Good evening,

This is an updated version of the original story. Promise made, promise kept. Preamble will dedicate one edition to the African startup space monthly, this is the first edition.

3 things you need to know:

• There are 32 founders behind 12 African 🌍 startups valued at over US$1 billion

• 12 studied in United States 🇺🇸 for university, 4 in Australia 🇦🇺, 3 in Canada 🇨🇦, and 7 in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧

• 60% (18 of the 30) attended or met their co-founder in the same university

Egyptian excellence?

• 5 were born in Nigeria 🇳🇬 , 7 in the United States 🇺🇸, 7 in Egypt 🇪🇬 and 4 in Australia 🇦🇺

12 African startups valued at over $1 billion are Andela, MNT-Halan, Flutterwave, Jumia1, Interswitch, Wave, Chipper Cash, Opay, Go1, Swvl, Zipline, and Fawry. 4 United States and United Kingdom based unicorns co-founded/founded by an African are World Remit, Esusu, Calendly, and Aurora Solar

Harvard University or HBS, University of Waterloo, and Stanford University were schools with most alumni who founded African startups over $1 billion

(60%) 18 of the 30 founders behind African start-ups worth more than $1 billion attended or met their cofounder at the same university 

Most founders behind African unicorns were born in the United States 🇺🇸 (7), Egypt 🇪🇬 (7), Nigeria 🇳🇬 (5), and Australia 🇦🇺 (4)

Preamble Dark Mode

For accessibility I always design in a light and dark mode.

11 African startups valued at over $1 billion are Andela, Flutterwave, Jumia1, Interswitch, Wave, Chipper Cash, Opay, Go1, Swvl, Zipline, and Fawry. 4 United States and United Kingdom based unicorns co-founded/founded by an African are World Remit, Esusu, Calendly, and Aurora Solar

Harvard University or HBS, University of Waterloo, and Stanford University were schools with most alumni who founded African startups over $1 billion

(60%) 18 of the 30 founders behind African start-ups worth more than $1 billion attended or met their cofounder at the same university 

Most founders behind African unicorns were born in the United States 🇺🇸 (7), Nigeria 🇳🇬 (5), Egypt 🇪🇬 (5) and Australia 🇦🇺 (4)

Preamble Brief

I rebranded Preamble to Preamble Africa on Instagram with a new focus on decision makers creating impact in Africa. Like this edition the newsletter will now focus on in-depth contextual data. In preparation for long form and expansion to gen z readers Preamble will now be only delivered weekly on Tuesday at 5:00 AM.