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Alpha builds Startup Cities:

We work with developing countries to create private cities that use regulatory autonomy to create economic activity and jobs. These “Startup Cities” are the evolution of Special Economic Zones for the 21st century; enabling zones with greater operating autonomy in order to create more globally competitive cities.

In our first 12 months, we’ve signed deals with 3 host countries in Africa that have earmarked 100 sq. km of land worth over $1b for our initial builds. We expect national legislation and the land grant for our first project to be complete by EOY 2024 so we can build in 2025.

Our pipeline of country opportunities focuses initially on Lusophone Africa, and will expand adjacently from there. Each city master plan is mixed use, focusing on a tailored set of industries, but with a common legal and regulatory foundation creating a multi-homed legal jurisdiction.

Market opportunity:

Africa’s current GDP is about $3.1T. So we’d need to capture 3% of Africa’s next doubling of GDP growth in order to generate $100B in GDP. Africa’s urban population is expected to grow from about 600M today to 1.5 billion in 2050. Middle-income cities have conservatively $10K GDP per capita, so we need 10 Million people, or 1% of Africa’s urbanization, in order to generate $100B in GDP.

Many global businesses can benefit from a superior, streamlined regulatory environment. There are about 500M businesses worldwide, 100M in highly regulated industries, and 25M that would seriously consider relocating to a new jurisdiction that offered a streamlined regulatory environment. When we account for the SMEs and second-order businesses that support these regulated businesses, as many as 35M businesses may be candidates to relocate.

Why it’s the right time for Startup Cities:

Six of the world’s top twenty cities will be in Africa by 2050. Abidjan, Dar es Salaam, and Luanda will replace Los Angeles, Guangzhou, and Osaka-Kyoto in the top twenty. Every city in the world that will double or triple in size by 2050 is in Africa. 

Up to 70% of the urban African population lives in informal settlements, and lacks access to water, sanitation, and power. Unemployment is 20% or more, and 80% of the population works in the extralegal economy. A lack of transportation infrastructure and public transit creates traffic congestion and long commute times. The lack of urban planning, corruption, and weak institutions lead to urban decay, insufficient administration, and lack of basic services. Countries are eager to adopt modern competitive zone strategies that enable entrepreneurs to raise private capital in order to deliver the environments and infrastructure required to accelerate economic development.

The US and EU are entering a period of societal and economic decline due to policy failures and shifting values. In the largest US metros, income Inequality is 2X the 1970s, violent crime is 3X the 1980s, drug overdose deaths are 9X the 2000s, homelessness in major US cities is 5X the 1980s, obesity is 3X the 1970s, the birth rate is 50% lower than the 1960s, people with no spirituality are 4X the 1970s, and homes are 4X less affordable than the 1970s. While there are many fighting hard to reverse these trends,  we’re also seeing accelerated interest in new jurisdictions with new forms of governance.

Powered by an incredible team:

CEO Bradford Cross has co-founded seven startups with three exits, the multibillion-dollar venture firm DCVC, an AI startup studio CEAI, and worked in quantitative finance. His experience working with large enterprises and complex regulatory environments in finance & pharma has been foundational to Alpha’s approach and momentum in partnering with governments.

Jackilina Soares has extensive public and private sector experience, including in financial services, natural resources, energy, and infrastructure across several African countries, notably Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde, Angola, and São Tomé and Príncipe. She has served as Executive Director and Board Member of the Central Bank of São Tomé and Príncipe and the World Bank consultant in the Africa department.

Sarah Elliott is driving the architecture of our Zone Law, Joint Ventures with Host Nations, and Policy Framework for the new International Financial Center. She’s currently board member and audit chair for Anchorage Digital‘s bank, the only federally chartered crypto-native bank in the US, and was part of the founding team at One, a neobank.

Patri Friedman has been working on startup cities since 2001, and is the founder of Pronomos Capital, the only institutional investor in the startup city space. As a leader and founder of the startup cities space, his global experience and network are unparalleled.

Tom Bell is the leading legal authority on Zone Law in both academia and industry. He has architected Alpha’s Special Development Zone Law, which we get all our partner countries to adopt.

Yomi Ademola is the Founding General Counsel and current Chairman, West Africa for Rendeavour, Africa’s leading city builder with eight cities in five different African countries. Yomi helps Alpha think through government joint venture structure, land concessions, financing strategy, and overall master plans, systems designs, revenue model, and go-to-market.

Our Approach to Building Startup Cities:

We build Startup Cities on three pillars: Innovation, Empowerment, and Durability.

Innovation: Alpha is governance redesigned for the 21st Century with technology at the core; State-as-Startup, State-as-SaaS, Digital Regulatory Environments. We will have a robust education system, talent pool, and financial services in order to foster entrepreneurship. The experience interacting with cities and governance technology will be joyous and seamless.

Empowerment: The city is a beacon of liberty, freedom, motivation, and economic potential, where individuals and businesses can thrive in a supportive environment. We will create full employment, jobs from the bottom to the top of the economic ladder and easy paths up.

Durability: Alpha is designed to last. Our Joint Venture structure with our Host Nations aligns long-term incentives and enables us to grow together, with broad local community participation. We focus on sustainable systems design with long-term resilience.