Valuations Of African Startups Are Getting Better – Damilola Thompson, EchoVC Partners

Fast-rewind to, say, 10-15 years ago, and what we now know as Africa’s thriving tech startup scene was almost non-existent. Back then, running a tech startup, or at least working for one, was about the most unpopular thing, probably because it didn’t seem like there was any value to be had there.

Now, fast-forward to this day and we are looking at a tech startup ecosystem that has not only become a hotspot for venture capital (VC) investments based on a raft of untapped opportunity and unsolved problems across the continent but also churned out the goods: thriving businesses solving real problems, invaluable human capital, and “big deals” featuring both the newcomers and the latter-stage enterprises, some of which have grown into billion-dollar unicorns.