Ashley MacCarthy

Ashley has a track record in building successful financial services companies.
He began his career working for a family office in London before deciding to go out on his own with business partner, and co-founder of GOODsoil, Richard Mensah.
Together, they co-founded Reflex Eco, a precious metal brokerage firm in the UK, before deciding to cross geographies and start investing in their mutual home country of Ghana.
Since 2013, Ashley worked on multiple investment advisory projects in Ghana focusing on infrastructure and agricultural development including raising £32m for a Ghana-based teak plantation.
In 2014, Ashley paired up with Rich Mensah once again to start OBSIDIAN, a Fixed income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC) trading business for the financial services sector of Sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2015, OBSIDIAN completed their first deal and since then the company has become one of the leading brokerage firms in Sub-Saharan Africa, reaching a trade volume of £760 million in 2017.
Building upon his success with OBSIDIAN, Ashley decided it was time to help others with an entrepreneurial spirit start and grow their own ventures.
In 2017 GOODsoil was founded.
His vision for the firm is to provide start-up resources to those communities that are often underfunded or underrepresented in the start-up world.
Ashley is an active member in local London organizations focusing on tackling youth and gang violence.
His passion lies in helping that less privileged break through barriers to succeed in the business world.