Africa: Kenyan Startups Lead Africa in Funds Raised

Nairobi — Kenya emerged as number one in funds raised by startups last year, beating countries such as Egypt, South Africa, and Nigeria.

According to Africa: The Big Deal, a platform for startup deals, capital raised in the country represented 28 percent of all funds raised on the continent.

In East Africa, Kenya’s share grew from 86 percent in 2022 to 91 percent in 2023, highlighting its dominance in East Africa.

Startups that raised $100,000 and above in the country stood at 93.

Kenya was followed by Egypt at number two, South Africa (three), and Nigeria (four).

“Finally, Nigeria is the country where the most dramatic change happened in 2023,” the firm added.

“While the country still claimed the highest number of start-ups to raise $100k or more (146, 29% of the continent), the amount they raised was divided by 3 YoY (-67%) to reach $410m, compared to $1.2b in 2022, and $1.7b in 2021.”

“This is the lowest regional share of any Big Four market since we started collecting the data in 2019.”