The serial entrepreneur co-founded Mstudio to support and finance entrepreneurs in French-speaking Africa.  With a particular emphasis on empowering women and the youth, she aims to foster the growth of Africa's next generation of unicorns.

Leslie Ossete (photo) is a serial technology entrepreneur of Congolese and Madagascan descent. Raised in Congo, she moved to the United States to pursue her studies. In 2012, she graduated from UWC-USA (United World College) with an International Baccalaureate. In 2016, she got a Bachelor’s in Economics, Business, and Nonprofit Management from Earlham College. 

Driven by the ambition to transform the informal sector in French-speaking African countries, she co-founded Mstudio, the first “mobile” startup studio in French-speaking West Africa, in September 2022. 

The studio, where she serves as the Chief Operating Officer, creates and finances startups that meet current needs in the informal sector. It also provides expert support, drawing inspiration from business models that work in English-speaking African countries. Based in Côte d'Ivoire, it focuses particularly on women and young people, who are the main users of mobile technology in Africa. 

"Our approach aims to narrow the investment gap in French-speaking Africa by assisting entrepreneurs in establishing high-impact startups, mirroring successful business models from English-speaking Africa, Latin America, and Asia rather than reinventing the wheel. As the pioneering startup studio in French-speaking Africa, we offer not just expertise and funding, but also an unparalleled network for the startups we champion,"  Leslie Ossete explained in late May 2023. 

In 2015, the latter co-founded BuuPass, a digital marketplace that enables urban travelers to book their tickets. She served as its CEO until 2017.  She boasts a professional career with several African companies such as Bolt Kenya, the mobility company, where she was COO in 2019, and Wave Mobile Money where she was successively, between 2020 and 2022, the company's launcher in West African countries and head of growth.

With BuuPass, Leslie Ossete won the prestigious Hult Prize awarded by US President Clinton to young entrepreneurs in 2016. In 2017, she became the winner of the African Women in Technology Prize. The following year, Transdev awarded BuuPass as one of the best transport innovations working on the technology scene in Nairobi, Kenya.

Melchior Koba