Leslie OSSETE
- Co-founder & COO
- Mstudio
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Bio
Leslie Ossété is co-founder and COO of Mstudio, Francophone Africa's first technology venture studio, based in Abidjan. For the past decade, she has pursued a single question: how can technology and artificial intelligence transform Africa's informal economy — which accounts for 40 to 60% of regional GDP — into a driver of value creation and formal employment.
A graduate of Earlham College (Indiana) in economics and management, she led the Côte d'Ivoire expansion of Wave Mobile Money — Francophone West Africa's first unicorn, valued at $1.7 billion — and held operational roles at Bolt across East Africa. Since 2022, Mstudio has co-built 18 startups in partnership with Ring Capital, a European impact fund (€400M AUM), accounting for 68% of early-stage tech funding in Côte d'Ivoire.
Winner of the Hult Prize — the world's leading impact entrepreneurship award, presented by President Bill Clinton — and Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 (2024), Leslie Ossété is a leading voice on technology, AI, and economic inclusion in Africa.
