50 African Tech Founders Unveils Pando DAO to Transform Africa’s Startup Ecosystem

The African IT sector has been growing steadily in recent years. With roughly a thousand acquisitions expected this year, venture capital on the continent is anticipated to surpass $7 billion, making it an anomaly in the current global funding slowdown.

Startups continue to fail due to a lack of access to money, mentorship, and a strong network of support, despite the fact that funding is constantly rising—Africa recorded $5.2 billion in funding across 650 deals last year. The 2020 Better Africa research indicated that 54% of African companies established between 2010 and 2018 failed.

Numerous businesses on the continent, including Kune, Sendy, and Capiter, have had difficulty this year due to problems with management, funding, and product-market fit. Over 50 African founders have joined forces to form Pando DAO, a community of founders with the goal of accelerating Africa’s startup ecosystem and promoting growth all over the continent, in order to address this and support future founders.

Over 50 company founders and early builders from across Africa are founding members of the network. These individuals include the creators of mPharma, Wasoko, Pariti, SunCulture, Africa Health Holdings, Stitch, Marketforce, 54Gene, Mara, VertoFX, Turaco, Raise, Carry1st, Jetstream, and more. These founders run businesses with a current market value of over $2 billion and have raised over $500 million in funding. Pando member companies also employ over 10,000 people across 15 African countries.

Additionally, the neighborhood has been an official community partner of Silicon Zanzibar. A government program called Silicon Zanzibar was started earlier this year with the goal of making the island a center for tech talent and businesses. As part of this effort, Pandos’ member businesses will receive assistance in setting up shop and migrating workers to the island.

The Zanzibari government will also receive assistance from Pando DAO in developing a legal and policy framework that will support innovation and the island nation’s digital economy as well as a strategy to stimulate the development of local tech talent. By doing this, it will make Silicon Zanzibar possible for other African governments to use it as a model for digital economic enablement.

A venture capital fund for early-stage tech companies in Africa will also be established by the community, utilizing the knowledge and connections of its participants. Additionally, a Pando CEO Summit and center for Pando DAO members are planned to debut later this year.

Yacob Berhane, CEO and co-founder of Pariti and a founding member of Pando DAO, commented on the partnership’s beginning, saying, “We are happy to be cooperating with the government of Zanzibar on this endeavor. We are confident that by working together, we can advance the African digital ecosystem, with Zanzibar playing a significant role by luring foreign firms and talent while also nurturing local firms and talent.

We are thrilled to officially join with Pando to co-create the policies and initiatives that will alter Zanzibar’s economy, said Mudrick Soraga, the country’s minister of investment and economic development. We have the chance to collaborate with the top actors in the African IT industry by working with Pando DAO.

Pando DAO is only allowing founders who have raised over $2 million to join in its objective to accelerate the African tech ecosystem, in an effort to bolster its position as the largest and most influential founder community on the continent.