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9 Unicorns in Africa [Everything You Need to Know]

April 11, 2025

9 Unicorns in Africa [Everything You Need to Know]

The African tech ecosystem has witnessed a remarkable transformation over the past two decades, giving rise to a new generation of billion-dollar companies known as unicorns.

These companies, spanning sectors such as fintech, digital banking, and cross-border payments, have not only disrupted traditional industries but also attracted global investment and recognition.

This article highlights some of the most notable unicorns in Africa, tracing their growth stories, funding milestones, and impact on the continent’s digital economy.

9 Unicorns in Africa [Everything You Need to Know]

Below is a detailed overview of some of the successful unicorns in Africa:

1. Interswitch (Nigeria)

In 2002, Mitchell Elegbe founded Interswitch to process efficient digital payments in Nigeria. Between 2003 and 2010, they introduced a national interbank processing system, launched Africa’s first chip-based payment method – Verve, and established mobile payments as one of its core services.

In 2010, Helios Investment Partners bought two-thirds of the company and provided significant funding. In 2011, Interswitch acquired 60% of Bankom, a Ugandan business enterprise.

During its venture round, Interswitch raised $10.5 million. In 2013, it partnered with Discover Financial Services to enhance its payment processing services. In 2014, it became a major shareholder in Paynet Group, an East African payment provider.

Interswitch raised $200 million in a corporate funding round led by Visa in November 2019, making it the first fintech unicorn in Africa. Interswitch has invested in five companies, acquired three, and raised $320.5 million in funding.

2. Flutterwave (Nigeria)

Flutterwave was founded in 2016 by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Olugbenga Agboola, and Adeleke Adekoya to provide payment solutions for individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises. In their debut year, they raised $230,000 in a seed funding round backed by Y-Combinator.

In 2017, they received $50,000 in non-equity assistance from Google’s Launchpad Accelerator Program and $10 million in Series A funding from Green Visor Capital and Greycroft.

Series B funding – $35 million, came from Greycroft and Headline in 2020. Series C funding amounted to $170 million, with Avenir and Tiger Global Management leading a dozen other investors. This development made Flutterwave achieve its unicorn status in 2021.

After this, the company raised $250 million in Series D funding in 2022, increasing its valuation to $3 billion. Since its inception, Flutterwave has acquired and invested in two companies and raised $474.5 million in funding.

3. Opay (Nigeria)

Opay, also known as Operapay, is a Nigerian-based fintech startup founded by Geir Ivarsoy and Lars Boilesen in 2018. Backed by Opera Limited, a Chinese conglomerate, Opay offers efficient digital payments and related financial services through its mobile application.

Details about Opay’s seed funding were not publicly disclosed. The company raised $50 million in Series A funding in a round led by IDG Capital and Opera Limited in July 2019. In November 2019, they raised $120 million in Series B funding. This was instrumental in its expansion to other African countries outside Nigeria.

In 2021, Opay achieved unicorn status after its Series C round. During this round, Opay raised $400 million and was evaluated at $2 billion afterwards. Opay has raised $570 million in funding.

While it has no publicly known investments or acquisitions, the business has expanded to include ORide, a motorbike hailing service, and OFood, a grocery delivery business.

4. Wave (Senegal)

Wave, short for Wave Mobile Money Group, is a Senegalese-based fintech company founded in 2008 by Drew Durbin and Lincoln Quirk. The company aims to reduce transaction fees for mobile money transfers by offering free deposits and withdrawals on its mobile app.

Transaction fees between individuals are capped at 1%. This initiative helped Wave gain massive user traction quickly and made it stand out among its competitors, such as Orange, which felt pressured to replicate some of its tactics.

Wave raised $200 million in Series A funding, led by Founders Fund and Sequoia Heritage. In 2021, it was valued at $1.7 billion, gaining its unicorn status. To this day, it remains the highest amount an African startup has raised in Series A funding.

In 2022, they raised $10 million during its Venture Round led by Alameda Research and €90 million in a Debt Financing Round led by the International Financing Corporation (IFC). Wave has raised $301.7 million in funding over five rounds.

5. Andela (Nigeria)

Andela is a global technology company that matches highly skilled tech and engineering professionals with companies worldwide. It was founded in 2014 by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Christina Sass, Jeremy Johnson, Ian Carnevale, Brice Steven Nkengsa, and Nadayar Enegesi.

Andela started as a talent scouting and development hub in Lagos, Nigeria, training software engineers to attain global relevance in tech.

Following the success of this training model, the company expanded operations to Nairobi, Kenya, in 2015 to tap into the East African tech talent pool.

In 2017 and 2018, they moved further into Uganda and Rwanda, respectively. By 2020, Andela switched to a remote model to easily recruit global talent while being headquartered in the United States (U.S.A).

Andela raised $3.5 million in seed funding during its debut year. In 2015, its Series A funding amounted to $14 million in a round led by Spark Capital.

In 2016, they raised $26 million in Series B funding. They raised $40 million in a Series C round in 2017; in 2019, they raised $100 million in a Series D investment round led by Generation Investment Management.

In September 2021, Andela raised $200 million in funding from its Series E round led by SoftBank Vision. This raised the company’s valuation to $1.5 billion, ultimately making it a unicorn. Andela acquired three companies in 2023 and has raised $381 million over nine rounds.

6. Chipper Cash

Chipper Cash was co-founded by Ham Serunjogi (Ugandan) and Maijid Moujaled (Ghanaian) in 2018. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, functions under the legal name – Critical Ideas Incorporated, and offers cross-border payments across African countries and from the U.S.A.

Chipper Cash raised $8.4 million in seed funding in 2019. Its Series A funding summed up to $13.8 million in June 2020. They raised $30 million in Series B funding in November 2020. In May 2021, SVB Capital led a group of investors that raised $100 million to invest in Chipper Cash’s Series C funding.

In November of the same year, another group of investors, led by FTX, extended the Series C funding round with $150 million.

After this round, the company was valued at $2 billion and earned the unicorn tag. Chipper Cash acquired Zoona in 2022 and invested in Thepeer. The company has raised $337.2 million over seven rounds.

7. MNT-Halan (Egypt)

MNT-Halan is an Egyptian fintech company founded by Ahmed Mohsen, Mohammed Aboulnaga, and Mounir Nakhla in 2017.

The company provides digital banking services for the predominantly unbanked population in the Middle East and Northern Africa regions. These services include buy-now-pay-later options, digital wallets, and consumer finance.

In 2021, the company raised $120 million in Series A funding, led by Apis Partners and Development Partners International.

In February 2023, it raised $230 million in Series B funding in a round led by Chimera, raising its valuation to $1 billion and earning its unicorn status. The Series B extension earned the company $130 million in the last quarter of 2023 and $158 million in the first quarter of 2024.

MNT-Halan has acquired four companies, the latest acquisition being Tam Finans in July 2024. The company has raised $625.7 million in funding.

8. Moniepoint (Nigeria)

Moniepoint, formerly TeamApt, is a financial technology company that provides loan offers, digital banking services, and business management tools for individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa.

Founded by Felix Ike and Tosin Eniolorunda in 2015, the company’s most popular service is the Moniepoint Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal, which is housed under Moniepoint Microfinance Bank (MFB). In 2022, Moniepoint MFB received its license to operate from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Moniepoint operates Nigeria’s largest financial distribution network and has registered businesses that use its POS machines across every local government. In 2023, Moniepoint announced that it had 10 million active user accounts, processed $17 billion monthly, and processed $182 billion in annual transactions.

In 2019, Moniepoint received $2.8 million in seed funding. Between 2019 and 2020, it raised $15.3 million in Series A funding in a round backed by Quantum Capital Partners.

In 2021, its Series B round, backed by Novastar Ventures, raised $50 million. In 2022, its Series C investment round raised $50 million at first, with Novastar Ventures and QED Investors leading the round.

The Series C round extended into 2024, where they raised $110 million in a round led by Development Partners International, earning their unicorn tag.

They acquired Kopo Kopo in 2023 and invested in Coro and PayDay the same year. Moniepoint has raised $233.1 million in funding over eight rounds. The Financial Times ranked it as Africa’s fastest-growing fintech in 2023 and 2024.

9. TymeBank (South Africa)

South Africa’s TymeBank is a digital bank founded by Coen Jonker, Rolf Eichweber, and Tjaart van der Waalt in 2012. The company offers financial services such as buy-now-pay-later options (MoreTyme), diverse account options, and debit card services for the lower-income market.

In 2021, TymeBank raised $110 million in Series B funding. In 2023, the Series B round was extended to an additional $77.8 million, with Blue Earth Capital and Norrksen22 as lead investors.

The company received $250 million in funding in December 2024, elevating its valuation to $1.5 billion and earning the unicorn status. This round was led by Nubank, which invested $150 million and was backed by other investors, such as M&G Catalyst Fund.

TymeBank has raised $326.5 million over eight rounds of funding.

Understanding the African Startup Ecosystem

The African startup ecosystem has been labelled nascent—a fitting description, as most tech-inclined companies on the continent came into existence just after the dot-com bubble era.

It is a growing sector characterized by economic challenges and unsteady regulatory policies, which differ across countries and regions. Companies that establish and expand here ride this uncertain wave, mapping out potential solutions to problems as they come.

Startups that cater to the African market have some goals in common:

Attending to uncatered populations, as seen with most fintech startups that aim to “bank the unbanked.”
Integrating informal & small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) into the digital economy, as seen with Moniepoint.
Creating resilient business models that leverage existing economic challenges and deficient infrastructure to address critical needs, as seen with Kenyan-based Twiga Foods.

Existing startups integrate the features listed above into their business models. With the rise of unicorns and fast-growing businesses, the African economic climate is not entirely hostile to businesses. Proper strategies applied according to business requirements can help startups grow past the ideation stage.

Government Policies That Support the Startup Ecosystem

Tunisia

Tunisia was the first African country to sign a bill into law specially dedicated to the growth and support of startups. This sets a benchmark for how governments can support the inception and development of startups in their respective countries.

The Tunisia Startup Act, or Startup Nation law, was initiated by Yassine Brahim, the Minister for Communications, during Habib Essid’s rule in April 2018.

The law was intended to boost the Tunisian startup ecosystem by simplifying administrative processes, making it easier for startups to establish themselves, seek funding, and access global markets.

By 2022, the Tunisian Ministry of Communications had labeled 773 startups.

Senegal

Senegal was the second African country to sign a startup act into law. The Senegalese Startup Act was ratified in 2021 under Macky Sall’s administration.

The bill governs the development and promotion of startups in the country. Two years later, the Evaluation, Support, and Coordination Commission for Startups (CEAC) was established to promote innovation and conduct startup labelling.

Nigeria

Nigeria’s former president, Muhammadu Buhari, signed the Nigeria Startup Act (NSA) into law in October 2022. This initiative was designed to create an enabling environment for startups to thrive and attract investments to the country.

In April 2024, Dr. Bosun Tijani, the Minister for Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, announced the opening of the Nigeria Startup Portal for labelling.

Businesses submit prescribed documents to get their startups officially labelled. As of this announcement, the Startup Portal had over 12,000 registered startups.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

DRC’s startup act was officially launched at the RDC Startup Act Conference in November 2022. Before this, the bill was signed into law in September and published by the government officially in November.

The act was created through a participatory process and involved i4Policy, a Pan-African entity specializing in formulating African startup acts.

Other African countries that have established startup acts or are developing similar bills include Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mali, Benin, Togo, and Cote d’Ivoire.

Impact of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) on the Startup Ecosystem

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) is the African Union’s (AU) flagship project created by Agenda 2063. Its objective is to create an integrated market for the free movement of goods and services.

Signed by 54 member states in the AU, the AfCTA is currently the largest free trade area in the world based on the number of its signatories. The first trading set took place among eight member states in October 2022.

Combined with the startup acts in individual countries, the AfCTA will allow startups to expand their customer base and attract larger investments.

According to the Secretary General of the AfCTA Secretariat, H. E. Wamkele Mene, “the AfCTA sends a strong signal to the international investor community that Africa is open for business, based on a single rule book for trade and investment.”

The free trade area allows companies to scale their products beyond their home markets and attract international investment.

The fintech sector, in particular, stands to gain more, as digital payment solutions are essential for cross-border e-commerce transactions.

Strategies Unicorns in Africa Have Used to Achieve Growth

Some unicorns in Africa have survived unfavourable business conditions and stood out from their competition using these strategies.

Leveraging digital platforms

OmniRetail, a Nigerian B2B e-commerce platform, topped the Financial Times’ list of Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies in 2024.

The business aims to bridge the gaps in traditional retail distribution networks. OmniRetail’s platform connects manufacturers and retailers with distributors of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs), which consist mainly of everyday items.

Fragmentation is a significant obstacle to the smooth delivery of FMCGs. OmniRetail addressed this issue by building apps to digitize all transactions.

Mplify digitizes trades between manufacturers and distributors, Omnibiz digitizes trades between retailers and distributors, and OmniPay is the company’s trading payment software.

OmniRetail has expanded its operations to Ghana and the Ivory Coast with plans to expand further.

Despite Nigeria’s upward inflation trend and harsh macroeconomic conditions, OmniRetail has reduced costs by avoiding infrastructure such as warehouses and storage rooms.

Since 2019, OmniRetail has raised $20 million in debt and equity funding.

Diversifying revenue streams

Flutterwave initially focused on providing cross-border payment solutions for African countries. To diversify its income streams, it launched other services.

Send App by Flutterwave is a low-cost global remittance service, while Flutterwave Store is an e-commerce subsidiary that small business owners can use to set up virtual stores and make global sales.

Like Flutterwave, Opay has diversified its revenue sources. Its robust portfolio includes both financial and non-financial services.

In addition to its mobile money platform, Opay offers other functional services. ORide, a motorcycle-hailing service, pivoted to OExpress, which offers delivery and logistics services. OFood allows users to order food through its app. OKash is a credit services and lending platform integrated into the Opay app.

Diversifying revenue streams reduces the company’s reliance on external funding. It also increases the chances of local partnerships, which helps the company better understand its target audience.

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As)

Mergers and acquisitions are gradually becoming the most common exit for startups. Africa’s merger and acquisition landscape has grown significantly over the last ten years.

The major sectors that have experienced significant activity in the M&A sector include fintech, IT, telecommunications, energy, and natural resources.

The merger of Wasoko and MaxAB is Africa’s largest tech merger in 2024. In August 2024, both startups combined Wasoko’s retail prowess in East Africa and MaxAB’s business expertise in North Africa to create a vast and efficient B2B e-commerce platform spread across four countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, and Morocco.

In May 2024, Paystack led an investment group to acquire Brass. This was achieved with participation from other fintech startups such as Piggyvest and some angel investors like Olumide Soyombo.

In September 2024, Rise announced its official acquisition of Hisa, a Kenyan startup focused on creating educational content and simplified wealth-building solutions. With this development, Rise aims to establish its presence in the East African market.

It is important to note that not all M&As signify joint interest in expanding business operations.

In most cases, the acquired company loses a significant portion of its autonomy and becomes shadowed by the parent company. It is still considered the best exit strategy for startups and companies.

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