Did you know that the Nigerian-born Silas Adekunle created the world's first intelligent gaming robot and is the world’s highest-paid robotics engineer?

Silas Adekunle, a Nigerian inventor and technology entrepreneur known for creating the world's first intelligent gaming robot, was born in Nigeria but moved to the United Kingdom at the age of 12.

After he earned a first class degree in robotics from the University of the West of England, Bristol, he went on to be awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Technology.

He went on to co-found Reach Robotics, a UK-based augmented reality gaming company that created robots for gaming and STEM education, acting as its Chief Executive Officer.

Reach Robotics startup developed a 4-legged robot with lifelike movement called MekaMon. The system animated video game by combining robotics with augmented reality. Reach Robotics also developed an app, which controlled the MekaMon and acted as a portal to digital content. 

Adekunle received $12 million from investors, including London Venture Partners, allowing the company to expand to about 65 full-time employees at its peak.

In 2018, he partnered with Apple, signing an exclusive distribution deal to sell his product in both the United States and Britain. However, Reach Robotics shut down on September 2, 2019, owing to "inherent challenges in the consumer robotics sector". Blueprint Lab, a robot manufacturing company adopts the name 'Reach Robotics' in July 2022.

Presently, Adekunle is now focused on using MekaMon to develop the Robotics education ecosystem across Africa and cloud infrastructure for industrial automation in the UK. He founded the company Awarri, which aims to enable the development and adaptation of advanced AI and robotics technology in Africa. 

As of January 2020, Adekunle is also the co-founder and CEO of (R.I). The company aims to help developers to quickly and securely implement the cloud infrastructure needed to remotely monitor, manage and control their robots, industrial automation and IOT devices.

In November 2018, Adekunle was named to the Financial Times' list of the "Top 100 minority ethnic leaders in technology". In the same year, he was selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe 2018: Technology list.

The story of Adekunle is a testament to the fact that Africans can make impacts in the technological field as well as contribute innovatively to advancing the global world if only the continent can invest more in quality education in order to tap into the intellectual acumen and talents of the younger generation.

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