African ventures raised $3.8 billion in 2025, 32% more than the previous year. This total comprises U$3.6 billion in publicly disclosed deals, and an estimated $200 million in undisclosed rounds confirmed through investor data.
According to Briter’s African Investment Report 2025, African capital continued to concentrate in fewer, larger deals, while debt and asset-backed financing played an increasingly significant role. Sector activity also broadened beyond fintech, and Africa’s investor base diversified, with rising participation from Asia, the Gulf and local investors.
Excluding $100Million plus mega-deals, the average African deal size in 2025 hit its highest point since 2019, reflecting sustained investor confidence across mid-sized rounds.
African Fintech and digital financial services (DFS) remained the most funded sector by volume and deal count, with startups in the sector raising $1.4 billion across 224 deals.
Still, funding for the sector dropped slightly (about 3% lower than in 2024), as its relative share of funding continues to moderate over the years. The renewable energy sector, on the other hand, had a breakout year, raising more than twice what it did the previous year.
Most of that growth came from a few mega rounds by d. Light, CrossBoundary, and Solar Africa, which together made up around 75% of total funding for the sector.
Kenya ranks among African Countries with highest deals in 2025
The Big Four African Countries raised 84% of the total funding: South Africa (32%), Kenya (29%), Egypt (15%) and Nigeria (8%).
Although Nigeria recorded the highest number of deals in 2025, it raised the least amount amongst the Big Four, experiencing its lowest funding share since 2019.
While the big four have historically taken the lion’s share of funding, non-big-four African countries increased their share of deals in 2025, reaching 39%, the highest share over the past decade. This hasn’t translated to comparable volume growth due to significantly smaller ticket sizes.
Equity remained the top funding instrument by volume and number of deals in 2025. However, debt financing surpassed the $1 billion mark for the first time in a decade.
This milestone is closely linked to the maturation of parts of the ecosystem (notably fintech, energy, logistics, and asset-backed models), where founders leverage debts to scale operations without heavy equity dilution.
Solar energy was the top-funded African category in 2025, accounting for 29 deals, roughly 3% of all transactions.
Year-on-year funding in the sector rose by 26%, driven by expanding investor interest as climate-focused solutions have become one of the largest destinations for venture and growth capital in Africa.
63 mergers and acquisitions were announced, the most on record, with only 5 disclosing the transaction’s worth. The exits were mostly concentrated in fintech and digital financial services (DFS), followed by software, logistics, mobility, e-commerce, and health.
51% of these acquisitions were led by African startups rather than corporates, banks, or private equity firms, signalling maturity and internal market consolidation as M&As become the go-to pathway to exit.
However, not every acquisition are success stories. A share of recent deals likely represent rescue or convenience-driven outcomes, involving companies constrained by capital shortages, operational stress, or the risk of failure.
Although much of African Ventures funding has come from foreign sources, local investor participation has been growing over the years. In 2025, local investor participation grew by 3%, with local investors contributing about 40% of the total funds raised on the continent.
While the US and Europe have dominated foreign capital sources, 2025 saw a diversity in funding sources as Japan and countries in the GCC participated in more deals.
The Gulf region, for instance, driven by long-term strategic alignment, has invested across African food systems, logistics, finance, energy, telecommunications, and infrastructure.
The funding gender gap persists, as less than 10% of funding went to companies with at least one female founder, despite representing a consistently higher share of deal activity.
This gap between capital allocation and participation persists year on year, with only marginal variation, indicating that the constraint is structural rather than cyclical.
ALSO READ: What venture capitalists are investing in right now
Leave a comment