Targeted Investment Fuels $844 Million Boost for African Startups in Q2 2025

Startups across Africa raised a total of $844.51 million in the second quarter of 2025, according to data from Launch Base Africa. Unlike the fast-paced, high-valuation deals seen in 2021, Q2 investors are focusing on economically essential sectors such as logistics, power, mobile money, and health tech.

E3 Capital, based in Kenya, remained active with investments in clean energy and infrastructure, backing Ghana’s Kofa ($8.1M), South Africa’s Open Access Energy ($1.8M), and Nigeria’s Cutstruct ($2.4M). Norfund concentrated on scalable, high-impact sectors, supporting Senegal’s Wave with $137.2 million in debt, Nigeria’s OmniRetail with $20 million, and Nigeria’s Arnergy with $18 million for solar energy systems.

Partech Africa demonstrated a cross-sector approach, investing in Nigeria’s Carrot Credit ($4.2M), South Africa’s AURA ($15M), and Egypt’s Nawy ($75M). British International Investment (BII) strengthened its clean energy and mobility strategy, backing Arnergy, Wave, and Kenya’s ARC Ride with a $5 million investment. EDFI Management Company focused on clean technology and agriculture, investing in Kenya’s BURN Manufacturing, Ghana’s Complete Farmer, and Arnergy.

Egypt’s Nclude by DPI drove domestic fintech growth with investments in Sylndr ($15.7M), MoneyFellows ($13M), and Nawy. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) spread its capital across energy, health, and fintech, backing Nigeria’s Husk Power Energy Systems ($5M), Senegal’s Kera Health ($10M), and Egypt’s MDP.

Many of these investors are repeat backers, supporting portfolio companies through successive funding rounds or strategic accelerators and blended finance platforms.

This brings total funding for the year so far to around $1.45 billion, signaling a cautious recovery from the sharp funding declines that followed the post-pandemic investment peak of 2021 and the global downturn in 2023.