Oshiorenayo Agabi : an Adventure of Bioelectronics in Silicon Valley

The Nigerian Oshiorenayo Agabi is successfully pursuing an international career in Silicon Valley in bioelectronics. “Only 6 of the 15 people on my team are Americans,” says the multilingual business leader (he speaks six languages). He continues to recruit for his “start-up” founded in 2015. Oshiorenayo Agabi aims to gain from 20 to 30 million dollars in revenue in 2018, against 10 last year, especially from the defense sector.”

Named Koniku (“immortal” in Yoruba), his start-up offers sensors that detect drugs and explosives. They work with genetically modified neurons connected by an electrode to an electronic component. The neuron emits an electric signal, measured very quickly by the electronic part of the device when it detects a trace of certain organic compounds in the air (in only 25 milliseconds). “This year we will develop sensors for applications in health and taste,” said Oshiorenayo Agabi. He claims the filing of more than a dozen patents and fifteen years of experience, including at Imperial College London, at ETH Zürich (Switzerland) and Umea University (Sweden), after initial training in physics in Lagos (Nigeria).