Out of 619 African investors that invested in startup funding, only seven (7) had the highest number of deals in 2023.
These investors remained committed despite raising a smaller number of deals as a result of naira devaluation, inflation and many others that eroded investors’ confidence to invest compared to the number of African investors that raised in 2022 and 2021, amounting to 1.006 and 872 respectively, data from the big deal revealed.
The data revealed that In 2023, an average of seven investors engaged in deals exceeding $100,000per month in Africa. This marks a decrease from the 17 investors in 2021 and 20 in 2022.
Here are the seven investors with the number of deals raised
Techstars – 56 deals
Techstars. the early-stage venture firm invested in 56 deals in 2023, representing a 17 percent increase from the 39 deals reported in 2022. Since the first Accelerator Program launched in 2007, Techstars has supported founders and delivered strong and consistent returns.
Launch Africa – 19 deals
The Mauritius-based venture capital firm invested 19 deals in 2023, representing a 29 percent decline from 58 deals secured in the previous year. The firm prefers to invest in seed and pre-series A investment companies operating in business-to-business, business-to-consumer, technology, food and water, telecom and media, education and skills, enterprise solutions, and financial services sectors based in Africa.
Founders Factory Africa – 16 deals
Founders Factory Africa is Africa’s most hands-on early-stage tech investor, backing the continent’s most visionary entrepreneurs secured 16 deals in 2023 compared to 20 deals reported in 2022. The venture platform was founded by serial entrepreneurs Brent Hoberman, Henry Lane Fox and George Northcott, Founders Factory builds and funds startups across industries and geographies.
Ventures platforms – 15 deals
Ventures Platform (VP) is a seed-stage fund and accelerator that actively finds, funds and supports innovative companies solving real problems across the African continent. Ventures platforms in 2023 invested in 25 deals compared to 20 deals reported in the previous year.
Catalyst fund – 13 deals
Catalyst Fund is a pre-seed fund and accelerator backing high-impact tech startups that improve the resilience of underserved, climate-vulnerable communities in emerging markets. The only newcomer on the list is Catalyst Fund, which formally started its climate-focused VC operations last year. However, these investors secured 13 deals during the period.
Norrsken – 13 deals
Norrsken Foundation is a non-profit, non-religious, and non-partisan foundation dedicated to helping entrepreneurs solve the world’s greatest challenges, such as poverty, famine, mental health, pollution, and climate change. Norrsken raised 13 deals during the period under review.
Y combinator – 12 deals
Y Combinator Management, LLC known as one of the major investors in the African tech space secured 12 deals in 2023. However, this represents a 29 decline from the 43 deals it raised in 2022. The American technology startup accelerator launched in March 2005, has been used to launch more than 4,000 companies. The accelerator program started in Boston and Mountain View, expanded to San Francisco in 2019, and was entirely online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
