Y Combinator, an American seed accelerator recently released a list of the top 102 most valuable companies that have graduated from the accelerator.
For Africa startups that have participated and graduated from Y Combinator, Flutterwave, a Nigerian fintech startup was the only African company that made the list and was ranked 97th out of the 102 startups.
Flutterwave which participated in Y Combinator in 2016, has raised a total of $20.1 million to date, with the latest known round made in October 2018.
Others which made the list include startups from South America, Europe, Asia and North America which had the largest share of startups on the list.
On the list, each company is said to be valued at $150 million at least, with all companies having a combined valuation of $155 billion while creating more than 50,000 jobs.
On why the list was put together, Y Combinator said that: “We put this list together to help potential employees, partners and late-stage investors get to know a wider set of YC companies.”
It is worth noting that there may have been other startups in Africa that would have made the list because it is not an exhaustive list of the top Y Combinator Companies. This is because “Y Combinator allowed alumni to opt-out of being listed for any reason.” To see a full list of YC companies, go here.
Every year, YC invests $120,000 in startups that participate in its programme. The founders of these startups then move to Silicon Valley where they work with YC for three months and participate in the Demo Day to access support, mentoring, and more funding. All these, in exchange for 7% equity.
Since launching in 2005, YC has made over 2,000 investments and, for the first time last year, published a list of its most valuable companies. While most of the companies from the 2018 list made this year’s list, this is the first time an African startup has made the cut.
Flutterwave Inc. is a payment startup founded over a year ago to build underlying payments infrastructure for African businesses to accept a card, mobile money, and bank account payments in a single place. The company was founded by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Olugbenga Agboola.
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