Startups across Africa raised $780 million between January and June 2024 (H1 2024), a 31% decline compared to H2 2023 figures and an even starker 57% decline compared to H1 2023.
The data, compiled by Africa: the Big Deal, further reveals that two-thirds of this funding was in the form of equity, and a third was debt.
“4 out of 5 dollars invested in start-ups in Africa went to ventures based in the Big Four. This is high, but not the highest we’ve seen (92% back in H1 2023). A third of all the funding went to Kenya alone,” says the report.
“The sector to attract most funding was Transport & Logistics (28%), 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 startups raising $1m or more during the period (30).”
According to the Big Deal, only a fraction of the funding continued to go to female-founded and female-led start-ups with 85% of the funding going to ventures without a single female founder and 92% to companies with a male CEO.
The decline in startup funding continues the downtrend witnessed in 2023 when Africa’s technology startups raised a total of $3.5 billion across 547 deals representing a 46% decline compared to the previous year [2022].
REPORT | Francophone Africa Was the ONLY African Region to Demonstrate YoY Growth in Number of Deals and Investor Participation in 2023
🇧🇯 🇨🇮🇳🇪🇹🇬🇧🇫🇬🇦🇸🇳🇬🇳🇨🇩🇲🇱🇨🇫🇨🇬🇨🇲🇹🇩🇬🇶🇧🇮🇩🇯
The region displayed resilience in terms of the number of deals, reaching a total of 93 deals and marking… pic.twitter.com/9gzG9uLEmk
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) February 6, 2024
Moreover, Y-Combinator, one of the most attractive venture players and accelerator for African startups has scaled down its investments on the continent as the global economy contracts. Fewer startups from the continent are being accepted to the accelerator’s bi-annual programs.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | AI Startups Dominate ‘Most Selective Cohort [W24] in YC History’ with Just 3 Startups from Africa
“With an acceptance rate under 1%, this was one of the most selective cohorts in YC history.
Many of the companies in this batch – at least 50% – are… pic.twitter.com/MBu0oSZltB
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) April 15, 2024
The Big Deal newsletter run by Max Cuvellier will be providing deeper insights into the continent’s H1 results in the coming weeks – including during a live event on July 23 2024.
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