Besides being the chief executives of multibillion-dollar African startups, Olugbenga Agboola of Flutterwave, and Ham Serunjogi of Chipper Cash have one other thing in common: credentials from US universities.

In 2021, 73% of the over $4 billion raised by African startups was by CEOs whose latest degrees were masters’ or MBAs obtained from a university outside of Africa, according to LinkedIn profile analysis by Africa: The Big Deal

But looking at where VC-backed founders studied suggests that investor bias and inclination to stick to familiar patterns may not come down to color alone. Black Nigerians are responsible for most of the startups founded in the country, yet the data above suggest that startup fundraising is overwhelmingly a sport for those whose latest degree was earned on foreign shores.

Last year’s African mega rounds were overwhelmingly led by foreign investors like SoftBank, Tiger Global, and the International Finance Corporation. Understanding the cultural dynamics of those investors, it could be argued, gives such CEOs an edge.

“These things take time,” said Lumi Mustapha, the head of legal at South Africa-based startup incubator Founders Factory Africa.

His expectation is that the currently favored set of foreign-schooled founders, as they become successful, will fund the best of their counterparts who schooled at home “across the spectrum of gender, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic background.”