Tope Awotona

Tope Awotona is a tech entrepreneur known for founding the software company, Calendly.

Early life and education
Tope Awotona born in Lagos, Nigeria. His father was a microbiologist and entrepreneur; his mother worked at the local bank. At the age of 12 years old, Awotona's father was tragically killed in a carjacking, thus propelling him and his family which included his mother and three brothers to leave Lagos and migrate to the US residing in Atlanta, GA. It was then that Awotona used his pain to continue his father's legacy of entrepreneurship. He majored in computer science at the University of Georgia where he later changed his concentration to business and management and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.

Career
Following graduation from college, Awotona worked for different corporate jobs including IBM before joining a startup company in Kansas City, Perceptive Software as an accountant executive. It was there while working for the company that he was exposed to various kinds of functions of the software business. While trying to schedule a meeting as a salesman, Awotona become frustrated, and poured his life savings into creating Calendly. Launched from Atlanta Tech Village, Calendly made its debut in 2013. Since 2013, Calendly is now a $3 billion software firm that continues to provide simple solutions for business communications, team scheduling, and preparation follow-ups. As of 2024, Calendly app has 10 million users, according to Forbes making Awotona one of the wealthiest immigrants in America.