There have been several indications that African startups raised a lot of money in 2019, and the Decoding Venture Investments In Africa 2019 Report by WeeTracker has confirmed that. According to the report, African startups raised a total of $1.34 billion in 2019, its highest figure yet.
This massive funding is said to have been raised from 427 deals and represents a 79.2% Year over Year (YoY) increase from the $725.6 million raked in from across 458 deals in 2018.
The 2019 figures came in form of equity funding, grants/prizes and debt financing. Only 6% of these sampled deals accounted for majority of the investments – about 83%.
Beyond this, the report shows that in all, Nigeria beats other countries to record the largest funding amounts. Startups from Nigeria raised $663.24 million which represents a whooping 50.5% of the total funding raised on the continent.
This is very not very surprising as Nigerian/Nigerian-focused startups, Interswitch, OPay, Andela, Palmpay, account for most of the top venture deals on the continent in 2019.
Kenya who had an impressive 283.6% growth from last years’s funding amount came second. Kenya is closely followed by South Africa in third place. These top three countries accounted for over 75% of the entire deals on the continent.
“Nigeria and Kenya accounted for a whopping 81.49% of the total VC money raised in Africa” – about $1.09 billion.
WeeTracker
And across the various sectors, startups operating in the financial sector raised the most sum. Fintech companies alone raised $678.73 million – representing a 138.5% growth from last year.
The report also highlighted the most active investors on the continent with 500 startups and Samurai Incubate having the highest investment portfolios with 9 each. Other investors like Goodwell, Endeavor, TLcom Capital, Knife Capital made the list as well as Microtraction – which made 4 investments.
Compared to the $725.6 million raised in 2018, and $203 million in 2017, 2019 investment figures is a huge win for the continent’s tech ecosystem. Funding rounds on the continent are clearly on the rise and the investments are massive.
Disrupt Africa reported that $1.19 billion and $195 million were raised in 2018 and 2017 respectively.
The report suggests that more money could come for African startups in 2020 as investors are beginning to pay more attention on African startups. Fintech, logistics, and agritech startups are the most sought after by investors.
We hope that more of these investments are focused early stage startups.