Start-ups raised $119m in February — Report

A total of 38 start-ups raised about $119m in funding in February, a new report has indicated.

According to the Africa: The Big Deal report published on Tuesday, the number of $100k+ deals announced (38) is lower than the average of the previous 12 months and previous Februarys since 2021.

African start-ups had raised $2.2bn in 2024 in equity, debt, and grants (excluding exits), which was a 25 per cent drop compared to the $2.9bn that was raised on the continent in 2023. A total of 188 ventures raised $1m or more in 2024 (excl. exits). The quartet of Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa attracted 84 per cent of all start-up funding (excluding exits) in Africa in 2024, just like they had in 2023.

The new report indicated that the amount raised in 2025 so far ($408m) is higher than the amount raised in the same period last year ($302m) and just above 2021 numbers ($400m).

“While the number of $100k+ deals overall announced in 2025 so far doesn’t compare favourably to the previous years, if we look at $1m+ deals specifically, we see that the 42 $1m+ deals announced since the beginning of the year are aligned with both 2023 (42) and 2024 (43) numbers and significantly higher than pre-heatwave levels (between 20 and 31 in 2019-2021),” said Max Giacomelli, who wrote the report.

A breakdown revealed that the seven largest deals (representing 80 per cent of the total) were all either Fintech or Logistics & Transport deals, which aligns with 2024 trends.

The majority of them were in one of the ‘Big Four’: Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.

“However, the largest deal of all was announced by Togolese start-up Gozem, which raised $30m ($15m equity, $15m debt).

Other notable announcements include Khazna’s (Egypt, Fintech) $16m raise to expand in KSA; Hakki Africa’s ~$13m raise (Kenya, Fintech x Mobility); Raenest’s $11m Series A (Nigeria, Fintech); Tether’s (Nigeria, Fintech) $3m seed round + $7m debt; Affinity’s $8m round (Ghana, Fintech); and Taager’s ~$7m pre-Series B (Egypt, Logistics & Transport).