What to make of Silicon Valley’s interest in African startups

Chipper Cash recently closed its $100m Series C round of funding. The investment was led by SVB, the venture capital arm of Silicon Valley Bank and propelled it to unicorn status. This event has also brought to light a very interesting situation ; silicon valley’s growing interest in African startups.

The Series C raise by Chipper Cash is by no means an isolated event; the funding rounds have been getting bigger, with year on year growth for over five years. From $195 million in 2017, it increased by 71.5% in 2018 to reach $334 million and grew by another 46.7% totalling $491 million in 2019.

The top African countries by investor funding in 2020 were

Last updated: January 28, 2025