The African technology landscape witnessed a powerful resurgence in 2025, with startups across the continent securing a total of $3.2 billion in funding. This impressive figure, reported by data platform Africa: The Big Deal, represents a decisive 40 per cent increase compared to the previous year, effectively reversing two consecutive years of decline.
A Decisive Rebound for Continental Tech
This growth marks a stark departure from the challenging periods of 2023 and 2024, which saw funding contractions of 35 per cent and 25 per cent respectively. The 2025 haul pushed total fundraising above the levels recorded in either of those downturn years, signalling a renewed and robust appetite from investors for Africa's innovative tech sector. To provide context, the report highlighted a historical funding trajectory: $1.4 billion in 2019, $1.1 billion in 2020, a peak of $4.4 billion in both 2021 and 2022, and $4.6 billion in 2022.
The recovery was fundamentally driven by a significant surge in large-scale investments. There was a 73 per cent jump in deals valued at over $10 million. In concrete terms, 69 startups successfully closed such substantial rounds in 2025, a notable rise from just 40 in 2024. This is the second-highest annual count since tracking began in 2019, only surpassed by the 97 mega-deals recorded during the global venture boom of 2022.
Energy and Fintech Dominate Mega-Rounds
The distribution of this capital revealed clear sector leaders. A remarkable eight companies announced funding rounds exceeding $100 million, up from five in 2024 and four in 2023. This concentration of substantial capital in a handful of high-growth ventures underscored a maturing market.
The energy sector captured half of these huge deals. Leading providers of off-grid solar and energy access, including d.light, Sun King, and M-Kopa, alongside electric mobility company Spiro, attracted major backing. This trend is fueled by the continent's rising and urgent demand for reliable and clean energy solutions.
Concurrently, fintech remained a powerhouse for investment. Companies like Wave, Egypt's MNT-Halan, and Nigeria's own Moniepoint secured nine-figure sums. Their success is anchored in the continued rapid penetration of digital financial services into historically underserved markets across Africa.
Investor Sentiment and Market Maturation
While the total number of ventures raising at least $100,000 remained steady at around 500, mirroring 2023 and 2024 levels, the flow of money shifted markedly toward larger cheque sizes. Rounds of $1 million or more increased by 11 per cent to 215. This points to a broader, more cautious trend where investors globally are favouring scaled, later-stage companies with proven models over riskier early-stage bets.
Investor participation showed resilience, with at least 554 distinct backers involved in deals of $100,000 or more. This figure is broadly consistent with 2024, though it remains below the 650-plus recorded in 2023. Interestingly, the proportion of repeat investors involved in multiple deals ticked slightly higher, reflecting a growing specialisation among the active funds on the continent. Digital Africa was highlighted as the most prolific non-grant investor, participating in at least 23 announced transactions.
The 2025 performance contributes to a cumulative tally of nearly $20 billion raised by African startups since 2019, excluding exits. Over that period, more than 2,200 ventures have secured at least $100,000, including over 1,000 with $1 million-plus rounds, nearly 300 above $10 million, and 33 surpassing the $100 million mark. MNT-Halan leads the all-time rankings with more than $1 billion in total funding.
Analysts interpret this concentration of capital in mega-rounds as evidence of an ecosystem coming of age. Investors are increasingly prioritising companies with solid unit economics and clear paths to profitability, particularly in sectors like energy and fintech that directly address Africa's foundational challenges in financial inclusion and electrification.
