By the close of 2025, Nigerian startups and their counterparts across Africa had secured nearly $20bn in funding over a seven-year period.
This was disclosed in the review of 2025 by Africa: The Big Deal, a platform that tracks startup ecosystem activities on the continent.
According to compiled data tracking fundraising activity since 2019, more than 2,200 African ventures have raised at least $100,000 over the period, excluding exits. Of these, over 1,000 startups have secured funding rounds of $1m or more, nearly 300 have raised upwards of $10m, and 33 companies have crossed the $100m mark.
“Since 2019, start-ups in Africa have raised almost $20bn (exc. exits). 2,200+ ventures have raised at least $100k over the period, including 1,000+ who have raised over $1m, nearly 300 over $10m and 33 over $100m. MTN-Halan tops the charts with over $1bn in fundraising. And 2,500+ investors have participated in at least one deal over the period,” said Africa: The Big Deal.
The cumulative figures reflected a market that has expanded both in depth and scale. While early-stage activity has remained relatively stable, the past seven years have seen a growing number of larger rounds, pointing to increased capacity for startups to raise follow-on capital and scale their operations.
Shifting focus to the performance of the ecosystem in 2025, start-ups in Africa raised $3.2bn in 2025 (exc. exits). “This is an impressive number in itself, of course, but it also represents very solid growth compared to 2024: +40 per cent YoY. This is particularly welcome after two consecutive years of decline (-35 per cent YoY in 2023, -25 per cent YoY in 2024). The year ended at fundraising levels not only higher than 2024 but also 2023.”
In 2025, almost 500 ventures raised at least $100k on the continent (exc. exits), a number almost identical to both 2024 (+2 per cent YoY) and 2023 levels; however, the data bucked the trends in that there were a higher number of ventures raising larger amounts.
“Indeed, 215 ventures raised $1m or more, which is higher than 2024 (193, +11 per cent YoY) and comparable to 2023. But it is even more flagrant for the top raisers: 69 start-ups bagged more than $10m in 2025, compared to just 40 in 2024 (+73 per cent YoY) and 62 in 2023.
“As a matter of fact, this is the second-highest number since we started tracking numbers back in 2019 (the top was 2022, with 97). 8 of them announced more than $100m in funding in 2025 (vs. 5 in 2024 and 4 in 2023). Most of those were either in the energy (d.light, Sun King, M-Kopa, Spiro) or fintech (Wave, MNT-Halan, Moniepoint) space,” read the report.
In terms of investor count, at least 554 investors were identified who got involved in a $100k+ deal on the continent, with the analysts saying that the number may be an underestimation “as it won’t include small angels whose names are rarely listed, but it gives a good sense of the number of investors who have signed a sizeable cheque (at least tens of thousands of dollars) during the year.
“This number is almost identical to our 2024 estimate but lower than 2023 levels (650+). The share of investors who have been involved in more than one (31 per cent) or more than five deals (seven per cent) is comparable, if a little higher, than in the past couple of years. The most active investor (excluding grant-making organisations) has been Digital Africa, with at least 23 investments announced in 2025.”
The PUNCH reports that as of the half-year 2025, start-ups in Africa raised more than $1.4bn through $100k+ deals (excluding exits), with $365m raised in June alone. It was a significant improvement (+78 per cent) compared to H1 2024, when $800m had been raised.
