Wave, a Francophone fintech company, has been listed as the only African representative on Y-Combinator’s top 50 earning startups for 2024 for the second consecutive year. Y-Combinator, a global accelerator, has a portfolio of 92 African startups. The ranking is based on earnings as YC stopped sharing valuations in 2023 due to changes in tech giants’ valuations.
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This year’s list is presented alphabetically to respect the confidentiality often associated with startup revenue. Notable names on the list include Airbnb, Stripe, Doordash, and Deel.
Wave, backed by investors like IFC, Stripe, and Sequoia, has raised over $300 million and stands as one of Africa’s unicorns, valued at over $1 billion. Founded by Drew Durbin and Lincoln Quirk, Wave emerged after their successful exit from Sendwave, their first startup, which was acquired for $500 million.
Wave disrupted the Senegalese mobile money market in 2018 by offering lower transaction fees and free deposits/withdrawals via its app. This led to a price reduction of up to 70%, prompting competitors like Orange and Free Senegal to cut prices by 80% and restrict certain services via Wave’s app. By 2023, Wave had 6 million users in Senegal, around 75% of the adult population, and a total of 10 million users across multiple African countries. In 2022, the company recorded 12 billion transactions in Senegal alone.
Wave’s impressive revenue performance distinguishes it within Africa’s fintech ecosystem, especially considering three fintech startups folded in 2023 due to funding shortages. While an IPO is still a couple of funding rounds away for Wave, hopes are high for a future listing on a global exchange, given private investors’ ability to already purchase shares in the company.
In response to economic challenges in 2022, Wave downsized its workforce by 15%, reducing its employee count to 850 from 2,000. Expansion plans were also put on hold to prioritize serving existing markets.
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