VENTURES AND VALUATIONS: AFRICA'S BILLION-DOLLAR STARTUPS

VENTURING INTO THE WORLD OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS OFTEN STRENUOUS AND RISKY BUSINESS. BUT THE REWARDS FAR OUTWEIGH THE COSTS. SINCE 2013, THE ADDED PRIZE OF BEING LAUDED AS A 'UNICORN', THAT IS A BUSINESS VALUED AT $1 BILLION OR MORE, HAS BECOME HIGHLY COVETED AMONG THE ENTREPRENEURIAL CLASS. ON THE CONTINENT, VERY FEW CAN CLAIM THIS STATUS. FORBES AFRICA SPOTLIGHTS AFRICAN FOUNDERS WHO HAVE SCALED THESE HEIGHTS, MAKING THEIR MARK ON THE WORLD AT LARGE AND REDEFINING THE AFRICAN STORY OF SUCCESS.

- MARIE SHABAYA, CHANEL RETIEF, LILLIAN ROBERTS AND PEACE HYDE

IN POPULAR IMAGINATION, UNICORNS CONJURE up the picture of a rare but beautiful mythical creature described by the ancients as resembling a horse, with a single horn emanating from the center of its forehead. A timeless symbol of purity and uniqueness, this rich symbolism also translates to the world of business. In the startup lexicon, a unicorn is also a rarity and defined as a relatively young company, usually less than 10 years old valued at $1 billion or more by public or private investors.

According to CBInsights, a New York City-based market intelligence company, as of October 2022, there were over 1,200 unicorns in the world. Popular unicorns include the artificial intelligence (AI) company, ByteDance, from China that is valued at $140 billion; Elon Musk’s spacecraft engineering firm, SpaceX, valued at $127 billion and Chinese online fashion retailer, Shein, valued at $100 billion. Some former unicorns include Airbnb, Facebook and Google. Furthermore, according to the report, the total cumulative valuation of these rarified businesses is $3,871 billion.

In Africa, the rise of these mythical commerce creatures is not different.

A few years ago, the continent saw the emergence of its first unicorn with the pan-African online retailer, Jumia Group. The company had capitalized on a major gap in the virtual market building a customized platform where consumers in 14 African countries can order their groceries, shop the latest fashion or order takeaway from their favorite restaurants online. In 2019, Jumia became the first brand from the continent to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), after commanding a valuation of $1.6 billion the previous year. Since then, six more businesses have entered this very elite club, illustrating that the rate of unicorns forming on the continent is fast accelerating.