Startups across Africa announced fresh capital raise totalling $187 million in May, as funding improved compared to April.
This is according to a report by ‘Africa: The Big Deal’, which monitors deals announced by startups on the continent.
In April, the firm’s data showed that African startups raised $75 million, hence, the May figure represents a 149% increase in funding for the continent’s startups.
The report shows that 64 ventures received at least $100,000 in funding, a very high number compared to previous months, while 17 startups raised at least $1 million.
Between January and May, an average of 38 startups raised at least $100,000 each month per the report.
Share of grants, equity, and debt
The report further revealed that the total funding announced last month was split between 4% in grants, 31% in equity, and 65% in debt.
The total debt funding for the month stood at $122 million and it includes the $51 million raised by M-KOPA and $50 million by Spiro.
In addition, three exits made the news in May including Lesaka’s acquisition of Adumo for $85 million, Busbud’s acquisition of Ratality in South Africa, and the much-discussed acquisition of Brass by Paystack-led investors for an undisclosed amount.
According to the research firm, $729 million has been announced in funding excluding exits since the beginning of the year.
The amount still lags behind previous periods: $1.7 billion in January to March 2023; $2.7 billion in January to March 2022 and $1.1 billion in the same period in 2021.
“However, in terms of number of ventures raising at least $1 million, 2024 so far compares rather well to some previous years: 90 vs. 95 in January to May 2023 and 91 in January to May 2021. 2022 was exceptional though with 200 ventures involved in $1 million+ deals in Jan-May,” it said.
Nigerian Startups Fundraising in May
Although a Nigerian startup, Moove, had led African startup fundraising in the first quarter of this year, it was a bit silent in the country in May as only two major deals totalling less than $7 million were announced by Nigerian startups.
These include the $4.5 million raised by digital identity solutions company, Seamfix, and the $1.9 million pre-seed round raised by Logistics startup, Renda.
While Seamfix’s funding was in the form of equity from, Alitheia IDF, a gender lens investing fund, Renda’s raise was a combination of equity and debt.
In Q1, Moove alone accounted for 24% of the total funds raised by African startups in the period as it secured a total of $110 million including a $100 million Series B round led by Uber.
The continent’s startup’s total fundraising for the period stood at $466 million.
