{"id":280446,"date":"2025-11-12T22:23:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/280446\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T22:23:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:23:15","slug":"6-african-founders-in-the-diaspora-who-have-raised-over-100m-in-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/280446\/","title":{"rendered":"6 African founders in the diaspora who have raised over $100m in funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

African founders have continued to leverage their talent, networks, and capital outside the continent to build high-growth companies<\/a> but only a handful have managed to raise the kind of capital that truly signals global-scale ambition.<\/p>\n

These founders took the leap, most migrating early \u2014 setting up in the US or other tech hubs and have scaled their businesses globally. They have shown that African talents don\u2019t have to only serve local markets; they can also win globally.<\/p>\n

In this edition of Techpoint Diaspora, we profile six (6) diaspora-based African founders who stand out \u2014 not just for migrating early or tapping global networks, but for the exceptional levels of funding they\u2019ve secured to build companies that are winning on the world stage.<\/p>\n

1. Tade Oyerinde, Co-founder and Chancellor of Campus<\/p>\n

\"TadeTade Oyerinde | Image Credit: LinkedIn<\/p>\n

Total amount raised: $100 million
Highest funding round: Series B
Nationality: Nigerian<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

A $46 million Series B funding round<\/a> announced in March 2025, led by General Catalyst brought the company\u2019s total funding to $100 million.<\/p>\n

Prior to Campus.edu, he founded and created Campuswire, an online learning platform where he raised about $3.6 million<\/a> in investment capital. His first company was Gleepost Labs, which created a roulette-style chat tool.<\/p>\n

2. Tobenna Arodiogbu, Co-founder and CEO of CloudTrucks<\/p>\n

\"TobennaTobenna Arodiogbu | Image Credit: San Franscisco Business Times<\/p>\n

Total amount raised: $141.6 million
Highest funding round: Series B
Nationality: Nigerian<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

In a December 2021 Series B funding round, CloudTrucks raised $115 million<\/a>, bringing its total valuation to $850<\/a> million. A year prior, CloudTrucks raised $20.5 million in a Series A round<\/a> led by Caffeinated Capital with Better Tomorrow Ventures and five other participants. The company has raised a total funding of $141.6 million.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

3. Wemimo Abbey, Co-founder and CEO of Esusu<\/p>\n

\"Source:Wemimo Abbey | Image Credit: CNBC <\/p>\n

Total amount raised: $142 million
Highest funding round: Series B
Nationality: Nigerian<\/p>\n

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, before immigrating to the US, Abbey\u2019s entrepreneurial journey was motivated by a personal experience. His mother had borrowed from a predatory lender at 400% interest<\/a> because they lacked a US credit history.<\/p>\n

In 2018, he co-founded Esusu, a US based fintech platform that helps renters build credit by reporting rent payments to credit bureaus.<\/p>\n

The company achieved unicorn status in 2022<\/a> following a $130 million Series B funding round, bringing its total funding to over $142 million.<\/p>\n

Esusu works with property owners, covering over 5 million rental units nationwide, and has helped tens of thousands of families who were previously \u201ccredit invisible\u201d to establish credit scores.<\/p>\n

4. Tope Awotona, founder and CEO of Calendly<\/p>\n

\"TopeTope Awotona | Image Credit: techpoint.africa<\/p>\n

Total amount raised: $352 million
Highest funding round: Series B
Nationality: Nigerian, American<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He attempted to launch a dating site, an e-commerce site selling projectors, and a third site selling grills, none of which gained traction.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The company raised $350 million<\/a> in a Series B round in 2021, bringing its total financing to approximately $352 million. This round saw the company\u2019s valuation jump to $3 billion.<\/p>\n

5. Ade Olonoh, Founder and Board Member of Formstack<\/p>\n

\"AdeAde Olonoh | Image Credit: Adeolonoh<\/p>\n

Total amount raised: $425 million
Highest funding round: Unspecified
Nationality: Nigerian<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The company was bootstrapped and later scaled to serve over 25,000 organisations<\/a> worldwide in 2021. Formstack\u2019s reported Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) was approximately $14 million in 2017. Five years later, the company received a funding of $425 million<\/a> in its most recent funding round.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6. Toyin Ajayi, Co-founder and CEO of Cityblock Health<\/p>\n

\"ToyinToyin Ajayi | Image Credit: Haje Kamps\/TechCrunch<\/p>\n

Total amount raised: Approximately $900 million
Highest funding round: Series D
Nationality: Nigerian<\/p>\n

Nigerian physician Dr. Toyin Ajayi has raised nearly $900 million in funding and a valuation of almost $6 billion.<\/p>\n

Born in Nigeria before moving abroad, Ajayi possesses a background<\/a> deeply rooted in recognising healthcare disparities.<\/p>\n

In 2017, she co-founded Cityblock Health<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

Their largest single funding round was a Series D round led by SoftBank which reportedly raised $400 million<\/a>. Following the Series D funding, Cityblock Health is currently valued at approximately $5.7 billion.<\/p>\n

Honourable Mentions<\/p>\n

The founders above met our funding cut-off for inclusion in the main list. Below are additional diaspora-based African founders who, though they fell just short of that benchmark, have still built impressive funding histories and global\u00ad scale ambitions. They\u2019re worth watching, and may well join the top list in the next cycle.<\/p>\n

Jessica Mattews, CEO, Uncharted<\/p>\n

\"Source:Jessica Mattews | Image Credit: Uncharted Power<\/p>\n

Total amount raised: $7 million
Highest funding round: Series A
Nationality: Nigerian, American<\/p>\n

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<\/a> 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. <\/p>\n

In recognition of her efforts, former US President Barack Obama invited her to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania<\/a>, where he was pictured playing with the Soccket.<\/p>\n

In 2016, Uncharted Power successfully raised a $7 million Series A round<\/a>, making Matthews one of the few Black female founders to secure over $1 million in venture capital funding, valuing the company at $57 million.<\/p>\n

Matthews\u2019 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<\/a> by the US Secretary of Energy.<\/p>\n

Yonas Beshawred, Founder, StackShare\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"YonasYonas Beshawred | Image Credit: 500.co<\/p>\n

Total amount raised: $12 million
Highest funding round: Several rounds (Unspecified)
Nationality: Ethiopian, American<\/p>\n

Yonas Beshawred is an Ethiopian-American technology entrepreneur best known as the founder and former CEO of StackShare<\/a>, a popular community and platform for software developers.<\/p>\n

Launched in 2014, StackShare raised approximately $12 million in total funding, according to Beshawred\u2019s interview with Shega<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In August 2024, StackShare was acquired by FOSSA<\/a>, a company specialising in open-source compliance and security, following a reported valuation of $20 million according to Pitchbook.<\/p>\n

Sam Udotong, Co-founder and CTO at Fireflies.ai<\/p>\n

\"Source:Sam-Udotong | Image Credit: Afrotech<\/p>\n

Total amount raised: $19 million
Highest funding round: Unspecified
Nationality: Nigerian, American<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He co-founded Fireflies.ai<\/a>, an AI-powered meeting assistant in San Francisco that automates note-taking and knowledge extraction from corporate conversations .<\/p>\n

Fireflies.ai achieved unicorn <\/a>status ($1 billion valuation) in 2025, despite raising only $19 million in total venture funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"African founders have continued to leverage their talent, networks, and capital outside the continent to build high-growth companies…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[64,63,99,198],"class_list":{"0":"post-280446","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-entrepreneurship"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}