Startups that received the most capital in Africa as of June 2026

Africa’s startup ecosystem maintained a resilient funding momentum in the first half of 2026, even as investors became increasingly selective in deploying capital.

Data analyzed by the Nairametrics Research team revealed that a total of 241 startups raised $1.58 billion between January and June 2026, with the top 10 startups alone securing $948 million, representing 60.09% of all disclosed funding during the period.

The figures also reveal that 19 startups did not disclose the amount of their funding rounds, suggesting that the continent’s total capital inflow could be higher than what is reported.

Notably, South African fintech Pay@, with an acquisition value of $62.3 million, was excluded from the ranking because it is a merger and acquisition transaction, and no fresh cash was pumped into the company for operations.

What the data is saying

A closer look at the numbers shows that funding is becoming increasingly concentrated among a handful of well-established startups.

• While early-stage startups continued to make up the bulk of deal activity, the largest share of capital flowed to a relatively small group of mature businesses operating in sectors such as fintech, logistics, and infrastructure.
• Compared with H1 2025, when African startups raised $1.47 billion across 301 deals (33 of which did not disclose funding amounts), funding value increased by 7% year-on-year, despite a significant decline in deal activity.

The number of disclosed deals fell to 241 from 301, representing roughly a 20% decline, underscoring a more disciplined investment environment where investors preferred fewer but significantly larger transactions.

Capital concentration intensified as the top 10 startups in H1 2025 accounted for $706.9 million, or 47.95% of total funding.

By H1 2026, that figure had climbed to 60.09%, highlighting the growing preference for established businesses capable of attracting sizeable institutional funding.

Below are the top 10 African startups by funding in H1 2026:

10. Blnk (Egypt) — $37.1 million

• Sector: Fintech
• Funding type: Series A and Debt

Egyptian fintech Blnk completed a $37.1 million round, comprising $12.5 million in Series A equity funding and $24.6 million in local debt facilities, to expand its point-of-sale financing business and increase access to consumer credit across Egypt.

The equity round was led by Algebra Ventures, with participation from SANAD Fund for MSME, Endeavor Catalyst, and Emirates International Investment Company (EIIC).

The debt financing was provided by a group of local banks and non-bank financial institutions, including the National Bank of Egypt, Suez Canal Bank, Bank Albaraka, Corplease, Globalc orp, and BM Lease.

9. GoCab (Côte d’Ivoire) — $45 million

• Sector: Logistics & Transport
• Funding type: Seed and Debt
• Investors: E3 Capital, Janngo Capital, KawiSafi Ventures, Cur8 Capital and Cumberland.

Mobility and logistics platform GoCab raised a combined $45 million through two financing rounds completed in February. The company secured $15 million in seed funding before following up with a $30 million debt facility, strengthening its position within Francophone Africa’s mobility ecosystem.

The funding is expected to accelerate fleet expansion, digital infrastructure development, and regional growth.

8. Breadfast (Egypt) — $50 million

• Sector: Agriculture & Food
• Funding type: Series C
• Investors: Mubadala Investment Company, SBI Investment, Olayan Financing Company, Others

Egypt-based grocery delivery and e-commerce platform Breadfast secured $50 million in a Series C round led by Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, alongside SBI Investment Co., Olayan Financing Company, and other institutional investors.

The company intends to deepen its nationwide logistics network, enhance technology infrastructure and expand into additional Egyptian cities.

7. Nala (Tanzania) — $50 million

• Sector: Fintech
• Funding type: Debt
• Investors: Liquidity, Mars Growth Capital

African payments startup Nala secured $50 million in debt financing, providing fresh capital to fuel its global expansion, product development and the buildout of its next-generation neobank.

The transaction reinforces growing investor confidence in Africa’s digital payments ecosystem that enables users to make secure and reliable payments from Europe, the UK and US to Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Ghana.

6. Sistema.bio (Kenya) — $53 million

• Sector: Waste Management
• Funding type: Debt
• Investors: BNP Paribas Asset Management Alts (BNPP AM Alts), British International Investment (ex CDC), Shell Foundation

Climate-tech startup Sistema.bio raised $53 million in debt financing to launch FarmCarbon—an innovative funding vehicle aimed at expanding climate finance for smallholder farmers and accelerating methane mitigation.

The investment supports clean energy adoption, sustainable agriculture, and climate resilience initiatives.

5. ValU (Egypt) — $75.6 million

• Sector: Fintech
• Funding type: Debt
• Investors: National Bank of Egypt, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Egyptian consumer finance platform ValU raised a cumulative $75.6 million through debt financing during the first half of the year.

The company secured $63.6 million in debt financing before adding another $12 million debt facility, reinforcing its strategy of leveraging capital markets to support consumer lending and financial inclusion.

4. MNT-Halan (Egypt) — $91.3 million

• Sector: Fintech
• Funding type: Bonds and Venture Round
• Investors: National Bank of Egypt

Egypt’s fintech company MNT-Halan attracted $91.3 million through two separate transactions comprising $41.3 million in bond financing and $50 million in venture funding backed by the National Bank of Egypt.

The funding strengthens the company’s lending capacity while supporting the expansion of its digital financial services ecosystem.

3. Flutterwave (Nigeria) — $100 million

• Sector: Fintech
• Funding type: Series E
• Investors: Ripple Labs Inc

Nigeria’s fintech leader, Flutterwave, secured $100 million in a Series E funding round led by Ripple Labs Inc.

The investment further strengthens Flutterwave’s position as one of Africa’s largest payments infrastructure companies and provides additional resources for international expansion and product development.

2. Bima (Ghana) — $119 million

• Sector: Fintech
• Funding type: Debt
• Investors: Liquidity, Mars Growth Capital

Ghana-based fintech Bima raised $119 million in debt financing from Liquidity and Mars Growth Capital.

The transaction ranks among the continent’s largest fintech debt deals this year and demonstrates sustained investor appetite for scalable financial technology businesses.

1. Spiro (Benin) — $327 million

• Sector: Logistics & Transport
• Funding type: Debt and Venture Round
• Investors: Nithio, Afreximbank, Africa Go Green Fund, Impact Fund Denmark, Equitane, NewTrails Capital

Electric mobility company Spiro emerged as Africa’s biggest fundraising success story during H1 2026 after raising a combined $327 million across four financing rounds.

The company secured $7 million, $50 million, $215 million, and $55 million through a combination of debt and venture funding from institutions including Afreximbank, Nithio, Africa Go Green Fund, Impact Fund Denmark, Equitane and NewTrails Capital.

The funding will accelerate expansion of electric motorcycle infrastructure and battery-swapping networks across Africa, reinforcing the continent’s growing transition toward sustainable mobility.

More Insight

For the regional breakdown, funding activity remained heavily concentrated in West Africa, which attracted $825.1 million, representing 52.30% of all disclosed funding from 70 deals. The region’s dominance was largely driven by Spiro, Flutterwave, Bima and GoCab, alongside several Nigerian fintech transactions.

• Northern Africa followed with $359.3 million, accounting for 22.78% of total funding across 53 deals, supported by Egypt’s continued leadership in fintech and agritech fundraising.
• Eastern Africa secured $201.6 million, representing 12.78% of total funding from 56 deals, benefiting from large transactions involving Sistema.bio and Nala.
• Southern Africa raised $177.1 million, contributing 11.23% across 31 deals, while Central Africa recorded $1.4 million, equivalent to 0.09%. Pan-African startups accounted for another $13.1 million, representing 0.83% of funding.
• At the country level, Egypt led the continent after attracting $328.6 million, representing 20.83% of total funding across 35 deals.
• Benin followed closely with $327.1 million (20.73%), almost entirely driven by Spiro’s landmark fundraising.
• Nigeria ranked third with $284.7 million, accounting for 18.05% across 42 deals, highlighting the country’s continued importance as Africa’s largest startup ecosystem by deal activity. Although Nigeria recorded the highest number of deals among the continent’s leading startup ecosystems, Egypt and Benin attracted larger average ticket sizes, largely due to a handful of mega-rounds.
• Other leading markets included South Africa ($152.5 million), Ghana ($135.2 million), Kenya ($126.6 million), Tanzania ($52 million), Côte d’Ivoire ($45.3 million), Morocco ($28.1 million), and Zambia ($21.4 million).

Smaller contributions came from Ethiopia, Angola, Guinea, Madagascar, Senegal, Togo, Uganda, Rwanda, Cameroon, Tunisia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burkina Faso.

For the sector breakdown, fintech once again dominated Africa’s investment landscape, attracting $767.3 million, representing 48.64% of all disclosed funding across 57 deals. The sector continued to benefit from strong investor demand for digital payments, embedded finance, consumer lending, and financial infrastructure platforms.

• Logistics and transport ranked second with $472.7 million (29.96%), driven largely by Spiro and GoCab, reflecting increasing investor interest in mobility, supply chains and electric transportation.
• Agriculture and food startups secured $92.7 million (5.88%), while waste management companies attracted $59.9 million (3.80%).
• Energy and water startups raised $49.6 million (3.14%), followed by deeptech at $46.9 million (2.97%).
• Healthcare attracted $17.7 million, education and jobs $28.4 million, housing $20 million, services $12.9 million, retail $5.2 million, and telecom, media and entertainment $4.3 million.

The data reinforces fintech’s continued dominance while highlighting growing investor interest in logistics infrastructure and climate-related solutions.

• For deal type analysis, venture rounds remained the most active financing instrument, accounting for 87 deals worth $476.4 million, representing 30.20% of all disclosed funding.
• Debt financing followed closely, attracting $412.7 million, or 26.16%, across 36 deals, underscoring the growing maturity of African startups as more companies access structured credit markets.
• Merger and acquisition activity contributed $218.8 million (13.87%), reflecting increasing consolidation across the continent’s technology ecosystem.
• Series A funding totaled $108.4 million, while Series E accounted for $100 million, driven entirely by Flutterwave’s raise.

Seed rounds attracted $84.5 million, followed by Series B ($23 million), pre-seed funding ($17.2 million), bond financing ($41.3 million), pre-Series A ($6.7 million), grants ($7.6 million), and pre-seed extensions ($1 million).

What this means

The H1 2026 funding landscape reveals a maturing African startup ecosystem where capital is increasingly flowing toward larger, more established companies capable of operating at scale.

Although total funding rose from $1.47 billion in H1 2025 to $1.58 billion in H1 2026, the sharp increase in the share captured by the top 10 startups—from 47.95% to 61.69%—indicates that investor confidence is becoming concentrated around proven market leaders.

For emerging startups, the data suggests that raising capital remains possible, but investors are demanding stronger fundamentals, clearer revenue models, and demonstrable traction before writing larger cheques.

For Africa’s leading startups, however, H1 2026 showed that despite ongoing global funding caution, substantial capital remains available for businesses that have achieved scale and can deliver long-term growth.