Tech startups across Africa secured a total of $420 million in funding in July and that came as the highest monthly record so far this year.
This is according to the funding report released by research firm, ‘Africa: The Big Deal’, which tracks fundraising across the continent.
With the July record, African startups have also crossed the $1 billion mark, indicating a remarkable improvement amid funding winter.
However, the July funding was dominated by only three deals, which accounted for 90% of the funds raised. According to the report, d.light’s USD$176 million securitization facility MNT-Halan’s $157.5 million raise, and NALA’s $40 million Series A were the major deals that pushed up the continent’s startup funding in July.
Record-breaking July
While noting that the $420 million raised in July was not only the highest this year but also in the last 14 months, the report noted that it was also more than what was raised in the whole of Q2 2024; and 2.5 times the average monthly amount raised over the past 12 months.
“This great monthly performance means that the ecosystem was not only able to comfortably cross the $1 billion mark in terms of funding raised in 2024 so far ($1.2b), but also to top the amount raised in 2020. The next milestone – the $1.4b raised in 2019 – is now within reach,” the report stated.
Aside from the big three deals, the report further revealed that 47 ventures raised at least $100,000 last month, and in that regard, it was the second-best month this year after May when 40 grant announcements were made by DEG, CCHub, iHub etc.
Not looking good for Nigerian startups
Despite the improved funding for the continent’s startups, things are not looking good for Nigerian companies as there has been a scarcity of big deals, while the small deals come in trickles. Aside from Moove’s $100 million Series B round led by Uber, and a $10 million debt deal to finance its India expansion, no Nigerian startup has landed any major deal this year.
In July, Intrion Health’s $1.6 million pre-seed round was about the only major funding by a Nigerian startup that made the news.
What you should know
Nigeria, which was for years the leading destination for startups funding in Africa lost its top position to Kenya in 2023, with Kenyan startups attracting approximately $800 million, the largest amount in the continent, while Nigerian startups secured $410 million.
In the first half of 2024, African startups secured $780 million in funding. Out of that $780 million Kenyan startups garnered the largest amount, $244 million, representing 32% of the total funding raised, while Nigeria received approximately $172 million. Egypt took a share of $101 million, and South Africa secured $85 million.
Meanwhile, data from Africa: The Big Deal also shows that over the last five years, from 2019 to 2023, Nigerian startups received the largest portion of funds raised by African startups, accounting for 29% of the $15 billion total investments.
