Two African startups, Cleva and tappi, have been listed among 50 others from around the world to go on to have successful exits within five to 10 years. The companies were listed by global tech startup analytics company, CB Insights, in its Future Tech Hotshots report.
According to the report, the selected startups either offer artificial intelligence as a core product offering, target horizontal AI development specifically, or are leveraging AI as a force multiplier to create value in areas ranging from cybersecurity to agriculture.
What makes them stand out is determined by their exit probabilities and management teams which is a key signal of potential especially for early-stage startups. Other criteria include IP development which points to a unique and truly innovative technology, and notable investors which shows that as a business, investors are aggressively betting that these companies will be home runs in the long term
“Using CB Insights’ proprietary data and metrics — including Exit Probability, Commercial, Maturity, Mosaic, headcount, patents, and funding — we identified the 52 emerging players our data says are most likely to have an outsized influence in the next 5–10 years and have a strong exit. Corporations and big tech players should watch these startups, as they are among the most likely to make waves across industries in the coming years,” the report says.
Meet Cleva
Cleva is a US-registered but Africa-focused financial technology company backed by Y-Combinator. Founded in 2023 by Tolu Alabi (CEO) and Philip Abel (CTO), the startup helps individuals and organisations in Africa open US-based bank accounts. By doing so, it enables them to receive payments in US dollars. The startup allows users to open these USD accounts simply by providing their Bank Verification Number (BVN) and government-issued identity cards like international passports and driver’s licenses.
In January 2024, the startup raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round to push its drive to improve international payments across Africa. The round was led by 1984 Venture, a San Francisco venture capital firm focused on helping early-stage startups. It also witnessed participation from other investors like FirstCheck Africa, Y Combinator, The Raba Partnership, and Byld Ventures.
Following the raise, the startup said it is developing a number of digital products like USD cards and savings in US assets. Cleva is also looking to delve into API issuance. These products, the company believes, will enable users to send USD internationally and create professional invoices. Its area of operation also puts it in a competitive remittance market that already includes more established fintech companies like Flutterwave’s Send, Chipper Cash, Lemfi, and Afriex.
But the founders are not fazed, with CEO, Tolu Alabi noting that the market opportunity, with a potential value of $18 billion, is big enough for Cleva to play in.
“The problem that we’re trying to solve, which is enabling people to receive international payments, is not a Nigerian problem nor an African one. It’s a global problem; people in Latin America, Asia and even Canada need to receive dollars for their work and service. We’re starting with Nigeria because we know the market and it’s also a big market. But we feel like because of our backgrounds, we’re very well positioned to solve this problem at a global scale,” she told TechCrunch.
Born and raised in Nigeria, both founders moved to the U.S. on college scholarships. Philip Abel attended MIT while Tolu Alabi attended the business school at Stanford. They have both amassed experience from working at major tech companies including Amazon, Stripe, AWS and Twilio. With these, they bring valuable technical and product experience to the startup.
Kenya’s Tappi
tappi is a Kenya-based end-to-end digital commerce software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup that simplifies the process of creating and managing online business profiles for small businesses. Through this, it enables these SMEs to showcase their products and services, engage with customers, and accept payments.
Founded in 2022 by Kenfield Griffith (CEO) and Louis Majanja, small business owners just need to create profiles on the app and supply their business information. With this, the startup creates a website which is SEO-optimised and indexed on Google. The startup says the websites are created in 2 minutes or less. The startup says it has indexed over 5,000 business pages on Google through which it helps businesses collect reviews from their customers.
“Our goal is to help businesses achieve visibility,” the CEO, Griffith told TechCabal.
In December 2023, tappi raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed round led by Mercy Corps Ventures and Chui Ventures. The round also witnessed participation from Digital Currency Group, SOSV, Resilience17, growX ventures, Orbit Startups and Reflect Ventures.
The round also saw participation from angel investors and advisors from global tech companies like Google, Salesforce, and Zendesk. The SaaS company said it will use the new funding to double down on its current markets and focus on talent acquisition and overall brand building.
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