Barbara Iyayi

Barbara Iyayi is the Founder & Managing Partner of Unicorn Growth Capital, an early-stage Web3 VC fund that invests in the future of finance to foster more inclusive economies. Barbara is an experienced investor and entrepreneur with over 16 years’ experience, spanning venture capital, private equity, investment banking/M&A and technology. 

Barbara has invested in, founded, and taken board roles in FinTech and financial services companies globally. She currently serves on the board of the Web Foundation, an international non-profit focused on digital equality, co-founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. Barbara also served as the Chief Growth Officer of Element, Inc, an AI-powered digital identity platform, operating in the US, Africa and Southeast Asia, and co-founded by Yann LeCun, Chief AI Scientist at Facebook and Turing Award Laureate. Previously, she launched Atlas Mara, a London Stock Exchange-listed financial services investment platform from start to over $3bn of bank assets, co-founded by Bob Diamond, ex-CEO of Barclays. 

Barbara worked at various financial institutions, including as Vice President, Investment Banking at JPMorgan, and UBS Investment Bank in New York. 

She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Columbia University, and an MBA at Harvard Business School.