Despite decreasing funding in the African continent, Nigerian startups succeeded in raising their funding to $160 million in the first Q1. Four countries including Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt accounted for %87 of startup investments during Q1, and the founding breakdown showed, Nigeria is leader with $160 m , second place is for with $108m, third is South Africa with $72 m and the fourth belongs to Egypt with $53 m. The report added, a handful of other African nations hardly succeed to achieve more than $5 million in funding.
Based on the Briter Bridges analysis report about the first quarter, African startups’ fund raise has been %61 decline in the volume of their funding compared to Q1 2023, their total raise in funding was $370 m across 120+ deals. There are challenges, but with new business models and innovations African startups are resilient , and for investors the point is to recognise the African tech ecosystem potentials and support them to thrive.
Prashant Matta, general partner at Panache Ventures in an interview with BusinessDay, said that funding decrease happens globally, affects many countries and exacerbates economic challenges. Nevertheless, there are optimistic visions about mega deals of Nigerian startups among investors.
It is stated in this statement, “The $100M+ deal into Nigerian mobility fintech startup Moove. Similar to other mega-deals, this funding came from outside of Africa. Two investors from the Middle East participated in the mega-rounds in both quarters, Mubadala and Chimera Investments.”
Big Deal report added; from 14 deals in the logistics and transport sector, they earned the highest funding in the first quarter of the year, totaling $151 million. Africa Moove’s startup and Uber’s respectively with attracting $110 and $100 m in Q1 2024 more than %24 of continent funding. Second most funding attraction with $105 m belongs to Fintech. Other ranks followed by agriculture and food with $50 m, energy with $49 m, and Healthcare with $45 m.
