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Hire Chika Russell
Chika Russell is an international entrepreneur, mentor and speaker. Chika Russell is an international entrepreneur, mentor and speaker. She is a qualified management accountant and spent 10 years in banking before launching her snacks business, CHIKA’S. The business has grown rapidly and in 2021 secured a $9.8 million series ‘A’ investment to fund further expansion. Chika Russell has now embarked upon her most ambitious project to date with the goal of making CHIKA’S the largest independent snack company in West Africa by 2027.
Product Launch
Launched in 2015 in the U.K., the CHIKA’S range of Africa-inspired snacks immediately struck a chord with retailers including Waitrose, Co-Op, Holland & Barrett and Ocado and established CHIKA’S as a leader in the space. Chika Russell has grown her business with national listings and several thousand retail stockists in the UK and internationally.
CHIKA’S is now backed by Alitheia IDF, a gender-lens private equity fund supported by the European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank. Alitheia founder, Tokunboh Ishmael, describes Chika Russell as: “A great entrepreneur who understands what she is doing; very dynamic and very hungry.” With financial backing from Alitheia, CHIKA’S Africa is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria and will manufacture 2 million snacks a week, employing over 300 people, including 70% women.
The Chika’s range of African-inspired, boldly-flavoured snacks proved mainstream consumer demand for African foods that immediately struck a chord with retailers like Wholefoods, Waitrose, Holland & Barrett’s and Ocado and established Chika’s as the leader in this space. In 2015, Chika Russell took part in BBC’s Dragons Den and gave what Deborah Meaden described as one of the best pitches ever. The battle between the 5 Dragons for a stake in the business was the most watched episode of the whole series.
In a short period Chika Russell has grown her business with over 1,000 retail stockists in the UK and internationally with airlines and hotels. In July 2016, she launched a revolutionary snack subscription box in partnership with the charity SOS Children with the bold aim of supporting thousands of African children through education.
Education
Chika is passionate about educating women and is a partner to Worldvision in their Empowering Girls program. She is a founding member of the Conduit Club, which works to develop and promote positive social impact. Chika has also represented female-led SMEs at 10 Downing Street’s Women in Business events.
In 2019 Chika was selected as one of the Top 30 Inspiring UK Entrepreneurs by Business Leader. She has also been recognised as a ‘Consumer Business Rising Star’ by the Black British Business Awards
Chika Russell is a frequent business speaker and she was recognised by She Leads Africa for her contribution as a female African entrepreneur.
Dragons Den
Chika Russell has appeared in BBC’s Dragons Den and gave what Deborah Meaden described as one of the best pitches ever. The battle between the 5 Dragons for a stake in the business was the most watched episode of the whole series. Chika is a regular on BBC Radio’s Wake up to Money and has been a guest BBC’S Question Time.
Her presentation themes include:
- Entrepreneurialism
- Women in Business
- Diversity and inclusion
- Unconscious bias
- Start ups
- Branding
- Leadership
Recent feedback on her speeches and interviews includes:
“Incredible speech by Chika Russell … A very good example of a focused & success-driven entrepreneur @AfricaYouthGala” Joshua Babatunde, co-founder Creditz Music
“Brilliant inspiring session” The Grocery Girls
“Thank you to the amazing speaker Chika Russell” Corporate Afrika
“Chika was fantastic! Thank you so much for making the recommendation and for helping to arrange it. A really great start to our new school year and wonderful to be able to have her in school with us.” Pippa Gilbert, Deputy Head, Putney High School
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Department of Trade & Industry Commonwealth event 2022 –
Really great feedback for Chika. Her journey was really inspiring and she stuck around after for a few hours to network and have photos with the guests – everyone was really pleased. Thank you again.
Bank of America 2022 –
Thank you again for organising everything for Chika to be able to speak on the BofA University day last week. Chika’s presentation was super well received by our clients and she was asked tons of questions after her presentation. I spoke with her after her presentation but would it be possible for you to extend again our thanks to her.
Sharyn Scott, Head of Marketing, Birketts LLP –
Chika was fabulous and really insightful. She was lovely to deal with in advance and I think was a perfect fit for our series of events.