In 2022, the African tech startup sector saw a historic milestone as funding into the ecosystem surpassed the US$3 billion mark for the first time. This was according to the African Tech Startups Funding Report 2022 by Disrupt Africa. This figure is coming even as global VC funding dropped from $191.9 billion in 2021 to $81 billion in 2022.
The $3.33 billion indicates a 1,694% increase from the $185 million funding secured in 2015.
The report noted that the funding was raised by startups in 27 African countries, with Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa, the “big four” accounting for 80.8% of the total funding, and 75.8% of the funded startups. Tunisia and Ghana completed the list of the top 6 countries in Africa per tech startup funding. The report also contained the list of the 633 startups that received funding from across Africa.
Summary of the Report
The startup with the largest funding amount was Lagos-based Flutterwave, which achieved a valuation of $3 billion through its Series D Funding Round, securing $250 million in funding. Moove, another Lagos-based startup, successfully raised $181.8 million through a combination of debt and equity financing to support its expansion into Asia, Europe, and the MENA region.
Other startups that secured remarkable fundings include Egyptian fintech platform MNT-Halan with $150 million, Algerian super app Yassir with $150 million, Kenyan retail-tech startup Wasoko with $125 million, Tunisian AI company InstaDeep with $100 million, South African chat commerce firm Clickatell with $91 million, and Kenyan PAYG energy startup M-KOPA with $75 million.
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Among the big four, Nigerian startups received the largest chunk of funding of about $976,146,000, followed by Egyptian startups with $811,945,000. Kenya startups secured $574,809,000 in funding and South African startups received $329,707,000 in funding. The big four were followed by Tunisian and Ghanaian startups that secured $148,572,000 and $119,936,000 respectively.
There is also a slight decrease in the dominance of Fintech companies in the African tech startup ecosystem. In the year 2021, Fintech companies received approximately 48.3% or $1,038,456,500 of the total funding. However, this figure slightly declined to 43.4% or $1,446,794,000 of the total funding in 2022.
The number of investors in African tech startups in 2022 was 987 and was led by: Launch Africa Ventures with 45 startups, Y Combinator (39), Flat6Labs (38), LoftyInc (31), Techstars (27), Startup Wise Guys (19), and Future Africa (15), among others.
Per gender disparity, only 128 or 20.2% of the 633 funded startups were led by women. In Nigeria, only 37 of the 180 funded startups had a woman at least as a co-founder. In Egypt, only 18, or 13.7% of the funded startups had at least one female co-founder. Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, and Tunisia had a higher representation of female co-founders with 26.4%, 21.7%, 25.9%, and 23.1% respectively.
“The Big Four”
Nigeria
In Nigeria, the biggest recipients included Flutterwave with $250 million, followed by Moove with an undisclosed fee, however, speculations put the figure between $105 million and $181 million. Reliance Health, a health tech startup raised about $40 million, the highest for any health tech startup in Africa. ThriveAgric raised $56.4 million, the highest for any agri-tech startup in Africa. SeamlessHR, an HR-tech startup raised $10 million in a Series A funding round. Other fundings worthy of note include $15 million for CredPal, $15 million for Umba, and $15 million for Omnibiz.
Also Read: Funding Opportunities for Businesses: Africa Startup Initiative Programme
Egypt
131 Egyptian startups were able to raise US$811,945,000 in 2022 with the highest recipient being MNT-Halan with $150 million. Other startups worthy of note include Instabug which raised about $46 million and Paymob which raised about $50 million in a Series B funding round. Pylon, an infrastructure management startup raised about $19 million, Khazna raised $38 million, and Thndr raised $20 million in Series A funding. OneOrder the restaurant management startup raised $10.5 million and Sylndr, the auto-tech startup raised $12.6 million.
Kenya
91 Kenyan startups raised about $574,809,000 with the highest being the retail-tech startup Wasoko with about $125 million, followed by PAYG solar company M-KOPA which raised $75 million. Poa Internet, an ISP raised $28 million, and Copia Global, the e-commerce startup raised $50 million. Other investments worthy of note include $10 million by Komaza, the conservation tech startup, $37.4 million raised by Solarise, the renewable energy startup, and $40 million by MarketForce, the retail tech startup.
South Africa
78 South African startups raised $329,707,000, the highest being $91 million by Clickatell, the chat commerce company. Stitch, the Cape Town-based fintech raised $21 million in a Series A funding round. Inclusion raised $22.4 million in a pre-series funding round led by Future Africa, and Carry1st raised $20 million in a Series A round. Other investments worthy of note include Yellow’s $23 million, $15 million for iDENTIFii, and $11 million for Sweepsouth, an on-demand cleantech startup.
