Quick Facts
Leo
Biography
Yomi Denzel Nicolas Olaniyi (born 1 August 1996), is a Swiss entrepreneur and YouTuber specialist in e-commerce.
He built a fortune with e-commerce and online training business and increased his notoriety by running contests on Instagram designed to win prestigious prizes.
Early life, education and beginnings
Yomi Denzel Olaniyi was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, into a family of modest means. His father was an undocumented immigrant from Nigeria; his mother, who had no formal education, worked in human resources in a large company. He is the brother of former basketball player Kaanu Olaniyi. During his youth, Olaniyi was an amateur football player.
In 2010, at the age of 14, he launched his YouTube channel with gaming content.
He reached the rank of sergeant in the army. He studied at HEC Lausanne and completed a semester at Harvard University.
Career
In 2017, at the age of 21 and during his studies at HEC Lausanne, he created an online marketing agency and became a millionaire from online commerce during the next year.
In 2019, 1000 people came for one of its conference in Geneva, and he gathered a community of 190 000 follower on Youtube. At the age of 22, he is considered as "the main figure in e-commerce 4.0 in French-speaking world" by the Swiss journal Le Temps.
In September 2020, he ran a contest on Instagram, with prestigious prizes. Several celebrities such as the French footballer Dimitri Payet shared the publication and more than a million people answered on the Instagram publication. one year after, he launched a similar competition with bigger prizes. Participant could earn a Tesla car or a Channel Bag by following its account and commenting its post. The lottery was advertised in Paris Métro and on the French TV channel M6 and TF1. By the end of 2021, Yomi Denzel acquired 486.000 follower on Youtube.
In 2021, he founded a company named Minea, proposing SaaS aiming at analyzing data for e-commerce. In 2022 he also runs the online training company Mindeo and holds 550 000 followers on Youtube.
Awards and nominations
| Organization | Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilan | 2022 | Entrepreneurs in French-speaking Switzerland under the age of 40 | Himself | Won |
Philanthropy
In 2022, the entrepreneur created a foundation providing free education for the development of Nigerian Youths. The foundation offers 6 months of practical training on Python Programming, Data Analytics, Machine learning and Blockchain development in Lagos. The first promotion graduated in April 2024.
