How African founders learn to do the hard things before scaling globally

Building a startup in Africa rarely starts with polish. It starts with uncertainty, pressure, and decisions that have no obvious answers.

That reality was at the centre of Season 2 of the ALX Ventures ‘Do Hard Things Challenge’, where founders from eight African cities stepped into a process designed not to celebrate success, but to test resilience, clarity, and execution under real constraints.

Rather than showcasing finished companies, the challenge followed founders through the uncomfortable middle of building. Refining ideas. Defending assumptions. Confronting what it truly takes to scale beyond local markets.

The journey began in city-level pitch rooms across  ALX hubs, where early-stage founders presented solutions grounded in everyday African realities. From mobility and logistics to fintech and climate innovation, each idea carried ambition. Few arrived fully formed.

Only one founder from each city advanced to the pan African finale in Mauritius, raising the stakes early and forcing participants to interrogate not just what they were building, but why it should exist at all.

But the competition revealed something beyond rankings. These founders were not just pitching ideas.

They were demonstrating what it takes to build companies capable of operating across markets, adapting to complexity, and earning investor trust through execution, not just ambition.

Among those who demonstrated this resilience most effectively was Abderrahman El Fahli from Morocco.  His startup, Novate, took first place and secured $50,000 in investment value.

El Fahli's ability to articulate both vision and viable execution stood out in a field where clarity under pressure determined outcomes.

Paul Dominion Ladi (Rwanda) claimed second place with her startup LadX, earning $35,000 in investment value, while Samar Elghalban (Egypt) secured third place with Edulga, receiving $15,000 in investment value.  

What distinguishes the challenge is not the competition format, but the emphasis on systems over slogans.

Through ALX Ventures, founders are exposed to the realities of building companies that can operate beyond a single city or country.

The focus is not just on raising capital, but on building ventures that can scale responsibly while remaining grounded in African market realities.

By releasing the full season on YouTube as a two-part series, first documenting the city-level competitions, then following finalists to Mauritius, ALX made that journey visible.

Viewers could watch ideas evolve from early pitches to investor facing presentations, including the missteps, the tough feedback, and the moments where founders were forced to rethink everything they thought they knew.

Season 2 of the ALX Ventures ‘Do Hard Things Challenge’ offered a snapshot of Africa’s startup ecosystem in motion. Ambitious, uneven, and deeply resilient.

Importantly, it shows what happens when founders are given the structure, pressure, and support to turn raw ideas into ventures that can compete globally. This is the heart of the Do Hard Things philosophy. Growth does not come from comfort, but from the clarity earned through difficulty.

The Do Hard Things Challenge is about building Africa’s most innovative founders who can endure the work that comes after, the kind of work that turns a compelling pitch into a sustainable company.

Watch the full Do Hard Things Challenge Season 2 on ALX’s official Youtube Channel to see how African founders navigate the uncomfortable middle of building startups designed for global impact.

To explore more stories of African founders and join this vibrant community of changemakers, please visit www.alx-ventures.com.

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