Njoku Emmanuel is a Nigerian software engineer and entrepreneur known for his work in the blockchain and financial technology (Fintech) sectors.

He gained prominence as the co-founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency payment gateway Lazerpay. Following the shutdown of Lazerpay, he founded Ultramarkets, a decentralized perpetuals trading protocol. ^[1]

Early Life

Njoku Emmanuel was raised in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. ^[1]

His interest in technology began at the age of 13 when his aunt, a robotic engineer, introduced him to computer programming. Initially, he harbored ambitions of creating his own operating system or a social media platform. ^[2]​

Education

Emmanuel attended the Niger Delta Science School in Port Harcourt, where he received advanced instruction in subjects such as electronics and physics. ^[1]

He demonstrated a strong aptitude for mathematics, achieving A+ grades in both Mathematics and Further Mathematics in his final secondary school examinations in 2017. ^[2]​

In 2018, he was admitted to Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) to study Electrical Engineering. However, he dropped out during his first year, stating that he found the curriculum to be "too elementary" and less advanced than what he had learned in secondary school. He described his short time at the university as a "waste of time" and chose to pursue self-education and a full-time career in technology instead. ^{[2] [1]}​

Career

Early Ventures and Entry into Blockchain

Before focusing on blockchain technology, Emmanuel explored several business ventures that were ultimately unsuccessful. These included dropshipping, building websites for local businesses, and a concept for a water delivery service called QAqua. At the age of 17, around 2019, he decided to specialize in blockchain engineering. He taught himself to code on the blockchain using open-source materials, including Andreas M. Antonopoulos's book Mastering Bitcoin: Programming the Open Blockchain. ^[1]​

His first professional role was an internship at Quiva Games, a gaming company in Enugu, which he undertook while briefly enrolled at ESUT in 2018. During the COVID-19 lockdown period, he intensified his focus on coding, often for 12 hours a day. This led to his first remote job as a mobile application developer at a company named Kwivar, where he earned N70,000 per month. ^[2]​

Rise as a Blockchain Engineer

Two months after starting at Kwivar, Emmanuel transitioned into a dedicated blockchain role with Project Hydro, a company based in the British Virgin Islands, earning a salary of $700 per month. He later joined a Nigerian firm as a blockchain engineer, where his salary increased from N150,000 to N300,000 per month. ^[2]​

His skills gained international recognition, leading to a series of high-profile, lucrative positions with global companies. He became the first Nigerian engineer to be employed by the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) company MakerDAO, where he earned over 3,000 per week. During his time with Avarta, he was responsible for building the company's entire blockchain infrastructure. He also received a contract offer from the DeFi protocol company Instadapp for 20,000 per month at his peak. ^{[2] [1]}​

Lazerpay

In 2021, at the age of 19, Emmanuel decided to shift from being an engineer to an entrepreneur. He co-founded Lazerpay along with Abdulfatai Suleiman and Prosper Ubi. Emmanuel served as the company's CEO. ^[2]

He rejected a significant salary increase from Avarta (from 15,000 per month) and a reported job offer worth $500,000 annually to focus on building his own company in Africa. In December 2021, he resigned from his position at MakerDAO to dedicate himself fully to Lazerpay. ^{[2] [1]}​

Lazerpay was a cryptocurrency payment gateway designed to help African businesses overcome the challenges of cross-border payments. The platform allowed merchants to accept payments in stablecoins like USDT and BUSD from a global clientele, which could then be settled in the merchant's local currency. This aimed to bypass issues associated with traditional banking systems and local currency volatility. ^[1]

Speaking on his motivation in 2022, Emmanuel stated, "We want to create a solution that helps them (businesses) accept payments from anyone, anywhere in the world... a future where crypto is a major part of the African financial system and we want to be at the forefront of that." ^[1]​

The company gained early traction and, in 2022, announced it had raised over $1.1 million in a pre-seed funding round. The round included investors such as Yele Bademosi, founder and CEO of Nestcoin. ^{[2] [1]}​

Despite its initial success, Lazerpay faced significant challenges. In April 2023, the company officially announced it was ceasing operations. The shutdown was attributed to an inability to close a subsequent seed funding round amid challenging market conditions for tech and crypto startups. ^[1]​

Ultramarkets

Following the closure of Lazerpay, Emmanuel founded his next venture, Ultramarkets, in 2023. This project marked a shift in focus from crypto payments to the broader DeFi sector.

​Ultramarkets is a decentralized protocol designed for trading perpetuals and other derivatives on-chain, catering to a more specialized segment of the crypto market. ^[1]​

Personal Life

Emmanuel's career path initially met with resistance from his parents, who had hoped he would become a medical doctor like his older brother. After he dropped out of university to pursue programming, his father confiscated his laptop in an attempt to get him to refocus on his formal studies. ^[2]​

The family's perspective shifted once Emmanuel achieved significant financial success as a blockchain developer. He eventually took over the payment of his older brother's medical school tuition. His parents became supportive of his career, going so far as to encourage his youngest sibling to pursue software engineering. At one point in his career, Emmanuel relocated from Nigeria to Dubai to better connect with the global blockchain ecosystem. ^[2]​