The Yale Africa Startup Review (YASR) is an annual Yale-wide Africa student-led feature of startups shaping the future of innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa. The Review is a product born out of our shared desire to ensure the narrative of African innovation and entrepreneurship is included in the global startup ecosystem. As Yale School of Management business school students from Cameroon, Germany, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and South Africa, we wanted to see more stories and case studies of extraordinary innovation from startups on the African continent. We also wanted to create stronger links between African founders, global investors, and stakeholders. So, we created a feature which does just that; YASR was born!
At YASR, we use a holistic methodology to find the most promising startups across the African continent, beyond the flashy news headlines. We believe the best information comes from the ground up, from those in the trenches building companies in Africa, ideating with entrepreneurs day today and financing them. We think the African startup ecosystem is unique in its challenges and opportunities and therefore needs to be evaluated on its own merits. With this approach, we uncover the most promising startups from the African. Through our granular assessment, we seek to reveal the entrepreneurial power of the African continent and connect it to stakeholders across the globe.
YASR engages with countless entities in the African entrepreneurship ecosystem in our search for the best startups. These include Venture Capital firms, Incubators, Labs, Thought Leaders, and the Entrepreneurs themselves. The nominees are evaluated according to five broad categories, through 25 distinct metrics.
To date, we’ve received 200+ nominations from 350+ investors, hubs, labs & accelerators from over 30 countries in Africa and we’re in the process of reviewing them alongside a dynamic team of Africa-based or Africa-focused judges. YASR30 officially launches in March 2021. Stay on top of the latest news from the Review on LinkedIn and Twitter.
The Yale Africa Startup Review was co-founded by Samuel Kitara, Lina Kacyem, Caroline van der Merwe, Sharon Mwale, Lukas Bosch, Kwame Amoako, and Mabs Okusaga.
Originally published in Yale and the World