Tech startups from Kenya raised over $638 million in 2024, 29% of all the money raised on the continent, says a new report by The Big Deal.
Kenya’s performance means the East Africa region also attracted the most funding for the second year in a row $725 million in total, a -18% decline from 2023. Kenya’s $638 million made up 88% of the total raised in the region.
According to the report, Kenya was by far the market that attracted the most funding in Africa in 2024 driven by deals in climate tech notably:
- d.Light which raised $176 million in July 2024
- Sunculture which raised $27.5 million in a series B in April 2024
- BasiGo raised $42 million in October 2024
Within the East African region:
- Tanzania was a distant runner-up ($53m, #7), followed by
- Uganda ($19m, #11)
- There was also some level of activity in Rwanda, Sudan and Ethiopia
As has been the case since 2019, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa a.k.a ‘the Big Four’ attracted 84% of all start-up funding in the continent, with the rest of the big four dominating startup activity across the continent.
Western Africa ($587 million, 27%) claimed the second spot in 2024 led by Nigeria which attracted just over $400 million in funding last year, dominating 70% of the funding. The region is the most balanced with 4 of 7 countries that attracted between $10 million and $100 million:
- Ghana ($68m, #6)
- Benin ($50m, #8)
- Côte d’Ivoire ($33m, #9)
- Senegal ($22m, #10)
Northern Africa raised $478 million, 22% of the total continent share. Funding to the region fell -35% between 2023 and 2024, mostly due to a -37% YoY contraction in funding in Egypt, which took 84% of all the funding raised in the region last year.
Morocco also made it to the top 10, with $70 million raised in 2024.
Southern Africa saw the most dominance by one country in 2024, whereby South Africa took 99.4% of the $397 million raised by startups. The figure, which represents 18% of the continental share, also declined sharply from 2023 by -36%.
Only a handful of deals were recorded in Central Africa in 2024, for a total amount ($5 million) more than 10x times lower than in 2024, the report noted.
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