Top 10 Unicorns In Ethiopia
African startups that have reached $1 billion valuations create a wave of optimism. Unicorns are companies that have a market capitalization of $1 billion+; e.g., Flutterwave, Interswitch, & Fawry are fintech unicorns; & Jumia is an e-commerce unicorn. Emerging market investment analysts are betting on these two sectors to increase the number of unicorns. They point to the area tech-savvy people as one of the reasons for the growth.
Nigeria, the most populous and wealthiest country in Africa, produces three of these unicorns. In addition, Egypt has attracted multiple business funding in recent years, leading to the creation of the fourth unicorn.
There is potential to tap into the payments and e-commerce sectors given the unbanked population of the continent, which, according to Rahul Shah, an judge at emerging markets investment insight company Tellimer, is increasingly mobile and tech-savvy.
Africa’s demographic also offers companies and future ones. With a population exceeding 800 million by 2100, Nigeria will rank first, and the DRC, Egypt, and Ethiopia will rank second and third with a population of 205%, 117%, and 106%, respectively.
In addition, the present Covid19 pandemic, coupled with lockdowns and social distancing, has pushed an increasing amount of people online to make purchases and pay for goods.Â
The rise in user numbers and value of transactions processed on Fawry, Interswitch, Jumia, and Flutterwave’s e-commerce and fintech platforms can be attributed to these factors.
Fintechs are vying for market share on this front in Africa. An exisistence for companies that can successfully draw customers away from informal providers. In an interview with Quartz, Shah predicted that the next fintech unicorn would appear here.
As an expansion strategy, unicorn companies will become more prevalent in Africa as they diversify their offerings. For example, having developed its payment platform, Flutterwave added card issuance services in the recent past, and Jumia added loan services to consumers following the launch of JumiaPay in 2016.
To scale ventures and platforms and reach more users, they must diversify into related but distinct value-added services. In the past six and a half years, fintech startups in Africa have raised $900 million, and according to analysts at Tellimer, more will be flowing into these ventures in 2021.
The fintech unicorns of Africa are already scaling up and expanding it. To reflect the investment transformation that Flutterwave has undergone, it now has a head office in San Francisco. Flutterwave was founded in 2016 in Lagos, Nigeria. For the company to expand, venture capitalists have provided crucial funding.
With a valuation surpassing $1 billion in March this year and raising $170 million in April, Flutterwave became a unicorn after it helped international companies like Facebook and Uber facilitate international payments. Tiger Global and Avenir Growth Capital, two private business based in the United States, participated in this funding round.
Developing and growing the fintech and e-commerce industries in Africa is important. As a result, they will have the ability to collaborate with regional and international companies to facilitate payments and remittances across borders. In addition, this is in line with the goal of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which means to create one seamless trading bloc between the continents, where fintech and e-commerce will play a important role in facilitating online transactions.
As of this year, Interswitch plans on expanding to two more countries in Africa. The company currently operates in Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda. Flutterwave has been expanding across West Africa since launching in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, and Tanzania in the last few years. In an interview with Bloomberg, Jumia’s co-founder, Jeremy Hodara, said Jumia’s current focus is growing user numbers across 11 African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya.
- Cambridge Industries
Cambridge Industries Group, a Chinese telecom equipment maker, intends to develop fifth-generation wireless technologies by purchasing optical components from Oclaro Japan at a competitive price.
The deal between Cambridge Industries and Lumentum Holdings calls for Cambridge Industries to buy all equity in a special-purpose entity Oclaro will form. A Shanghai-based buyer said in a statement today that it is engaged in producing optical transmitters, receivers, and other data center components.
The company said Oclaro’s cutting-edge technology, staff, and products would enhance Cambridge Industries’ product lines and speed up its development, particularly concerning 5G. In 2017, the firm expected to sell fewer than 3 percent of 5G modules by 2017.
A US$1.8 billion deal last March saw Lumentum acquire Oclaro of Sagamihara.
Company overview
| Legal Name | Cambridge Industries Group |
| Industries | Manufacturing |
| Founder(s) | Gerald Wong |
| Founded Date | 2005 |
| Total Funding Amount | NA |
| Investors | NA |
- ArifPay
Efforts are underway to commence the nationwide rollout of ArifPay, Ethiopia’s first mobile point-of-sale system. The startup has raised US$3.5 million in funding.
After receiving a license from the National Bank of Ethiopia, ArifPay, built by the same team responsible for the taxi app ZayRide, will begin operating in April.
In Ethiopia, it aims to provide convenient, innovative, safe, and secure payment processing services and platforms by developing an MPOS system for ATM cardholders.
To support ArifPay’s growth and rollout process, the company has raised US$3.5 million from 31 individual investors.
Through the industry’s latest MPOS and online payment technology platform, we plan to launch MPOS, gateways, and related digital financial services in Ethiopia. Habtamu Tadesse, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) told Disrupt Africa his company is developing products and services tailored to its users’ needs, like mobile and payment services.
Once operational, ArifPay intends to offer merchants and consumers a valuable digital payment option to ease cash-based transactions as part of Saudi Arabia’s national plan for a digital economy. ArifPay will also support the country’s plans to create a digital economy by providing digital payment solutions to businesses and entrepreneurs seeking to streamline their businesses and production processes.”
Company overview
| Legal Name | ArifPay |
| Industries | Electronics, Payments |
| Founder(s) | Habtamu Tadesse |
| Founded Date | 2021 |
| Total Funding Amount | $3.5M |
| Investors | NA |
- GreenPath Food
With headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, GreenPath Food is one of the largest multi-crop horticulture out-grower schemes in East Africa and Ethiopia’s largest horticulture out-grower scheme. Food is distributed to businesses worldwide that want to source extraordinary quality food and support regenerative agriculture by making sustainable markets. In addition to their operations and management teams, a thriving network of small-holder partner farms, and long-term customer relationships, they built their future on sound foundations.Â
Small-scale farmers in East Africa depend on them for sustainable supply chains, farms, and livelihoods. Therefore, GreenPath Food recruits Small-holder farmers who are open to innovation and passionate about production.Â
With the help of GreenPath Food’s regenerative, permaculture-inspired approach, farmers are given opportunities to transform small plots of land into food forests that optimize soil health and productivity while providing year-round livelihoods. In addition, GreenPath Food provides organic inputs, technical assistance, solar irrigation kits, and commitment-based purchasing to its Partner Farms as part of a long-term partnership.
Company overview
| Legal Name | GreenPath Food |
| Industries | Agriculture, Biotechnology, Food and Beverage Health Care |
| Founder(s) | Eric Couper, Jacie Jones, Sidhant Kamath |
| Founded Date | 2015 |
| Total Funding Amount | $3.1M |
| Investors | Novastar Ventures and KFW DEG are the most recent investors. |
- GebeyaÂ
This is the first time an African marketplace of its kind has expanded its reach outside of Africa, Gebeya, the Pan-African source for freelancing talent.Â
A majority of Gebeya’s operations were manual and non-scalable before investment.Â
Consonance Investment Managers and Partech Ventures co-led a US$2M seed investment in February 2020 to scale the fully automated and digitalized machine and set it up for scale.Â
Start-ups, SMEs, and individuals seeking professional services on Gebeya.com are connected to qualified professionals from all over Africa. The platform offers clients a single self-service portal through which they can quickly identify pre-vetted, qualified people who are ready to work.
With Gebeya, customers can hire talent remotely or on-site in software development, graphic design, digital marketing, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. Â
The system includes features like an intelligent match algorithm that considers location, language, and budget. With automated matching and a central dashboard, you can build your profile and get access to free talent, and you can hire individuals with specialized skills or form a core team. Â
Gebeya says it unlocks a new source of available professional talents from across Africa as companies embrace the need to keep up with an evolving global job market.Â
Throughout its history, Gebeya has played an integral role in driving Africa’s position as a global leader in the digital and technology realm. Its new features will help businesses better connect with talent within minutes.Â
The Gebeya Marketplace matches users with freelancers from its pool of trusted freelancers, trusted by multinationals like Orange and leading e-commerce firms like Limestart and Paps.Â
Entrepreneur Amadou Daffe, CEO and Co-founder of Gebeya, says that businesses should take advantage of what freelancers bring to their permanent workforce.
An actual Pan-African freelance marketplace is what Gebeya aims to do to address the lack of talent in Africa, he said.
In an agile hiring strategy, freelancers are an essential component. Within the next 3 years, we intend to increase our freelance talent pool to 15,000,” said Amadou.
Freelance Statistics’ 2017 report estimates that North America accounts for over half of the world’s freelancers, while Africa represents just 1.4% of the gig and freelance economy market.
There are currently 77 million freelancers globally, and 486 million of those dollars went to tech freelancers. Â
The experts predict that freelancers will form 80% of the workforce by 2030. As a result, Gebeya is creating opportunities for the continent’s skilled labor to unlock its potential and innovative startups to take the lead. Â
As long as the quality and caliber of African candidates on the Gebeya platform are comparable to those of freelancers in those markets, there is a strong demand for African talent across West Africa, East Africa, and even the EU.
We match clients with candidates who have been vetted, tested, and interviewed.
Individual entrepreneurs, startups, and companies of all sizes can benefit from freelancers with experience in fintech, health tech, agritech, and logistics and supply chains.
Thousands of freelancers from 27 African countries have flocked to the Gebeya Talent app in the first six months after its inception, bridging the gap between companies and their next best hires.
The most successful freelancing talent marketplaces focus on quality rather than quantity.
Gebeya exposes a fresh pool of enthusiastic, available professional talents from across Africa as organizations recognize the need to keep up with an emerging global labor market.
Gebeya started its talent mobile application in December 2020, collecting over 2,000 applicants so far. As a result, hundreds of highly skilled freelancing individuals have joined the industry. In addition, Gebeya has seen a 35 percent boost in talent onboarding growth month over a month thanks to an efficient and rigorous 4-stage talent acquisition and client matching process.
By upgrading gebeya.com, the company identifies and fills gaps for entrepreneurs within many organizations, takes advantage of a growing freelance market, and produces competitive, skilled, and certified employees.
A Francophone African startup called Gebeya that runs an online marketplace for software outsourcing recently raised US$2 million in seed funding to expand in the region and roll out new products.
Orange Digital Ventures and Partech led the seed round. Consonance Investment Managers, a Nigerian investor, also participated in the round.
Gebeya plans to expand its training and marketplace services in Francophone Africa and launch a recruitment marketplace online for Africa’s talent pool.
Using this platform, clients will be able to choose the best talent for their projects due to substantial transparency.
“This investment, made possible by global investment organizations focused on Africa’s technical achievements, is a watershed moment for Gebeya. Amadou Daffe, CEO and co-founder of Gebeya, stated, “The company has been fiercely committed to bringing the abundant ability of Africa’s youth to light.”
“With this funding, we will be able to enhance our community of top-tier IT talent and establish Gebeya as a go-to for other firms and startups.”
Gebeya is a tech talent outsourcing firm that helps startups and small businesses recruit IT expertise remotely or on-site. Its training program focuses on fostering African youth’s latent tech potential to prepare them for the global market demands.
This company was founded in 2016 by Amadou Daffe and Hiruy Amanuel. Gebeya offers “specialized developers for hire through its talent pool for prices between $15 and $25 per hour”.
Moreover, the company says more than a third of its graduates have been matched with startups worldwide since 2016.
In a co-led fund-raising round led by Partech and Orange Digital Ventures with Consonance Investment Managers, Gebeya raised US$2 million to scale its impact further.
In addition to expanding training, Gebeya will be able to accelerate plans to launch an online marketplace for Africa with the seed fund.
In an interview with Partech Africa, Diajane Deme, General Partner, said that his company closely follows this space.
Company overview
| Legal Name | Gebeya |
| Industries | EdTech, Information Technology, Marketplace, Software Engineering, Training |
| Founder(s) | Amadou Daffe, Hiruy Amanuel |
| Founded Date | 2016 |
| Total Funding Amount | $3.2M |
| Investors | Consonance Investment Managers and Orange Ventures are the most recent investors. |
- International Clinical Laboratories ICL
Ethiopia is Africa’s second-largest country by population, and ICL provides quality laboratory services there. ICL has six locations in Addis Ababa and seven branches across the country, making it the leading laboratory services provider in Ethiopia. Aside from being the exclusive referral partner for both Bioscentia and LabCorp, ICL is the only laboratory in Africa certified by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and accredited by the Joint Commission.Â
The Fund acquired ICL at the beginning of 2015. For example, the Fund has helped ICL implement an ERP system and open the largest pathology department in Africa. ICL aims to develop into a leading regional player in the next few years, thereby improving health care services in Africa.
Company overview
| Legal Name | International Clinical Laboratories |
| Industries | Health Care, Hospital |
| Founder(s) | Tamrat Bekele |
| Founded Date | 2004 |
| Total Funding Amount | $2.5M |
| Investors | ICL is funded by Ascent Capital Africa Ltd. |
- HelloSolarÂ
Homeowners can power their homes with solar energy using HelloSolar, the first company to offer simplicity and affordability. Australians used to spend too much of their paychecks on power bills before the rapid adoption of solar. However, many Americans realize the benefits of solar power. In addition to reducing energy bills and addressing climate change, solar power is a clean energy source.
Our company has always been and remains a 100% Australian business with no offshore components. Hello Solar’s long-standing face in the solar industry lets you shop locally and act globally.
Company overview
| Legal Name | HelloSolar |
| Industries | Energy |
| Founder(s) | Bart Minsaer |
| Founded Date | 2018 |
| Total Funding Amount | NA |
| Investors | Series A |
- Taskmoby
A web platform called Taskmoby links users to home service providers, like cleaners, plumbers, and electricians, who can provide much-needed services at home. The service is high-quality, affordable, instant, and hassle-free.Â
Taskmoby is a platform that helps create jobs for women and youth in Africa. Our platform enables Africans to connect with quality service providers on demand, making their lives easier. They are currently looking for people who believe in the mission to join their small but fast-growing team!
Company overview
| Legal Name | Taskmoby |
| Industries | Consumer Goods, Home Services |
| Founder(s) | Ezana Raswork |
| Founded Date | 2018 |
| Total Funding Amount | $126.5K |
| Investors | Non-equity Assistance |
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- beU Delivery
A food delivery service in Africa called beU delivery offers on-demand food delivery.Â
You can enjoy your favorite food from the comfort of your home or office with our great selection of local restaurants and door-to-door delivery services. Food delivery has never been easier or more affordable in Ethiopia, with us delivering food 67% cheaper than the competition. Eventually, we plan to become the super APP of Africa by expanding our services to new markets.
Ethiopian startup beU Delivery has raised $500,000 from Y Combinator to become the super APP of Africa through its on-demand food delivery platform.
In many startups, Y Combinator invests $500,000 twice a year.
Y Combinator has accepted nine African startups into its Winter 2022 batch. This batch will receive $125K this time around, plus $375K at the most favorable terms of the next round of funding.
- The Ethiopian food delivery platform beU Delivery aspires to be a super app
- The Numida platform, which provides B2B financing to microbusinesses in Uganda
- The Tendo Company is a Ghana-based e-commerce and reselling platform
- in partnership with Topship Nigeria
- and its mobile money platform, Moni
- Nigeria, a platform for validating and managing Nigerian identities
- Onboarding and KYC platform for Nigerians, Dojah
- A Nigerian platform for NFC-based payments, Touch and Pay
Two more countries will be added in April and July 2022, along with thirteen more in 2023 and 2024. In addition, the company utilized a highly cost-effective logistics system, allowing it to be affordable for the mass market. For example, our competitors’ fees in Ethiopia are 67% cheaper than beU Delivery’s.
The one-stop startup accelerator YCombinator has provided seed funds to several African companies, including high-risk startups in Silicon Valley. Â
With the value-added it provides to its client base, YCombinator stands out from its contemporaries. Early-stage startups are offered intensive training, and a 7% equity stake is invested for $125,000. Upon graduation from the accelerator, startups can raise additional funding. Â
Company overview
| Legal Name | beU Delivery |
| Industries | E-Commerce |
| Founder(s) | Â |
| Founded Date | Jun 1, 2021 |
| Total Funding Amount | $125K |
| Investors | beU delivery is funded by Y Combinator |
- ZayRideÂ
In the last decade, Uber has enabled millions of people to start their businesses, work their hours, earn a decent wage, and take control of their lives by using their cars and smartphones. Our country aspires to create similar opportunities within our country as Ethiopia strives for economic growth and the betterment of its citizens.Â
With over 12000 users registered in Addis Ababa, ZayRide has completed over 1000 rides since its launch. As a result, people no longer need to walk long distances to get a ride and no longer spend time waiting for taxis. A positive reaction has been received from the public.Â
We are extremely concerned about safety, so we know who the drivers are, where they are located, and what they look like so we can take further steps to ensure their safety. In addition, ZayRide has been designed to function even on low internet speeds, so with minimal features and low-resolution images, it can be used anywhere in Africa.
Ethiopian ride-sharing service ZayRide, owned by Zaytech, raised undisclosed funding. According to a press release issued on December 30, 2018, the company also refused to reveal the identity of the investors.
However, they wrote that they had raised equity capital with “important interest” from domestic and international investing communities, especially from diaspora investors.
The funding round marks the startup’s second known round of funding, according to IBEX Frontier’s founder and MD, Zekarias Amsalu.
He also decoded Zaytech’s message:
Although they did not disclose the deal’s details, this round is quite higher than their 2017 report. For what an ‘important’ investment means, you can refer to the 2017 report where they raised under $200K.
Zaytech is now exploring a range of new products to anchor ZayRide after raising funds. In addition, Zaytech wrote in its statement that the raise would allow it to carry out ambitious growth plans.
“Launch other complementary and game-changing revolutionary goods in Ethiopia, improve market penetration, and dramatically increase its talent pool as it aims to roll out further products and penetrate new markets in the coming months,” the startup noted.
Zaytech was founded in 2016 as an Ethiopian cab-hailing firm by Habtamu Tadesse, an Ethiopian-born entrepreneur who migrated to the United States when he was 12 years old. It is still known to many as ZayRide.
Ethiopia is Africa’s second-most populous country, with almost 105 million inhabitants after Nigeria. Despite its size, the country trails countries like Kenya, which has a market less than half its size.
This is because, for quite some time, the state-operated a closed economy model. As a result, Uber, Jumia (tried entering but exited), and others found establishing their businesses there difficult.
Closed economies allow the locals to provide an alternative to international upstarts like Uber and Jumia. Among Uber Eats and Jumia Food options is Deliver Addis, which was launched in 2015 by Feleg Tsegaye.
Despite the challenges, it is expected that overseas service providers will continue to enter the country as that kicks in. According to our Digest Africa Index report, a total of $13 million worth of funding was raised by early-stage technology companies in Namibia in 2018. M-BIRR’s funding deals $9.87 million of that total.
Company overview
| Legal Name | ZayRide |
| Industries | Apps, Internet, Travel |
| Founder(s) | Habtamu Tadesse |
| Founded Date | Jul 2015 |
| Total Funding Amount | $100K |
| Investors | NA |
- ebirr
Is it important that you can use apps exclusive to Android on your PC? Your favorite app’s official desktop version or website is no longer needed. You can now install the app on your PC or the desktop version or website.Â
EBIRR will be installed on your laptop using an Android emulator. Using this software, you can install apps from the Google Play store on your computer and simulate the Android environment. The two most popular emulators on the internet are Bluestacks and MEmu Play.Â
Company overview
| Legal Name | ebirr |
| Industries | Apps, Banking, Financial Services, FinTech, Payments |
| Founder(s) | Â |
| Founded Date | 2016 |
| Total Funding Amount | NA |
| Investors | NA |
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
