Rebecca Enonchong

Rebecca Enonchong is the founder and CEO of AppsTech and I/O Spaces. AppsTech is a Bethesda, Maryland-based global provider of enterprise application solutions founded in 1999. It's an Oracle Platinum Partner and has customers in over 40 countries. I/O Spaces is a Coworking space in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Ms. Enonchong started AppTech with literally no money and despite her best efforts, was never able to raise any funding.

"I was a Black woman tech founder. I was a Black African woman tech founder. Although those might have been external factors, my race, gender, or national origin were never a part of my equation. I lived in a self-created bubble in which those elements didn’t matter and I went about my business as any white male would have, oblivious to the reality that surrounded me and the challenges before me. It honestly never occurred to me that it might be any harder for me than any of my fellow startup entrepreneurs, she said."

Read How Rebecca Enonchong Built a Global Tech Business With No Funding

Ms. Enonchong has spent much of her career promoting technology in Africa. She's one of the most follow sources for African tech news on Twitter, with over 53 thousand followers.

In 2002, The World Economic Forum of Davos, Switzerland named Ms. Enonchong a Global Leader for Tomorrow (GLT) along with other tech entrepreneurs such as Google co-founder Larry Page and Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff.

In 2013, Ms. Enonchong was recognized as a finalist for the African digital woman award. In March 2014, Forbes listed her as one of the ‘10 Female Tech Founders to Watch in Africa.

She was the founder and Chairperson of the Africa Technology Forum, a non-profit dedicated to helping technology startups in Africa.

She is Chair of ActivSpaces (African Center for Technology Innovation and Ventures), an incubator in Cameroon. She is cofounder and board member of Cameroon Angels Network and African Business Angels Network.

She also sits on the board of Venture Capital for Africa (VC4Africa), of Salesforce.org Foundation and the African Media Initiative.

Ms. Enonchong currently serves as a mentor/advisor to several Africa based technology startups. She was a member of the UK Department for International Development’s Digital Advisory Panel, and was previously involved with the UN’s Women Global Advisory Committee and the United Nations ICT Task Force.

Ms. Enonchong attended the Catholic University of America, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree and also a Master of Science degree in Economics.