Barclays Black Founder Accelerator 2022 member
Litreelly Finance

Let’s face it, most people hate being in debt, more so when they cannot get out of it, at Litreelly Finance we are on a mission to equip the communities less inclined to seek finance and funding solutions with tools to take charge of their finances and flourish, reducing financial exclusion with financial resilience.
We provide credit financing for credit card payment, we believe a credit in time saves nine, Get Help to Credit. Litreelly!
Why did you join the Barclays Black Founder Accelerator?
I had the privilege to attend the demo day for the BBFA2021 and I just knew I had to apply and be on the next cohort, I then started by attending business related programmes put together by foundervine which have been very useful. As a Fintech founder with a vision to build a solid structure, launch and then scale quickly, building a team that can support the purposeful vision, and building the networks and technical support needed for success and sustainability, every decision we make at this point is pivotal in defining our future, we consider this a great opportunity to accelerate this process for us through the learning resources available, learning from the community of cohort and alumni on the programme and most importantly industry expert mentorship from Barclays. We are now about to raise our first round of funding and would need help with this and because this is a black focused programme we believe the resources will be tailored to address specific pain points for black founders.
Why did you want to start your business?
I was provoked to purpose! In 2017, I found myself in a scam, I took out cash from my credit card for a business transaction with the expectation the loan will be repaid in no time, months turned into years, there were times I couldn't even afford to keep up with the minimum monthly payments hence I was faced with the compounding interest plus late penalty charges, my credit score also suffered, I quickly found out there are many others especially those from BAME groups with similar problem of unaffordable credit card bills. In 2020. I had a life changing experience that left me continually grateful for the gift of life, I believe I am still alive for a purpose. In November 2021 following on from my BSc Accounting and Finance and MSc Finance & Investment from University of Bradford and working within the financial sector, I was part of the Financial Inclusion Hackathon with NatWest x TechNation, with the problem “How do we encourage and assist those communities less inclined to seek finance and funding solutions – through the use of technology to reduce financial exclusion”? I was the runner-up, these experiences birthed Litreelly Finance Limited.
What would be your desired outcome from this programme?
Desired outcome would be to have the MVP ready for launch, have an actionable plan in place for FCA license, start building an effective team and ready to raise funding. Who knows, I may even get into the Female Innovators Lab programme (Barclays x Anthemis) or the (Barclays x TechStars Accelerator) for more support and funding.
Which entrepreneur inspires you the most and why?
I admire quite a few entrepreneurs that are breaking limits and doing great things in their industries, three female entrepreneurs that stand out for me are. Ibukun Awosika, a Nigerian entrepreneur, she dominated a male industry for many years with her furniture manufacturing company, (Quebee Limited) she now sits on many boards as advisory member and has become an agent of change as a motivational speaker and an inspiration to many. Courtney Adeleye an American nurse married to a Nigerian Doctor in the US, she started a hair care product from her Kitchen which is now a household name (The Mane choice) she was able to exit and now has other businesses that are doing equally well. I admire her for now using her resources and knowledge in empowering others, especially black women. Ife Durosinmi Etti, a young Nigerian/British entrepreneur, she is disrupting the Nigerian Fintech market with her company (Herconomy), a female focused platform that provides resources to create a level playing field for women as their male counterparts, she recently leverage social media in raising funds when she pivoted into the Fintech industry and raised more than half a million dollar in less than 24 hours from her Instagram followers.
What has been your biggest win in your entrepreneurial journey?
In January we contracted the developers working to bring Litreelly to life and we agreed a timeline, the research phase to look at the UI design and figure out the API was scheduled for 2 weeks, and everything else depended on the success of that phase, it was clear that without this APIs there was no business, months down the line we were still on it and even the developers suggested we put an end to the search, I insisted we continue the search and we finally found the right API at the right price, this is a major win because we are a step closer to bringing this much needed solution to the market to serve the communities that desperately need it.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Aside from the challenge around the API, the biggest challenge has been juggling my full time job and working tirelessly on setting the business up, I am bootstrapping at the moment too so cannot afford to not have an income, I hope by the end of this accelerator we are in a place to raise finance and I can be in a position to focus full time on the business and start building an inhouse team that is as passionate as I am in taking this vision forward.
Where did you go for business advice and how did it help you?
I studied OND Business Administration Management Nigeria, I further studied BSc Accounting and Finance and then MSc Finance and Investment from university of Bradford. I believe my educational background has laid the right foundation for my business however I have found some business focused programmes I have recently attended very useful. I attended a 6 weeks business programme with TwinklHive in 2021, this was before I started working on Litreelly, I believe I have applied most of the lessons learnt from that programme, I found it extremely useful when defining and communicating the problem I am solving. NatWest Accelerator was especially good for the master classes on mindset and setting goals etc, we had a monthly Fintech focus sessions too, I have also attended the FreelanceHer100 cohort 2.0, AccelerateHer Bootcamp 2.0 which have been equally impactful especially the community of cohort, you would be surprised most of the issues you are dealing with someone else in the community have dealt with it and can give some priceless direction.
What drives you to make your business a success?
I was born and raised in Nigeria, I got married in 2009 and in that same year, I relocated from Nigeria to the UK. I thereafter settled into family life and after nursing my child for a year, I decided to find a job, but this was not as easy as I had anticipated. Before leaving Nigeria, I had obtained OND in Business Administration and worked in my family business where it was majorly one hat fits all situations. I believed my academic qualification and work experience was good enough to at least secure a clerical position in any organization. But to my chagrin the more applications I submitted the more disappointment I got. I came into the country with big dreams and aspirations; however, I came to the realization that I must start from somewhere hence I joined Meridian agency, they provide domestic workers for the NHS here in Bradford at Bradford Royal Infirmary. I plunged my whole being to my job and later got employed as an NHS contracted worker as a ward hospitality assistant. I could not, however, be complacent with being a domestic worker all my life. In 2013, while my children were only ages three and one and with the pregnancy of my 3rd, I made the first move to actualize my dreams. I applied to the University of Bradford to study. When I graduated as a mature student in 2017, I started my masters degree immediately and subsequently got a job with the same University, where I have worked ever since. But something happened in 2020 that changed the trajectory of my entire existence, I became Provoked to Purpose. Litreelly itself was birthed from a financial problem I had found myself, I realized this was not a problem peculiar to me, I live in Bradford, Bradford is a beautiful multicultural city but ranks 13th most deprived local authority in England (where 1 is the most deprived local authority and 317 is the least deprived, I know the success of Litreelly will change many lives especially for people like me, the solution in itself will disrupt the credit card market and we will contribute our quota to reducing poverty.
What advice would you give other founders thinking about starting their own business?
My advice to anyone thinking about starting a business is the same mantra that I have lived and continue to live by “If you do not sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice” the difference between success and mediocre is action, find a problem and be determined to be the source of solution, take action fast before someone else does, seek help, starting a business will require a lot of sacrifices from your part but you’ll be glad you did.