Disrupting the food delivery industry, one edible cup at a time.

An interview with Theophilus Venn, Millennium Fellowship Class of 2020

Adrija, Team MCN: Thank you so much for joining me today and for taking the time to share your Millennium Fellowship story and what you’ve been doing since. To begin, could you tell me a little bit about yourself? 

Theophilus: I'm from Nigeria and I am a pharmacist by training and a social entrepreneur by passion. I run an agri-food brand which is into the production of healthier food options and we also provide alternatives to single-use plastics using food innovations. What we do is we provide foods that nourish the people and protect the environment all at the same time.

Adrija, Team MCN: I'm curious to know how this space of social impact has been for you now that you have given so much time and effort to advance these sustainable development goals. Do you find it to be supportive? Do you find it to be isolating? How has that journey been? 

Theophilus: I run a business which is impacting life, a social enterprise, Venth Ventures Limited. We are the makers of Venn biscuits and Edveen Edible Cup. Yes, an edible cup. So we’re making healthy biscuits through incorporating or fortifying it with fresh tropical fruits in order to improve quality of life while we also shape these biscuits into cups that serve as an alternative to single-use plastics.

The journey has not been easy but I would say it has been rewarding because we got to understand that the best form of advocacy is actually demonstration. So what we decided to do is provide these foods that will nourish the people and protect the environment and we actually started out by providing something that the people would see, they would touch, and they would feel it in their everyday life. 

Adrija, Team MCN: It is so powerful to hear how you have created a solution that is not just advancing the sustainable development goals and protects the environment but also it's fun. Could you tell me a little bit about what the future success looks like for you and for your project?

Theophilus: We are building a scalable solution that tackles food insecurity and plastic pollution. We want to grow to be a leading brand in the food service industry and in the next five years, we also would like to focus on community impact as we promote the sustainable development goals. In the next five years we want to see ourselves become an export-ready brand across Africa and the global continents.

This is because we want to raise our voice in global conversations around health sustainability because we believe that Africa has so much to contribute to the future in terms of food and also the planet.

Adrija, Team MCN: Amazing, thank you so much for sharing that here. Coming back to the Millennium Fellowship, what made you in the first place apply to the Millennium Fellowship? 

Theophilus: I joined the Millennium Fellowship in the year 2020 as a pharmacy student from the University of Benin. 

I am part of a community of students who look out for opportunities to make an impact and during that period, I noticed that colleagues from other departments were talking about the Millennium Fellowship and at that time the application window had opened. [The Millennium Fellowship] was an opportunity for me to share my ideas with like-minded change makers and connect with change makers around the world. So looking back, the journey thus far is the best decision I have made. This birthed a foundation for what I am doing as a social entrepreneur today. The biggest lesson I still carry with me is that collaboration will always beat competition. It is partnerships that make impact truly sustainable. So for me, that has been something I have been carrying all through my journey.

Just start... You know why? Because little drops of water actually fill a bucket...small consistency and good actions can make the change that you desire.

Adrija, Team MCN: As somebody who has also done the fellowship, is there one value that the fellowship taught you that you think that has informed how you lead?

Theophilus: As a social entrepreneur, you can't do it all alone. You need to collaborate.

You need mentorship. You need partnership. You also need people to believe in your idea.

So for me, collaboration is key for any social enterprise. And if you would allow me to add one more, integrity is also very important. So when you are able to collaborate and you have integrity as your watchword, then I think you are on the right track to make an impact.

Adrija, Team MCN: Thank you so much for sharing that. How has your vision evolved from the 2020 Theophilus to the 2025 Theophilus? 

Theophilus: Like I said, the Millennium Fellowship birthed what I'm doing today. So it has not really been so easy, most especially coming in from a low income. But for us, impact is very, very essential. So even in our little way, in our little community, just in my area, I'm trying as much as possible to make an impact, to be able to influence policies just around my community in terms of mitigating problems such as pollution around my community. 

Adrija, Team MCN:Brilliant. If you were talking to a Millennium Fellow who has just started the fellowship, what is the one piece of advice you would give them? 

Theophilus: So if I had the opportunity to talk to my younger self, or fellows coming in, I would say, start where you are with what you have. Don't wait for the perfect condition. You know why? It never comes.

So what you have now, just start. That impact you want to make, just start, learn, adjust, and keep going.

You know why? Because little drops of water actually fill a bucket, little drops of water actually fills a gallon, little drops of water actually fills up a drum. So small consistency and good actions can actually make the change that you desire. 

Adrija, Team MCN: I wish somebody had told this to me when I was starting the fellowship in 2021. I have one final question here, which is not essentially a question, but I want to give you the space for a call to action for the work that you're doing right now.

Theophilus: My call to action is simple: support youth-led innovations. Invest in them, partner with them, open doors for them. Because when young people are empowered, they create solutions that are bold, sustainable, and transformative. Together, let’s build a world where the ideas of young changemakers don’t just survive, they thrive, and they make the planet better for all of us. Thank you.

When young people are empowered, they create solutions that are bold, sustainable, and transformative.

Adrija, Team MCN: Beautiful. Thank you so much, Theophilus. Is there something you would have liked to talk about about your journey that I didn't ask? 

Theophilus: My project in 2020 was called Self-Help Garden Initiative, which advocated for nutrition education. Because of COVID it was difficult for people to go out. A lot of people were hungry during that period. We advocated for nutrition education, and growing vegetables and fruits just in your backyard, so that in case there's another lockdown, you don't have to start running around. 

At that time, it was also providing some solution that could help with our environment, growing of trees. “Plant something and do something.” That was our little motto. When you have two or three neighbors bring together these vegetables, you can make a soup. 

Then another area that I would like to speak about is opportunities for Africans in underserved, low-income communities. Yes, there are certain times that we've seen that it's been very difficult to access global opportunities, to access global speaking engagements, to access global recognition, but I want to say thank you to Millennium Fellowship, for the opportunity to raise my voice, and I want to urge other organizations to look right, into the communities. We have many change makers like myself who are relatively unknown, but they are actually doing great work within their communities, and we would want to get to the global stage so that we can do more. 

Adrija, Team MCN: Amazing. I love how you put it, like learn, unlearn, and relearn, and that's how you built your movement today. Thank you so much for being with us and sharing your experience, Theophilus.

---

Theophilus Venn is a Class of 2020 Millennium Fellow from the University of Benin, and was recognized as an Honorable Mention of the 2025 MCN Stories competition. He joined Adrija Das of Team MCN to talk about his experience with the Millennium Fellowship. The interview has been edited for clarity and length by Team MCN.