On Monday, October 5, 2020, Techpoint Africa launched its West African Startup Decade Report. The report focuses on the funding activities of startups in the tech space between 2010 and 2019. It contains a breakdown of funding activities by startup industries, the origin of investors, and industry spotlight, among others.
It is noteworthy that only Millionaire West African Startups (MWAS) — startups in the West African region that raised $1 million cumulatively — within the period under review were considered in the report.
Zeroing in on the education of the startup founders revealed that Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and Covenant University (CU) produced 12 and 6 alumni, respectively, to occupy first and second spot in the institution breakdown by first degree.
Interestingly, a common trend was that MWAS founders from the same tertiary institution founded companies together.
Kudi, for instance, has a couple of MWAS founders from the Obafemi Awolowo University; other startups with founders from OAU are TeamApt, Terragon, Farmcrowdy, 54gene, SlimTrader, and PropertyPro.
Covenant University also produced founders whose startups — PiggyVest, MDAAS, and Kora Network — featured in the report.
It would appear that these institutions either have a knack for producing alumni who go on to found successful startups or these alumni maintain a network, post-graduation, that allows them to come together and start these companies.
Whatever the reason, these institutions provided the most MWAS founders in the last decade. To find out more, get the West African Startup Decade Report.
Featured image by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
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