Abstract

The number of venture-funded technology startups in Africa and the amount of venture capital investment has been on a steady rise in the recent past. We are now at a point in the evolution of the various startup ecosystems around the continent where we have had startups going through multiple rounds of venture funding, some increasing their valuations to unicorn status (that is, being valued at over $1 billion). Others have gone through exit and liquidation events. That said, startups and the venture capital funding model are still a relatively new phenomenon on the continent and there is scant research on startups in Africa in general, less so on how African ventures scale and how they adapt their operations and management, including their governance structures, to adapt to growth. This has all the more been highlighted by recent corporate governance failings among African technology startups resulting in crises. This study sought to investigate the corporate governance (CG) of African technology startups; the study also sought to establish how this might influence their valuation at successive funding rounds.

Key words: Venture capital, corporate governance, valuation, technology startups, management, boards.