A new report has listed Jumia Group, Cell C and Promasidor as part of 315 private companies around the world valued over $1 billion (as at 11 February 2019). The CB Insights report states that all 315 unicorns have a total cumulative valuation of about $1058 billion
A unicorn startup or unicorn company is a private company with a valuation over $1 billion. As of February 2019, there are more than 300 unicorns around the world.
The top five unicorns are Toutiao (Bytedance) from China ($75 billion), Uber from USA ($72 billion), Didi Chuxing from China ($56 billion), WeWork from USA ($47 billion) and AirBnB from USA ($29.3 billion)
Here is a look at the three African Unicorns – Jumia, Cell C and Promasidor.
Jumia Group, a Nigerian Company, is currently valued at $1.04 billion, joined this list on the 8th of February 2016. Jumia, listed under the eCommerce category, is an online marketplace in Africa for electronics, and fashion among others.
The eCommerce giant secured € 300 million from various investors in 2016 to join the Unicorn league. It is currently operational in 14 countries.
Investors include AXA, CDC Group, Goldman Sachs, Rocket Internet, MTN Group and Orange.
Cell C, a South African company, is currently valued at $1billion. The Telecoms company which has Blue Label Telecoms, Net1 UEPS Technologies, joined the league on the 8th of August 2017.
Founded in 2001 by (
Promasidor Holdings is also a South African company that operates in the Food and Beverage sector. The company’s principal investors are IFC and Ajinomoto and it is currently valued at $1.58 billion.
The company’s presence can be felt in 30 countries catering for over 850 million people. Promasidor was founded in 1979 by Robert Rose and its brands include Cowbell Milk, Loya Milk, Miksi, Top Tea, Onga and more.
It has subsidiaries in Nigeria and Ghana.
