In the initial month of the year, African startups across Africa secured funding exceeding $77 million. According to the ‘Africa: The Big Deal’ report, 38 deals surpassing $100,000 were identified, amounting to a total of $77 million. This makes January 2024 the second-lowest fundraising month reported since early 2021, with only March 2023 recording lower numbers.
The report highlighted three significant deals, each reaching eight digits or nearly. These include Yodawy in Egypt, securing $10 million in healthtech, Apollo Agriculture in Kenya with $10 million in agritech, and Hatch Africa, a pan-African agritech company, raising $9.5 million.
Equity accounted for 74 percent of the announced funding, while debt constituted 26 percent, totaling $20 million across five transactions, including Hatch Africa’s startups and $7 million for Sun King. The report mentioned one public exit, the acquisition of Egyptian edtech company Orcas by Baim, though the amount was undisclosed.
The report further outlined that the top three sectors attracting funding were Agriculture & Food, Healthcare, and Fintech, with $24 million, $14 million, and $13 million respectively. Despite Fintech recording the highest number of deals (10), Agriculture & Food and Healthcare secured larger sums. Climate Tech-related deals represented 21 percent of the total raised, amounting to $16 million, a lower proportion compared to the overall funding in 2023.
Africian startups
While Egypt, Kenya, and Nigeria each announced the same number of deals exceeding $100,000 (eight each), Egypt and Kenya emerged as leaders in terms of total funding raised, with $24 million each, accounting for 72 percent of the total raised attributed to specific countries (excluding Hatch Africa). South Africa ranked third, securing $7 million through three deals, followed by Nigeria with $5 million. Combined, the “Big Four” countries received 90 percent of the funding, with 75 percent of all deals announced within these nations.
Source: guardian.ng
