Olakunle
Irantiola

1. Real-time delivery latency at peak

   400ms→<90ms

   VillageSquare · notifications, feeds, messaging

2. Transaction-history query time

   420ms→95ms

   KoinSave · data-access layer rework

3. End-to-end savings execution

   4 min→<40 s

   KoinSave · async savings pipeline

4. Production incidents

   −55%

   VillageSquare · Laravel monolith → Nest.js services

5. Slow-query incidents at peak

   −70%

   GYWDE · schema, index and cache work

6. Media load time

   −60%

   VillageSquare · media pipeline rebuilt from scratch

7. API response time

   −45%

   VillageSquare · encoding & fan-out moved to SQS workers

8. Average session duration

   +38%

   VillageSquare · content personalisation engine

1. Apr 2024 — PresentThe VillageSquare · Head of Engineering & ProductLagos · Remote+

   Run engineering and product for an African social super-app — a team of 8 engineers and designers, and every architectural call.

   • Moved the API layer off a Laravel monolith onto Nest.js services; production incidents fell 55% and teams now ship independently.
   • Built the real-time layer behind notifications, feeds and messaging — delivery latency from 400ms to under 90ms at peak.
   • Rebuilt media end to end — Go media server on LiveKit, HLS to the edge — ending rendering failures and cutting load times by over 60%.
   • Pushed encoding, notifications and analytics onto SQS workers — API response times improved 45%.
   • Shipped an AI meeting participant that listens, reasons with Claude and speaks in live calls.
   • Migrated MySQL → PostgreSQL with Redis caching; built the personalisation pipeline that lifted session time 38%.
   • Run the platform on AWS EKS — Helm, Karpenter, KEDA autoscaling on SQS depth, digest-pinned promotion through GitHub OIDC, Trivy and gitleaks gates — and lead security audits through to production.
   • Contributed Kotlin to the native Android app — call reliability and short-video UI.

   • Nest.js
   • TypeScript
   • Go
   • Elixir
   • Python
   • Kotlin · Android
   • PostgreSQL
   • Redis
   • AWS EKS
   • SQS
   • CloudFront
   • Helm
   • KEDA
   • OpenTelemetry
2. Jun 2025 — PresentSmartApproaches · Software Engineer · Lead architect on SmartEatXRemote · UK clients+

   Product studio building platforms for UK and international clients — GYWDE, SmartEatX, Mingle Pringle and more.

   • Architected and built SmartEatX, a white-label delivery SaaS spanning NestJS, Go and Elixir services.
   • Designed GYWDE’s vendor matching engine — location, skill, availability and reputation ranked in under 300ms.
   • Split consumer, vendor and admin domains into independently scalable services — no more cascading deploy failures.
   • Led a database performance push that cut slow-query incidents 70% at peak.
   • Migrated SmartEatX from AWS EC2 and ECR to Hetzner and GHCR with resumable backup and restore, and wrote its SLOs: 99.9% availability, p95 under 300ms.
   • Own delivery end to end: per-app e2e in CI, migrate-then-roll deploys, smoke tests on every public host, Grafana/Loki/Tempo observability.

   • NestJS
   • Go
   • Elixir
   • PostgreSQL
   • PostGIS
   • Redis
   • Expo
   • AWS EC2 · ECR
   • Hetzner
   • GitHub Actions
   • Grafana
3. Feb 2026 — Jul 2026KoinSave · Software EngineerRemote+

   Naira-to-USD savings — where correctness is the product.

   • Worked on the core ledger behind Naira-to-USD conversion: atomic, traceable, reconcilable.
   • Conversion and settlement pipelines at p99 under 200ms with zero data loss.
   • Concurrency control on simultaneous wallet operations to close race conditions and double-spends.
   • Transaction-history queries from 420ms to 95ms under peak load; savings execution from 4 minutes to under 40 seconds.
   • Compliance-ready audit trail recording every transaction state change.
   • Rebuilt the backend as a modular NestJS v2 — all 117 commits mine — with AWS S3 and SES, BullMQ workers and a GitHub Actions → GHCR delivery pipeline.

   • NestJS
   • TypeScript
   • PostgreSQL
   • Prisma
   • BullMQ
   • Redis
   • AWS S3
   • AWS SES
   • Docker
   • GitHub Actions
   • Double-entry ledger
4. Jan 2022 — Apr 2024Freelancer.com & CodeMentor · Freelance Software EngineerRemote+

   International clients, unfamiliar codebases, tight turnarounds.

   • Stabilised production systems with no docs or context — find the root cause, fix it, leave it better.
   • Turned non-technical briefs into specs and timelines clients could hold me to.
   • Backend, API design and integration, database and performance work across many stacks.

   • Node.js
   • Laravel
   • PostgreSQL
   • MongoDB
   • AWS
5. 2019 — 2023Various clients · Backend EngineerRemote+

   Contract backend and mobile work for international clients alongside full-time roles.

   • Built a hotel booking platform on Laravel and PostgreSQL, containerised with Docker and run on Kubernetes on AWS EC2.
   • Part of the backend team that upgraded an Express.js email marketplace with Nest.js and MongoDB, shipped through GitLab.
   • Added multi-language support and the PayTM payment gateway to an Indian ride-hailing Android app.
   • Maintenance and feature delivery across Laravel projects for clients abroad.

   • Laravel
   • PHP
   • PostgreSQL
   • AWS EC2
   • Docker
   • Kubernetes
   • Nest.js
   • MongoDB
   • Android · Java/Kotlin
   • GitLab
6. Jul 2021 — Mar 2023MyCoverGenius (MyCover.ai) · Senior Full-stack EngineerLagos+

   Insurtech — seven interlocking platforms for admins, insurers, agents, SMEs and end users.

   • Built 7 related insurance sales and management platforms.
   • Shipped AI-assisted vehicle inspection with TensorFlow.js, removing the need to send agents out.
   • PCI-compliant checkout: end-to-end encryption and fraud prevention in every payment flow.
   • Led a team of 3 as tech lead, QA and frontend engineer at once.

   • Vue.js
   • Nuxt.js
   • Node.js
   • TensorFlow.js
   • PostgreSQL
7. 2020 — 2021Bread Finance · Software Engineer · Checkout PluginsNew York · Remote+

   Point-of-sale financing plugged into merchant checkouts.

   • Multi-account payments and faster gateway plugins.
   • Fraud detection with the iovation API; shipped a COVID-19 hardship programme for borrowers.
   • Redis caching across the codebase and permission-based access on merchant API routes.

   • PHP
   • Node.js
   • Redis
   • Payments

1. 01

   VillageSquare

   An African social super-app — feed, short video, live streams, audio rooms, communities, classifieds, creator payouts and meetings — and the platform underneath it.

   Social super-app platform2024 — now · Head of Engineering · platform leadNestJS · Fastify / TypeScript / Go / Python · FastAPI / PostgreSQL / RedisModular-monolith core, polyglot services, on Kubernetes
   →
2. 02

   SmartEatX

   White-label ordering and delivery for UK restaurants. One control plane provisions each restaurant its own backend, storefront, branded iOS & Android apps and POS.

   Multi-tenant SaaS2026 — now · Lead engineer & architectTypeScript / NestJS · Fastify / Go / Elixir · Phoenix / Next.js 16 / Expo · React NativeMulti-tenant control plane with polyglot services
   →
3. 03

   KoinSave

   Naira-to-USD savings — wallets, a double-entry ledger, banking, bills and KYC — rebuilt as a NestJS v2 where every kobo is traceable.

   Fintech · savings ledger2025 — 2026 · Backend engineer · v2 authorNestJS / Fastify / Prisma / PostgreSQL / BullMQ / RedisModular monolith built around a ledger
   →
4. 04

   ClarttCapital

   A Go trading engine and “alpha factory” that generates, tests and runs systematic strategies on crypto perpetuals, synthetic indices and FX.

   Trading systems2026 — now · Sole authorGo / PostgreSQL / SQLite / WebSocket / React / ViteDeterministic single-process engine
   →
5. 05

   Restaurant Platform, Canberra

   Everything a new African restaurant in Canberra needs to own its guests — ordering, reservations, catering, delivery, loyalty, QR table service — plus a staff command centre.

   Hospitality platform2026 · Sole engineer & designerNext.js 16 / NestJS / Prisma / PostgreSQL 18 / pg-boss / StripeModular monolith in a Turborepo
   →
6. 06

   Pan African Market

   An Australian store for African groceries, beauty and fabrics — with a 3D market hall you can actually shop in.

   E-commerce · 3D storefront2026 · Sole engineerNext.js / three.js / NestJS / TypeORM / PostgreSQL / StripeAPI + storefront with an event-fed back office
   →
7. 07

   City Life

   A massively multiplayer life-sim set in Lagos — rent a flat, take a job, cross the city, meet real players. Built for cheap Android phones on 3G.

   Realtime multiplayer2026 — in development · Sole authorGo / WebSocket / PostgreSQL / sqlc / Redis / Next.jsServer-authoritative actor model
   →

More work

• Dalinus TravelsFour-sided marketplace →Study-abroad and travel platform: students apply and track programmes, travellers book tours, recruiters earn referrals and partner universities get their own portal.
• Mingle PringleDating & bookings →A UK dating and matchmaking platform with escrow-backed bookings, a matchmaker portal with commission payouts, and a super-admin.
• MarkettySocial commerce →A social-commerce ecosystem — posts, threads, groups and a marketplace on one identity. I built the API and the launch site, and wrote the technical overview for investors.
• IMC GungahlinClient website →Website for a GP clinic in Canberra, Australia — services, fees, team and new-patient info, with online booking from every call to action.

1. 31 Oct 20266 min readClarttCapital

   Web Push from Go’s standard library

   Implementing RFC 8291 encryption and VAPID with zero dependencies — and proving it against the spec.

   →

1. L0Clients

   Web, mobile, desktop, 3D

   • React/
   • Next.js/
   • Vue · Nuxt/
   • React Native · Expo/
   • Android · Kotlin/
   • Android · Java/
   • three.js/
   • Electron
2. L1Edge & realtime

   What sits in front

   • Nginx/
   • Caddy/
   • CloudFront/
   • Cloudflare Workers/
   • WebSocket/
   • Phoenix Channels/
   • WebRTC/
   • LiveKit
3. L2Services

   Where the business logic lives

   • Node.js/
   • NestJS/
   • Fastify/
   • Go/
   • Elixir · Phoenix/
   • Spring Boot/
   • Python · FastAPI/
   • Laravel
4. L3Async

   Queues, events, streams

   • Kafka/
   • AWS SQS/
   • RabbitMQ/
   • BullMQ/
   • River/
   • pg-boss/
   • Event-driven/
   • CQRS
5. L4Data

   Stores, caches, search

   • PostgreSQL/
   • MySQL/
   • MongoDB/
   • Redis/
   • Elasticsearch/
   • SQLite/
   • Prisma/
   • TypeORM
6. L5Intelligence

   Models in real products

   • Claude API/
   • OpenAI/
   • Speech ↔ LLM ↔ speech/
   • Recommenders/
   • Prompt-injection guards/
   • TensorFlow.js
7. L6Infrastructure

   Where it runs

   • AWS/
   • Kubernetes · EKS/
   • Helm/
   • Karpenter · KEDA/
   • Terraform/
   • Docker/
   • Hetzner · DigitalOcean/
   • GitHub Actions · OIDC
8. L7Quality

   How I know it works

   • OpenTelemetry/
   • Prometheus/
   • Grafana/
   • Sentry/
   • ELK/
   • CloudWatch/
   • Playwright/
   • Vitest