Fundraising Fox

Amira Yahyaoui

InvestorFounder

Founder at Sequoia Capital · Founder at Mos

San Francisco Bay Area

Writes $25K – $100K checks · typically $50K

FoundedMos

Find your path to Amira

1,005 people in our graph share verified history with Amira — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Paul KwanunlockedAmira: together at Stanford University (2014)
Amira: together at Stanford University
Amira: together at Yale University
Amira: together at World Economic Forum

About

Amira Yahyaoui is a Tunisian entrepreneur, blogger, and human rights activist who began her career opposing the Ben Ali regime as a teenage blogger, an activism that led to her being exiled to France. After returning to Tunisia following the 2011 revolution, she founded Al Bawsala in 2012, a transparency and accountability NGO that monitored the Tunisian legislative process and won international recognition. In 2016 she was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and co-chaired that year's Davos Annual Meeting. In 2017 she founded Mos, a San Francisco company that started by helping U.S. students access financial aid and later expanded into neobank financial services aimed at Generation Z. Mos raised seed funding from investors including Garrett Camp and John Doerr, and Sequoia Capital also invested. In 2023 Mos laid off about half its staff and shut down its banking service, refocusing on financial aid products amid scrutiny of its metrics. Yahyaoui has also served as a Scout for Sequoia Capital beginning in 2020.

Likely email· guessed from name + firm domain, not firm-published

Beyond investing

Founded
Yahyaoui founded the NGO Al Bawsala in 2012 to monitor the work of the Tunisian Constituent Assembly. Yahyaoui founded Mos, which began in 2017 as a way for U.S. students to obtain financial aid.
Boards
Yahyaoui was a board member of UNHCR's Advisory Group on Gender, Forced Displacement, and Protection. Yahyaoui served on a UNHCR advisory group on gender, forced displacement, and protection from 2015 to 2019.
Communities
As a teenager Yahyaoui started a blog criticizing the Ben Ali regime and later fled to France as a stateless exile. Yahyaoui served as a Middle East and North Africa advisor for Amnesty International.
Awards
Yahyaoui was awarded the Global Trailblazers Award at the 2012 Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards. Yahyaoui was selected for Arabian Business's list of the Most Powerful Arab Women in the World in 2013 and 2014. Yahyaoui became a Meredith Greenberg Yale World Fellow in 2014. Yahyaoui was awarded the Conflict Prevention Prize by the Fondation Chirac in 2014. Yahyaoui was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2016. Yahyaoui was named co-chair of the 2016 Davos Conference by the World Economic Forum. Yahyaoui was selected as a Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst in 2022.
Family
Yahyaoui is the daughter of Tunisian judge Mokhtar Yahyaoui, an opponent of the Ben Ali government.

From published sources — common ground for a warm intro.

Founder at Mos

Intro paths

In turn, Amira can intro founders to Mos's investors below.

Co-founders at Mos

DZDavid Zhang

Experience

  1. MosFounder - CEOcurrent2017 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
  2. Sequoia CapitalScoutcurrent2020 — presentMenlo Park, California, United States
  3. World Economic ForumYoung Global Leadercurrent2016 — present
  4. World Economic ForumCo Chair World Economic Forum Annual Meeting - Davos 20162016Davos Switzerland
  5. Amnesty InternationalRegional Advisor - MENA2016 — 2020
  6. UNHCRBoard Member - Advisory Group on Gender, Forced Displacement, and Protection.2015 — 2019
  7. Al BawsalaFounder and Chair2015 — 2017
  8. Al BawsalaFounder And President2011 — 2015Tunisia
  9. World Economic ForumGlobal Shaper2011 — 2014Tunisia

Colleagues at Sequoia Capital

Network4

Investors connected to Amira in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Amira Yahyaoui?
Amira Yahyaoui is a Tunisian entrepreneur, blogger, and human rights activist who began her career opposing the Ben Ali regime as a teenage blogger, an activism that led to her being exiled to France. After returning to Tunisia following the 2011 revolution, she founded Al Bawsala in 2012, a transparency and accountability NGO that monitored the Tunisian legislative process and won international recognition. In 2016 she was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and co-chaired that year's Davos Annual Meeting. In 2017 she founded Mos, a San Francisco company that started by helping U.S. students access financial aid and later expanded into neobank financial services aimed at Generation Z. Mos raised seed funding from investors including Garrett Camp and John Doerr, and Sequoia Capital also invested. In 2023 Mos laid off about half its staff and shut down its banking service, refocusing on financial aid products amid scrutiny of its metrics. Yahyaoui has also served as a Scout for Sequoia Capital beginning in 2020.
Where does Amira Yahyaoui work?
Amira Yahyaoui is Founder of Mos and Founder at Sequoia Capital.
What check size does Amira Yahyaoui write?
Amira Yahyaoui typically writes checks of $25K – $100K.
What companies did Amira Yahyaoui found?
Amira Yahyaoui founded Mos.
Where did Amira Yahyaoui go to school?
Amira Yahyaoui studied at Yale University (Yale World Fellow); Stanford University (Draper Hills Fellowship, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL)); Pierre and Marie Curie University.
What awards has Amira Yahyaoui received?
Yahyaoui was awarded the Global Trailblazers Award at the 2012 Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards. Yahyaoui was selected for Arabian Business's list of the Most Powerful Arab Women in the World in 2013 and 2014. Yahyaoui became a Meredith Greenberg Yale World Fellow in 2014. Yahyaoui was awarded the Conflict Prevention Prize by the Fondation Chirac in 2014. Yahyaoui was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2016. Yahyaoui was named co-chair of the 2016 Davos Conference by the World Economic Forum.

Founder mafias

Stanford University mafia1,932

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

+ 1,925 more

Yale University mafia373

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

+ 366 more

Pierre and Marie Curie University mafia49

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

+ 42 more

Sequoia Capital mafia22

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

+ 15 more

Same school

Shared employers