Meet the VeryPay Team

…with decades of experience helping customers develop innovative payment solutions

Andrey Tikhonov

CEO/CTO

Andrey has over 20 years of progressive technology development and executive management experience within the card payments industry. Andrey has held VP and CTO positions with leading point-of-sale terminal manufacturers and VARs, including Lipman, VeriFone, ExaDigm, PAX, Dejavoo Systems and Castles Technology. He provides vision, strategy and direction through the full product life cycle - from inception to implementation, market introduction and maintenance. Andrey holds both a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science degrees in Information Technology and Computer Science from Novosibirsk Technical University in Novosibirsk, Russia. Andrey is promoted to be VeryPay CEO since September 1, 2025.

Marietou Sylla

General Manager, Francophone Africa

Marie has over 12 years’ experience in strategic management, business development, sales and relationship management. She has strong knowledge of the African market (francophone and anglophone) with a focus on mobile and digital financial services, fintech development, money transfer/cross-border remittance and electronic payments development. Notably, Marie participated in building the success of Wari in Africa, developing payments services for Intouch and setting up and leading development for B&G Digital as deputy CEO and Chief Business Development officer. She holds an MBA in Project Management, a BBA in International Management and has certifications in leadership and entrepreneurship, AML and Due Diligence.

Joseph Yendork

General Manager, East Africa

Joseph is a seasoned Mobile Financial Services and digital payments leader with over 13 years experience in operations, strategy, channel development, sales and general management. Joseph has developed a reputation for exceptional leadership and an ability to guide MNOs and FinTechs to develop effective channels for their Mobile Money services. He has led M&As, regulator engagement and management for licensing across a number of African markets. He has built and managed large teams and has helped develop leaders in multiple spheres in the African FinTech space. Joseph was the Director of International Business Development and Africa Expansion at OPay, where he was an integral part of the leadership team.

Joseph is a keen sports person and loves football.

David Drever

Director, International Partnerships

David has 20 years’ experience in the online payments industry and has spent most of his career developing sales and strategic partnerships channels.

Prior to joining VeryPay, he was Business Development Director for two start-ups, FXCPay - a disruptive multi-currency payments solution and Hokan - a private key management technology provider for crypto custodians. Prior to this he was VP of Global Partnerships for WorldPay’s e-commerce division. His team developed profitable commercial channels with leading technology platforms and systems integrators across multiple vertical markets.

David has a deep passion for business psychology. He is a qualified NLP Master Practitioner, Cognitive Hypnotherapist, Trainer and Coach. He has led several international leadership programmes and has spent the last 20 years building expert teams.

Adim Isiakpona

Marketing Manager

Adim Isiakpona is a visionary marketing leader with a remarkable career spanning over 17 years, making significant contributions to the tech and entertainment industries across Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey. He is an accomplished marketing executive with a robust background in marketing, branding, and sales.

James Njoro Kitindi

Pre-sales Manager

James is a seasoned Product Leader with 13 years of experience in Fintech, software product management, and software engineering. As Head of Product Implementation, he spearheads the rollout of the VeryPay products. He has a passion for creating user experiences and leverages his expertise to forge solutions in fintech that resolve real-world challenges and deliver substantial value to users.

He has held technical and product lead roles at Jambopay and DPO Pay, successfully launching, and integrating robust payment solutions across Africa.

Prior to joining VeryPay, James served as a Senior Product Manager at Microsoft, where he led projects to build high-quality API-based products that empower developers to build exceptional experiences on Microsoft platforms, impacting millions of customers worldwide.

James is an avid sports fan. If he’s not playing indoor games, you’ll find him outdoors hiking or running.

Chuong Huynh

Development Manager

With more than 14 years of experience in the IT sector, Chuong is a seasoned professional who specializes in system design. He leads a highly skilled development team committed to building state-of-the-art products. Under his expert guidance, VeryPay has successfully integrated a myriad of payment solutions, including NFC-enabled transactions for both merchants and customers.

In his capacity as Development Manager, Chuong collaborates closely with wallet providers and NFC card services to ensure seamless and secure payment experiences. Based in Vietnam, he combines his extensive technical background with a broad, analytical perspective, driving innovation and strategic problem-solving in product development.

Maria Koshkina

Technical Product Manager

Maria Koshkina is an accomplished IT leader with over 30 years of experience spanning software development, architecture, and executive management. She has progressed from software developer to roles such as R&D Director and Head of Product Engineering, leading teams of 170+ professionals.

Maria specializes in solving complex business problems through technology, with expertise in building high-performing cross-functional teams, driving product design, and overseeing solution architecture. She is skilled at aligning business needs with technical execution, partnering effectively with executives and technology vendors.

With deep knowledge of the payments and telecom domains, Maria is passionate about business and system analysis, product innovation, and delivering high-quality solutions that drive efficiency, business success, and user satisfaction.

CEO/CTO

Andrey Tikhonov

Andrey has over 20 years of progressive technology development and executive management experience within the card payments industry. Andrey has held VP and CTO positions with leading point-of-sale terminal manufacturers and VARs, including Lipman, VeriFone, ExaDigm, PAX, Dejavoo Systems and Castles Technology. He provides vision, strategy and direction through the full product life cycle - from inception to implementation, market introduction and maintenance. Andrey holds both a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science degrees in Information Technology and Computer Science from Novosibirsk Technical University in Novosibirsk, Russia. Andrey is promoted to be VeryPay CEO since September 1, 2025.
General Manager, Francophone Africa

Marietou Sylla

Marie has over 12 years’ experience in strategic management, business development, sales and relationship management. She has strong knowledge of the African market (francophone and anglophone) with a focus on mobile and digital financial services, fintech development, money transfer/cross-border remittance and electronic payments development. Notably, Marie participated in building the success of Wari in Africa, developing payments services for Intouch and setting up and leading development for B&G Digital as deputy CEO and Chief Business Development officer. She holds an MBA in Project Management, a BBA in International Management and has certifications in leadership and entrepreneurship, AML and Due Diligence.
General Manager, East Africa

Joseph Yendork

Joseph is a seasoned Mobile Financial Services and digital payments leader with over 13 years experience in operations, strategy, channel development, sales and general management. Joseph has developed a reputation for exceptional leadership and an ability to guide MNOs and FinTechs to develop effective channels for their Mobile Money services. He has led M&As, regulator engagement and management for licensing across a number of African markets. He has built and managed large teams and has helped develop leaders in multiple spheres in the African FinTech space. Joseph was the Director of International Business Development and Africa Expansion at OPay, where he was an integral part of the leadership team.

Joseph is a keen sports person and loves football.

Director, International Partnerships

David Drever

David has 20 years’ experience in the online payments industry and has spent most of his career developing sales and strategic partnerships channels.

Prior to joining VeryPay, he was Business Development Director for two start-ups, FXCPay - a disruptive multi-currency payments solution and Hokan - a private key management technology provider for crypto custodians. Prior to this he was VP of Global Partnerships for WorldPay’s e-commerce division. His team developed profitable commercial channels with leading technology platforms and systems integrators across multiple vertical markets.

David has a deep passion for business psychology. He is a qualified NLP Master Practitioner, Cognitive Hypnotherapist, Trainer and Coach. He has led several international leadership programmes and has spent the last 20 years building expert teams.

Marketing Manager

Adim Isiakpona

Adim Isiakpona is a visionary marketing leader with a remarkable career spanning over 17 years, making significant contributions to the tech and entertainment industries across Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey. He is an accomplished marketing executive with a robust background in marketing, branding, and sales.
Pre-sales Manager

James Njoro Kitindi

James is a seasoned Product Leader with 13 years of experience in Fintech, software product management, and software engineering. As Head of Product Implementation, he spearheads the rollout of the VeryPay products. He has a passion for creating user experiences and leverages his expertise to forge solutions in fintech that resolve real-world challenges and deliver substantial value to users.

He has held technical and product lead roles at Jambopay and DPO Pay, successfully launching, and integrating robust payment solutions across Africa.

Prior to joining VeryPay, James served as a Senior Product Manager at Microsoft, where he led projects to build high-quality API-based products that empower developers to build exceptional experiences on Microsoft platforms, impacting millions of customers worldwide.

James is an avid sports fan. If he’s not playing indoor games, you’ll find him outdoors hiking or running.

Development Manager

Chuong Huynh

With more than 14 years of experience in the IT sector, Chuong is a seasoned professional who specializes in system design. He leads a highly skilled development team committed to building state-of-the-art products. Under his expert guidance, VeryPay has successfully integrated a myriad of payment solutions, including NFC-enabled transactions for both merchants and customers.

In his capacity as Development Manager, Chuong collaborates closely with wallet providers and NFC card services to ensure seamless and secure payment experiences. Based in Vietnam, he combines his extensive technical background with a broad, analytical perspective, driving innovation and strategic problem-solving in product development.

Technical Product Manager

Maria Koshkina

Maria Koshkina is an accomplished IT leader with over 30 years of experience spanning software development, architecture, and executive management. She has progressed from software developer to roles such as R&D Director and Head of Product Engineering, leading teams of 170+ professionals.

Maria specializes in solving complex business problems through technology, with expertise in building high-performing cross-functional teams, driving product design, and overseeing solution architecture. She is skilled at aligning business needs with technical execution, partnering effectively with executives and technology vendors.

With deep knowledge of the payments and telecom domains, Maria is passionate about business and system analysis, product innovation, and delivering high-quality solutions that drive efficiency, business success, and user satisfaction.