The perfect start-up name 💎
A not-so-serious post linking lexicology and start-up fundraising in Africa
This week we’re looking at fundraising on the continent from a lighter angle. Though if you were in for something more serious, the button below will take you to another article 😉
So. We’ve scanned hundreds and hundreds of start-ups, and often wondered how founders managed to come up with new, original names (sometimes a bit too original maybe?) for their ventures. Which got us thinking: we know start-ups are more likely to raise funding if they’re in fintech, located in one of the Big Four, or founded or led by men… But could there be a way to pick your start-up name to maximise your chances of success? Well, here are a few tips…
Keep it short and sweet: 60% of the funding raised in Africa since 2019 was raised by start-ups with a name between 4 and 9 characters; 17% went to 4-letter-name start-ups alone (think Opay, Jumo, Swvl, Yoco, Kuda…). On the contrary, start-ups with names longer than 20 characters have raised less than 1% of the total amount.
Start with the letter ‘M’: Start-ups with a name starting with ‘M’ have been more successful than others at fundraising since 2019 and have attracted 10% of the total funding raised (think MNT-Halan, MFS Africa, Moove…). Overall, 2/3 of the funding has been raised by start-ups with a name starting with one of these 9 letters: M, C, O, T, A, F, P, S, and D. Comparatively, start-ups with names starting with ‘Q’ or ‘X’ have barely raised any funding.
Add in an ‘A’, an ‘R’, and a ‘T’: Out of the vowels, start-ups with an ‘A’ (think Andela, Wave, Paystack) in their name have raised 73% of all the founding, followed by ‘E’ (53%) and ‘O’ (48%); start-ups with a ‘U’ in their name have been the least successful at fundraising comparatively. In terms of consonants, the start-ups raising the most have often an ‘R’ (43%) or a ‘T’ in their name; or both (think Flutterwave or Interswitch). ‘L’ and ‘P’ are also very popular. The only really underperforming consonants are ‘Q’, ‘Z’, ‘X’, and ‘J’. Throwing in a number won’t help much (unless you’re Kobo360, Planet 42, 54gene or Carry1st of course), as start-ups with a number in their name only raised 2% of the funding.
Now, I trust you will take all of this with a pinch of salt as it will take more than being named ‘Mart’ or ‘Matr’ for a start-up to shoot to unicorn status. That said, it’s very likely you will struggle if you’re called ‘Qqzxjujxzqqu666ujxzqu’, but you might defy the odds, who knows. And by the way, if you’ve ever done some quirky analysis on our database - now including more than $9bn worth of deals -, I’d love to hear about it 🙃