African founders have continued to leverage their talent, networks, and capital outside the continent to build high-growth companies but unfortunately many of their stories have remained untold or sometimes under-told in the global tech entrepreneurship scene.
These founders took the leap, most migrating early —setting up in the US or other tech hubs and have scaled their businesses globally. They have shown that African talents don’t have to only serve local markets; they can also win globally.
In this edition of Techpoint Diaspora, the spotlight is on ten (10) diaspora-based African founders who have raised huge capital and built global-scale businesses outside (or largely outside) Africa.
1. Joe Kinvi, Founder, Borderless
Total amount raised: $500,000
Highest funding round: Pre-seed
Nationality: Togolese
Born in Togo and raised in Ireland, Kinvi started his career at Ernst & Young (E&Y), served as head of finance at Irish startup Touchtech Payments, before moving on to Stripe as partnerships lead.
Kinvi took a secondment (year contract) at Paystack (Stripe’s African subsidiary) after the acquisition.
In June 2025, Kinvi, co-founded Borderless, a digital platform described as the infrastructure designed to power diaspora investments and collective investing in Africa.
The platform raised $500,000 in pre-seed funding from investors such as Paystack’s Ezra Olubi and Voltron Capital’s Olumide Soyombo, and is close to hitting the $1 million mark in total capital invested into assets through the platform.
2. Jessica Mattews, CEO, Uncharted
Total amount raised: $7 million
Highest funding round: Series A
Nationality: Nigerian, American
Matthews is a Nigerian-American inventor who leveraged her heritage and education to build a company focused on clean energy innovation. She co-founded Uncharted Power in New York City, a clean energy company that developed products utilising energy-harvesting technology, such as the Soccket, a soccer ball that generates power when played with.
In recognition of her efforts, former US President Barack Obama invited her to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where he was pictured playing with the Soccket.
In 2016, Uncharted Power successfully raised a $7 million Series A round, making Matthews one of the few Black female founders to secure over $1 million in venture capital funding, valuing the company at $57 million.
Matthews’ initial product, the Soccket, was aimed at providing power in developing regions, primarily in Africa and Latin America. She went from receiving an initial grant capital from Toyota to being appointed to the Electricity Advisory Committee by the US Secretary of Energy.
3. Yonas Beshawred, Founder, StackShare
Total amount raised: $12 million
Highest funding round: Several rounds (Unspecified)
Nationality: Ethiopian, American
Yonas Beshawred is an Ethiopian-American technology entrepreneur best known as the founder and former CEO of StackShare, a popular community and platform for software developers.
Launched in 2014, StackShare raised approximately $12 million in total funding, according to Beshawred’s interview with Shega.
In August 2024, StackShare was acquired by FOSSA, a company specialising in open-source compliance and security, following a reported valuation of $20 million according to Pitchbook.
4. Sam Udotong, Co-founder and CTO at Fireflies.ai
Total amount raised: $19 million
Highest funding round: Unspecified
Nationality: Nigerian, American
The Nigerian-American MIT alum in computer science and aerospace engineering made a name for himself via his capital-efficient approach to building AI software.
He co-founded Fireflies.ai, an AI-powered meeting assistant in San Francisco that automates note-taking and knowledge extraction from corporate conversations .
Fireflies.ai achieved unicorn status ($1 billion valuation) in 2025, despite raising only $19 million in total venture funding.
5. Tade Oyerinde, Co-founder and Chancellor of Campus
Total amount raised: $100 million
Highest funding round: Series B
Nationality: Nigerian
This Nigerian-born founder grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. He is noted as a college dropout who later became a college chancellor at age 29.
In 2021, Tade co-founded Campus.edu, an accredited online college focused on supporting students to complete their first two years of college without taking on any debt.
A $46 million Series B funding round announced in March 2025, led by General Catalyst brought the company’s total funding to $100 million.
Prior to Campus.edu, he founded and created Campuswire, an online learning platform where he raised about $3.6 million in investment capital. His first company was Gleepost Labs, which created a roulette-style chat tool.
6. Tobenna Arodiogbu, Co-founder and CEO of CloudTrucks
Total amount raised: $141.6 million
Highest funding round: Series B
Nationality: Nigerian
Arodiogbu was born in Enugu, Nigeria, and moved to the US at 16 for university. He co-founded CloudTrucks, headquartered in San Francisco in 2019 to help independent truck drivers manage their compliance, payments, and administrative tasks.
In a December 2021 Series B funding round, CloudTrucks raised $115 million, bringing its total valuation to $850 million. A year prior, CloudTrucks raised $20.5 million in a Series A round led by Caffeinated Capital with Better Tomorrow Ventures and five other participants. The company has raised a total funding of $141.6 million.
Prior to CloudTrucks, Arodiogbu co-founded and served as CEO of Scotty Labs a startup focused on self-driving car technology, specifically enabling users to remotely control autonomous vehicles. Scotty Labs was acquired by DoorDash in 2019.
7. Wemimo Abbey, Co-founder and CEO of Esusu
Total amount raised: $142 million
Highest funding round: Series B
Nationality: Nigerian
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, before immigrating to the US, Abbey’s entrepreneurial journey was motivated by a personal experience. His mother had borrowed from a predatory lender at 400% interest because they lacked a US credit history.
In 2018, he co-founded Esusu, a US based fintech platform that helps renters build credit by reporting rent payments to credit bureaus.
The company achieved unicorn status in 2022 following a $130 million Series B funding round, bringing its total funding to over $142 million.
Esusu works with property owners, covering over 5 million rental units nationwide, and has helped tens of thousands of families who were previously “credit invisible” to establish credit scores.
8. Tope Awotona, founder and CEO of Calendly
Total amount raised: $352 million
Highest funding round: Series B
Nationality: Nigerian, American
Awotona, who was born in Lagos, Nigeria, immigrated to the United States as a teenager, where he studied Business Management Information Systems at the University of Georgia.
He attempted to launch a dating site, an e-commerce site selling projectors, and a third site selling grills, none of which gained traction.
In 2013, frustrated by the back and forth of scheduling meetings, he launched Calendly in Altlanta, Georgia. He initially bootstrapped the business with $200,000 of his life savings and credit card funds.
The company raised $350 million in a Series B round in 2021, bringing its total financing to approximately $352 million. This round saw the company’s valuation jump to $3 billion.
9. Ade Olonoh, Founder and Board Member of Formstack
Total amount raised: $425 million
Highest funding round: Unspecified
Nationality: Nigerian
Born in the US, Olonoh moved to Nigeria when he was two years old before returning to America in the 6th grade. He founded Formstack, a software as a service (SaaS) company headquartered in Fishers, Indiana, that provides a workplace productivity platform for no-code forms, documents, and digital signatures, in 2006.
The company was bootstrapped and later scaled to serve over 25,000 organisations worldwide in 2021. Formstack’s reported Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) was approximately $14 million in 2017. Five years later, the company received a funding of $425 million in its most recent funding round.
Olonoh stepped down from his day-to-day role in 2018, but remains the founder and a board member. In 2025, Formstack officially rebranded as Intellistack.
10. Toyin Ajayi, Co-founder and CEO of Cityblock Health
Total amount raised: Approximately $900 million
Highest funding round: Series D
Nationality: Nigerian
Nigerian physician Dr Toyin Ajayi has raised nearly $900 million in funding and a valuation of almost $6 billion.
Born in Nigeria before moving abroad, Ajayi possesses a background deeply rooted in recognising healthcare disparities.
In 2017, she co-founded Cityblock Health, to tackle the complex challenges of healthcare in the US, specifically focusing on low-income individuals who are eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, a demographic often overlooked by venture-backed firms.
Their largest single funding round was a Series D round led by SoftBank which reportedly raised $400 million. Following the Series D funding, Cityblock Health is currently valued at approximately $5.7 billion.
