I built for Google. For the world's biggest banks. Now I'm home, where I'm needed.
The technical partner African founders don't have, until now.
I spent 9+ years building enterprise systems at Google, NatWest, Deutsche Bank, and Bradesco. Now I bring that experience to African startups as a technical partner.
I build systems with you, not for you.
So your team understands them, owns them, and can scale them long after we're gone.
Built on collaboration. Inspired by Ubuntu.
Technical leadership built in enterprise systems, brought to founders who are building, scaling, or hiring.
Who I work with
Built for founders serious about getting it right
I work with teams building something real, where early decisions shape what comes next. Building in Africa adds complexity. Afreeca exists to close that gap.
Ideal clients
The founders and teams this model is designed for.
- Early-stage startups (Idea → MVP)
- Founders without a technical background
- Startups preparing to scale
- African and diaspora-led businesses
When to work with Afreeca
The moments when senior support saves the most time and money.
- You're about to build your MVP
- You've built something but it's not scaling
- You're hiring your first engineers
- You're unsure about your technical decisions
- You need a partner, not a vendor
Services
Where I make a difference
Senior product, engineering, and delivery support for founders who need real execution, not abstract advice.
Build & Rebuild Products
I fix broken systems, improve performance, and rebuild platforms built to scale.
- Refactoring legacy systems
- Architecture redesign
- Performance optimization
- Microservices transition
Technical Hiring Support
I help startups build strong engineering teams through every stage of the hiring process.
- CV review and screening
- Technical interviews
- Pair programming assessments
- Hiring process design
Founder Technical Advisory
I guide founders in making the right technical decisions from day one, before mistakes become expensive.
- MVP definition
- Tech stack selection
- Product architecture
- Scaling strategy
End-to-End Delivery
I take products from idea to launch and beyond, owning every stage of the delivery lifecycle.
- Product design (UX/UI)
- Frontend & backend development
- Infrastructure setup
- Deployment and scaling
Active work
Startups I'm
building with right now
Four active partnerships, from Belgium and Angola to Cape Verde, São Tomé, Nigeria, Italy, and the UK.
Social Impact
Femme Incroyable
Technical advisor to a Belgium-registered non-profit empowering women across Portuguese-speaking Africa and Belgium, guiding every digital decision from platform setup to domain and communications infrastructure.
Healthtech
MualaCare
End-to-end technical delivery for a healthtech startup supporting mothers recovering after caesarean birth: website, mobile apps, payments, and full infrastructure setup.
Commerce
NudgeBuy
Technical partner to a London-based founding team, leading product architecture and end-to-end mobile app delivery from initial concept through to MVP launch.
Gaming & Peripherals
KeyCraft Studio
Building the client-facing customisation studio for a UK-based keyboard brand: a 3D interactive platform where customers can design, personalise, and preview their custom keyboard before purchase.
About
The person
behind Afreeca
Adilson Mendes
Founder and Senior Engineer
BSc Computer Science, Goldsmiths, University of London
I'm Adilson, a senior software engineer with 9+ years building platforms at Google, NatWest, and across regulated fintech and high-scale SaaS. Systems handling billions in transactions. Products used by millions.
Afreeca was built to bring that expertise closer to home. African startups are doing serious work, often without a senior engineer in their corner, without a strong engineering culture, and without the margin to get it wrong twice.
I was born in Portugal and raised in Guinea-Bissau. I've lived in Dakar, Bissau, Lisbon, and London. I speak English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Crioulo. That's not a footnote, it's the reason I can work with founders across Anglophone and Lusophone Africa as a genuine partner, not an outside consultant.
The expertise was built abroad. The purpose was always home.
Philosophy
The founding philosophy
of Afreeca
There is a way to engineer life.
Interdependence
I am because we are.
Respect and Dignity
Treating everyone as human beings.
Community
You can't be human all by yourself.
Roots
People without a past are people without an identity and without a culture.
How I work
Simple, direct,
no dependency created
Every engagement is designed to leave your team clearer, faster, and more capable than before.
Understand
I deeply understand your product, business goals, and constraints before suggesting anything. No ready-made solutions, no frameworks applied blindly.
Design
I define the right architecture, hiring plan, or delivery roadmap, tailored to where you are now and where you need to go.
Execute
I build, iterate, and scale your product with your team, sharing what I know at every step so you can own it when we're done.
I work with you, not for you
- Directly with your engineers, not above them
- I work through each stage with you
- You always know what's being built and why
Start the conversation
Let's build your product
the right way.
On the continent or in the diaspora, pre-product or scaling. If you're building something, let's talk.
Emailadilsonmendesramos@gmail.comLinkedInlinkedin.com/in/adilsonmendesMy profileView full profile