Amira Yahyaoui
InvestorFounderFounder at Sequoia Capital · Founder at Mos
San Francisco Bay Area
Writes $25K – $100K checks · typically $50K
FoundedMos
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.
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 Amira's own website — common ground for a warm intro.
Founder at Mos
Intro paths
In turn, Amira can intro founders to Mos's investors below.
Mos's investors · 7
Co-founders at Mos
Experience
- MosFounder - CEOcurrent2017 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
- Sequoia CapitalScoutcurrent2020 — presentMenlo Park, California, United States
- World Economic ForumYoung Global Leadercurrent2016 — present
- World Economic ForumCo Chair World Economic Forum Annual Meeting - Davos 20162016Davos Switzerland
- Amnesty InternationalRegional Advisor - MENA2016 — 2020
- UNHCRBoard Member - Advisory Group on Gender, Forced Displacement, and Protection.2015 — 2019
- Al BawsalaFounder and Chair2015 — 2017
- Al BawsalaFounder And President2011 — 2015Tunisia
- World Economic ForumGlobal Shaper2011 — 2014Tunisia
Education
- Yale UniversityYale World Fellow2014
- Stanford UniversityDraper Hills Fellowship, Center on Democracy2014
- Pierre and Marie Curie University2005 — 2009
- Sadiki College1997 — 2005
Colleagues at Sequoia Capital
Network4
Investors connected to Amira in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.
Frequently asked questions
- Where does Amira Yahyaoui work?
- Amira Yahyaoui is Founder at Sequoia Capital and Founder at Mos.
- 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.
Founder mafias
Stanford University mafia837
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
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Yale University mafia181
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
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Pierre and Marie Curie University mafia18
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
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Sequoia Capital mafia14
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
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Same school
Also attended Yale University618
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Also attended Stanford University2,000
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Also attended Pierre and Marie Curie University48
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Shared employers
Also worked at Mos2
Also worked at World Economic Forum168
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Also worked at Amnesty International4
Also worked at UNHCR9
+ 3 more