African startups raise $1bn in seven months — Report

Funding raised by startups in Africa has surpassed $1 billion in July, according to Africa: The Big Deal.

In a report, the data analytic firm that monitors funding of $100k and above on the continent disclosed that the African startup ecosystem closed H1 2024 with just under $800 million, excluding exits, indicating that it will soon cross the $1 billion mark.

“This was driven by two significant deals announced since mid-July: d.light’s new $176 million securitisation facility and MNT-Halan’s $157.5 million raise for expansion. The total fundraising amount for African startups has seen a substantial boost. Adding NALA’s $40 million Series A from earlier this month and other smaller deals, the fundraising tally is nearing $400 million for July 2024,” it said.

The firm analysed that July is now the most successful month of fundraising on the continent in over a year. The amount raised in July surpassed the total in the second quarter of 2024.

According to the H1 report by the Big Deal, Kenya received more money from investors. Kenya’s rise to the top was partly attributed to a $51 million funding round secured by M-Kopa, a clean energy startup, bringing the country’s total funding to $244 million.

The report’s breakdown revealed that Nigeria took second place with $172 million, Egypt with $101 million, and South Africa with $85 million. While the ‘Big Four’ — Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya — continued to attract the lion’s share of funding (79 percent), their dominance appears to have declined compared to H1’23 (92 percent).

The report further disclosed that start-ups in Africa raised $780 million in H1 2024, a 57 percent decline from H1 2023. The data insight firm said, “Two-thirds of this funding was in equity, and a third was debt. As for 2023, this is a much higher share of debt than what we’d been seeing in the past (17 percent on average since 2019).”

In terms of sectors that attracted the most funding during the period. The data insight firm revealed that transport and logistics accounted for (28 percent), with two of the three largest deals announced in H1 (Moove and Spiro).

“While fintech came only second in amount raised, it stayed in the lead in terms of number of start-ups raising $1 million or more during the period,” it added.