Silas Adekunle is a Nigerian robotics engineer, entrepreneur, and artificial intelligence innovator widely recognized for pioneering Africa’s presence in the global robotics industry. He gained international fame as the founder and former CEO of Reach Robotics and later as the founder of Awarri.
Born in Nigeria, Silas moved to the United Kingdom during his teenage years. He studied Robotics at the University of the West of England, where he developed an interest in combining gaming, artificial intelligence, and robotics.
In 2013, he founded Reach Robotics and launched MekaMon, an augmented reality gaming robot that blended robotics with smartphone technology. The product gained international attention and secured millions of dollars in investment funding. At one point, Silas was recognized as one of the world’s highest-funded Black robotics entrepreneurs.
After Reach Robotics closed its consumer operations, Silas shifted his focus toward artificial intelligence in Africa. He founded Awarri, a company dedicated to building indigenous AI systems and datasets that reflect African languages, cultures, and contexts. Through Awarri, he advocates for Africa to become a creator of AI technologies rather than simply a consumer.
Today, Silas Adekunle is regarded as one of Africa’s leading voices in robotics and AI innovation.