African Tech Startup Funding Crosses the $3bn Mark in 2022

In 2022, funding for the African digital startup ecosystem crossed the US$3 billion threshold for the first time, and the industry overcame challenges from the global economy to have a record-breaking year.

This is supported by the eighth edition of the yearly African Tech Startups Funding Report, which was published by startup news and research website Disrupt Africa. The report is freely accessible to all users as part of an open-sourcing initiative in collaboration with Flat6Labs, MarketForce, 4Di Capital, Mercy Corps Ventures, Newtown Partners, and InsiderPR.

Despite a general decline in investments, particularly in riskier asset types like venture capital, the study describes an outstanding 2022 in which more firms raised more funding than ever before. A total of US$3,333,071,000 was financed by 633 businesses in 2022.

This showed enormous development. The overall amount of investment acquired climbed by 55.1% to US$2,148,517,500 in 2021, while the number of supported businesses increased by 12.2% to 564.

Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya are still considered to be Africa’s “big four” in terms of finance, although their combined proportion of overall funding decreased from 2021 to 2022 as companies from more African nations than ever before attracted investment. However, Nigeria remained the clear top with 180 companies funding a total of US$976,140,000.

Even if Nigeria and the other “big four” countries continue to be the leaders, there is still a lot going on across the continent, with companies being supported in 27 African nations.

With more companies receiving money from the fintech industry than any other sector and a combined amount that surpassed all others, the fintech industry was once again the most alluring to investors in 2022. Funding for the industry totaled roughly US$1.5 million.

However, other industries such as e-commerce and retail-tech, e-health, logistics, energy, agri-tech, and transport all had successful years.

You may get the report for free here. The annual reports offer detailed analyses of investment trends within important startup geographies and verticals, as well as information on African startup acquisitions, in addition to providing a complete list of the funded startups, who invested in them, and, where possible, the amount raised, from the previous year.

“Despite pressures from around the world, 2022 was yet another fantastic year for the African IT sector. Who knows what the future will bring or whether the industry will now enter a more dormant phase, but for the time being, the space can look back on a very successful year of work,” said Gabriella Mulligan, co-founder of Disrupt Africa.

The African Tech Startups Funding Report, which was once for sale, was previously purchased yearly by top tech companies from Africa and the rest of the world, Big Four consulting firms, industry leaders in banking and fintech, venture capital firms, supranational investors, and international trade organizations. Now, however, Disrupt Africa makes the publication accessible to African entrepreneurs, for whom the material is most valuable.

This year it is doing this with the help of partners Flat6Labs, MarketForce, 4Di Capital, Mercy Corps Ventures, Newtown Partners, and InsiderPR, with whose support Disrupt Africa will be distributing the African Tech Startups Funding Report 2022 to as many ecosystem stakeholders as possible.

According to Tom Jackson, co-founder of Disrupt Africa, “for too long, access to important market data such as this has been out of reach for active or aspiring entrepreneurs, as they are typically priced out of access.” The open-sourcing of this publication is a key component of the Disrupt Africa concept, and we are extremely grateful to our partners for their assistance.

“In 2022, MarketForce raised a US$40 million Series A round – a significant milestone in its own right, but even more so for a startup founded by two young black men. On a continent where capital continues to pour in, it also matters where it is going. As an operator and investor myself, seeing the continued disparity in investment opportunities for growth-stage startups and underrepresented founders, including black and female founders, is disheartening. Yet, we must succeed – the impact of what we stand for and who we serve is too important not to. Let’s make this journey count,” said Muthoni Wachira, chief of staff at MarketForce.

“Well done and thank you to Tom, Gabriella and the Disrupt team for once again producing a top quality report. This information is crucial and very valuable for all players in the ecosystem,” said Anton van Vlaanderen, 4Di Capital partner.

“Africa remains one of the most exciting and diverse regions to invest in innovation globally. We see a huge impact potential with many of the continent’s startups and are pleased to partner with Disrupt Africa on their sector-leading insights report,” said Scott Onder, managing director of Mercy Corps Ventures and chief investment officer at Mercy Corps.

“As an active investor in Africa, we are eager to see the advancement of the ecosystem through knowledge-sharing and collaboration between local and international players. We are therefore delighted to support this initiative by Disrupt Africa to make this report freely available to all stakeholders,” said Newtown Partners managing partner Llew Claasen.

“InsiderPR was founded on the idea that visibility is the missing link for the entrepreneurs and investors driving innovation in African economies. We are proud to partner with Disrupt Africa to spotlight the African startup ecosystem’s successes in a year full of strong headwinds,” said Aubrey Hruby, co-founder of InsiderPR.