African startups raised over $1.5 B in H1 2026 as equity stages a comeback

Between January and June 2026, 137 deals were recorded across the African startup scene, totaling approximately $1.5 billion in disclosed funding, according to Condia’s funding tracker. The numbers reveal an ecosystem mid-swing from debt back to equity, particularly in the last two months of the half.  Growth-stage companies are still pulling in the largest rounds, and Nigeria is falling short of the “Big Four” markets, posting more deals but far less money. 

The debt-to-equity swing in Q2 2026 

The arc signal in the Q2 2026 data is the return on equity. Of the 70 deals tracked between April and June, 46 were pure equity and four combined equity and debt, more than two-thirds of all deals in the period. 

In Q1 2026, debt was the dominant instrument. January and February were each driven by debt, accounting for more than half of its total funding. By May and June, debt’s share had collapsed to under 15% as equity rounds like Paymentology’s $175M raise and Spiro‘s two rounds of $215M and $55M took over. This shows that investors are still willing to back growing industry leaders. 

Last updated: June 29, 2026