a session
on the ABCs of fundraising and the realities of raising capital as a startup. They asked
founders to begin with one question: does the business really need investor money? Their
view was that understanding the nature, structure, and growth potential of a business can
spare founders unnecessary investor pressure and that choosing to bootstrap does not
make a founder any less ambitious. They closed on the point that building a sustainable and
profitable business is the real measure of success, and raising capital is only one route to it.

Forty founders attended the Nairobi session.

About UnwindFest
UnwindFest is a series of founder-focused experiences, including the Founders Rant, which
has been held in Lagos, Abuja, Accra, and now Nairobi.

About YellowLyfe
YellowLyfe is an event management company that specializes in turning average corporate
experiences into unforgettable moments for both employees and employers. It organizes
UnwindFest and its Founders Rant series.

About Seyi Olaniyan
Seyi Olaniyan is the CEO of YellowLyfe and the convener of the Founders Rant. He hosted the Nairobi edition, where he guided conversations between founders on funding, resilience,
and building sustainably.