South Africa Tops African Startup Funding in H1 2025 as Nigeria Falls to Fourth Place
Lagos, Nigeria – July 24, 2025
Nigeria has slipped to fourth place in African startup funding for the first half (H1) of 2025, according to a new report by Africa: The Big Deal, marking the country‘s weakest half-year performance since the second half of 2020.
The data shows that South Africa led the continent in startup funding, attracting $344 million—its strongest half-year total since 2023. This accounts for 24 percent of the $1.4 billion raised across Africa’s startup ecosystem during the period.
South Africa also stood out with the highest number of startups raising at least $1 million, recording 26 deals. Although it came second in startups securing over $100,000 with 37 deals, its performance was driven by three major rounds:
- hearX, a healthtech firm, raised $100 million
- Stitch, a fintech company, secured $55 million in a Series B round
- Naked, another fintech player, closed a $38 million Series B2 deal
Egypt followed closely, raising $339 million—its best performance since 2023. It tied with Nigeria in terms of deal count: 42 startups raised over $100,000 and 21 surpassed the $1 million mark. Egypt’s funding success was propelled by three key transactions:
- MNT-Halan’s Tasaheel secured a $50 million bond
- Bokra raised $59 million via a sukuk issuance
- Nawy, a proptech company, closed a record-breaking $75 million deal, the largest in Africa’s proptech history
Once a dominant force in African VC, Kenya slipped to third, raising $227 million—its lowest H1 figure since 2021. It ranked fourth in both $100k+ (30 deals) and $1m+ (16 deals) categories. Its largest raises were energy-focused:
- Burn Manufacturing received $85 million
- PowerGen secured $55 million
Nigeria, despite matching Egypt in the number of $100k+ and $1m+ deals, raised only $176 million, reflecting a broad but shallow capital distribution. This represents its poorest first-half performance in five years. Notable Nigerian funding rounds included:
- LemFi with $53 million (Series B)
- OmniRetail with $20 million (Series A)
- Arnergy with $18 million (Series B)
This marks the first time since 2020 that the order of top four African startup funding countries is South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, and Nigeria, reversing Nigeria and Kenya’s dominant positions from 2021 to 2024.
However, Nigeria could rebound later in the year. Pending mega-deals such as PalmPay’s anticipated $100 million raise and Moove’s possible $300 million equity and $1.2 billion debt package may shift rankings in H2.
Outside the traditional “Big Four,” Senegal was the only other African nation to exceed $100 million in funding, buoyed by Wave Money’s $137 million debt deal. Other notable raises came from GoZem (Togo), Zeepay (Ghana), and Djamo (Côte d’Ivoire), reflecting the growing momentum in West Africa’s emerging startup scenes. Story by SpringnewsNG Media Limited
