Name: Valeen Oseh-Ovarah
Company: TisOva
Position: Founder & CEO
Website: https://www.tisova.co.uk
About Valeen Oseh-Ovarah
Valeen is a cybersecurity entrepreneur, ex-cybercrime and fraud investigator, and a West African cybercrime intelligence expert. In 2023, she was awarded the prestigious UK Innovator Visa, recognizing her potential to bring innovative solutions to the UK market.
Her passion for students’ cybersecurity was ignited by personal experiences, notably witnessing close student friends fall victim to online scams, with one even forced to drop out of the university due to financial losses. This personal connection fueled her determination to develop a proactive, real-time solution to safeguard students from such threats. She founded TisOva, an AI-driven scam prevention and detection platform, to combat the escalating issue of online fraud targeting students.
Building TisOva came with significant challenges; navigating the tech industry as an immigrant, overcoming visa restrictions, and establishing credibility in a new market. As a Black female founder in cybersecurity, she faced systemic barriers, including difficulty accessing funding and limited representation in the field. Despite these obstacles, her resilience led to securing €35K in competitive innovation grants, including £15,000 from Innovate UK and an additional £20,000 grant from a leading UK engineering institution that supports pioneering innovative technology-driven solutions.
Her efforts have garnered national and international recognition. In 2023, she received the Most Inspiring Women in Cyber “One to Watch” Award. In 2024, she was named in TechRound’s Cybersecurity40 (Top 10) and TechRound BAME50 (Top 10), alongside receiving the Global Women Inventors & Innovators Network (GlobalWIIN) Special Recognition Award for her contributions to innovation and technology. She was also named among the Top 50 Most Influential Women Leaders Driving Innovation in Cybersecurity by CIOLook Magazine and a nominee for the Unsung Security Heroes Awards.
Valeen is an international tech and cybersecurity speaker and has spoken at prominent industry events in the USA, UK, Nigeria, and more, including the Internet 2.0 Conference in Las Vegas, Birmingham Tech Week, and Manchester Tech Festival etc. In 2025, she is set to speak at the Counter Fraud Conference in June, with other engagements in the pipeline. She is also a Guest Cybersecurity Lecturer and an Online Safety Educator promoting security awareness education for vulnerable groups.
Her impact extends beyond TisOva. She is a STEM Learning and NCSC CyberFirst ambassador, mentoring 1000+ students and collaborating with 20+ organizations to inspire the next generation to consider a career in Cybersecurity. She is also the founder of Female Founders First CIC, a peer-to-peer community that has supported over 400 female founders across the UK by providing resources and networks to help them navigate their entrepreneurial journeys. In collaboration with other key communities, her community and members advocated for equitable funding opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the Innovate UK Women in Innovation Awards, which ultimately led to increased support for female founders ( from 25 awardees to 50 awards).
Beyond her entrepreneurial endeavors, Valeen founded the Nwada Ndokwa Foundation in 2012, impacting over 10,000 African girls through initiatives in education, culture, technology, and entrepreneurship. She is passionate about enhancing diversity within cybersecurity and technology sectors. At TisOva, 80% of interns are women, predominantly women of color, providing them with invaluable entry points into the tech industry. Personally, she has mentored over 1,000 professionals (women inclusive), guiding them towards careers in tech and cybersecurity.
Valeen extends her influence through her YouTube channel, serving as an educational platform for tech education and immigrant lifestyle, amassing over 200,000 views and more than 6,000 subscribers.
For 2025, Valeen is laser-focused on launching TisOva, our AI-driven online scam detection and prevention app across the UK, ensuring the app reaches students and universities, providing them with robust tools to protect themselves from online scams. Another goal is to secure additional external funding for TisOva, further advancing its mission to combat cyber fraud and protect vulnerable online users.
By advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion in tech, Valeen aims to create lasting industry change, ensuring more underrepresented founders and professionals thrive in cybersecurity. Her journey is a testament to resilience, innovation, and the power of diversity, proving that success in tech is achievable, even against the odds.
