Stablecoins dominate as African startups raise $53 million in May

African startups raised $228 million in May 2026, but $175 million came from Paymentology. Excluding that deal, startups raised just $53 million, making May the slowest funding month of the year. Three stablecoin infrastructure companies accounted for roughly 70% of all disclosed venture activity.

Africa’s startups have raised over $700 million in Q1 2026. Here’s what the numbers say.

African startups raised $705 million across 59 deals in Q1 2026, with debt financing accounting for the majority of capital. Fintech led in deal volume, while Egypt attracted the most funding, followed by South Africa and Kenya.

African startups raised $1.2 billion in H1 2025 as funding rebounds

African startups raised $1.2 billion in the first half of the year. This is an 86% increase over the same period last year (H1 2024). 

Cleantech takes the lead as African startups raise $469.9 million in Q1 2025

African startup funding reached $469.9 million in Q1 2025. Cleantech overtook fintech as the most-funded sector, highlighting investor interest in sustainable innovation over traditional African fintech bets.

How African startups raised in 2024

Kenya leads the pack as African startups secure $2.01B in 2024 funding, showing resilience and a shift toward sector diversification

August marks lowest funding month of 2024, African startups report

In contrast to July's unsurpassed funding reports, August showed disappointment, as startup funding in the African sector hit an all-time low.

African startups raised $652.4 million in H1 2024 as the downward funding trend continues

This figure marks a weighty decrease of about 50.2% compared to the $1.31 billion raised in H1 2023, according to data from BD Funding Tracker

Three charts showing how African startups raised $89.6M in November 2023

In November 2023, African startups secured $89.6 million in VC funding, across 17 announced deals. Per BD Funding Tracker, it is a 42.63% decline from the previous month.

Africa accounts for 40% of Techstars Toronto’s investment portfolio

In the last six years, Techstars Toronto has made 100 investments in startups across the globe. 40 of these investments are in Africa.

The African M&A deals that we tracked in Q1 2023

Closer collaboration between banks and fintech companies is a positive development and has the biggest potential to drive financial inclusion in Africa.

VC funding in Nigeria plunges 92.1% in Q1 2023

Venture capital (VC) funding in the Nigerian tech startup ecosystem declined by 92.1% in Q1 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

How is BD Funding Tracker curated?

BD Funding Tracker is a comprehensive data bank on venture capital in Africa. This is how we cover the real-time inflow of deals across the continent.