Africa’s Startup Funding Momentum Softens in December 2025
Africa’s startup funding momentum eased in December 2025, reflecting growing investor caution despite a sharp increase in deal activity. Startups across the continent raised $349.1 million across 75 deals, marking a significant pullback from November’s IPO-fuelled surge.
Capital concentration deepened further, with the top 10 startups raising a combined $321.5 million, accounting for over 92% of total funding during the month. In contrast, the remaining 65 startups shared just $27.6 million, highlighting the widening gap between late-stage capital-heavy deals and early-stage fundraising.
Month-on-Month: December vs November 2025
December’s outcome represents a sharp reversal from November 2025, when African startups raised $589.9 million across 38 deals, driven largely by IPO-related inflows. While deal volume nearly doubled in December, overall funding declined substantially.
Key month-on-month changes include:
- Total funding: Down $240.8 million (-40.8%)
- Top 10 funding: Down $251.5 million (-43.9%)
- Deal count: Up from 38 to 75 deals
Unlike November’s IPO-driven spike, December reflected a softer funding environment characterised by smaller cheque sizes and heightened selectivity among investors.
Top Startup Funding Rounds in December 2025
Despite the slowdown, several large transactions reinforced investor confidence in proven, scalable African startups.
- M-Kopa led the charts with a $166 million Series F round, accounting for more than half of all capital raised in December. The Kenya-based pay-as-you-go fintech continues to expand access to smartphones, solar energy, and digital financial services for underserved households.
- Sun King secured $40 million in equity funding from Lightrock to scale decentralized solar energy solutions across Africa and Asia.
- ValU raised $23 million through a bond issuance, marking its 20th securitised transaction under a new EGP 10 billion programme arranged by EFG Hermes.
- Nawah Scientific closed a $23 million Series A round combining equity and debt to support R&D expansion across Africa and Europe.
- Capitec Bank acquired fintech platform Walletdoc for $23.5 million, reinforcing its digital payments and financial inclusion strategy.
- Revibe raised $17 million in Series A funding led by Partech, reflecting rising investor interest in circular economy models.
- Breadfast secured $13 million to expand logistics infrastructure and proprietary technology systems.
- Jumo raised $7.5 million in debt financing from BlueOrchard to scale its asset-backed securitization platform.
- Völz raised 600 million dinars ($4.5 million) in a locally led round, marking the first successful exit for the state-backed Algerian Startup Fund.
- Kalispot, backed by 500 Global, closed the top 10 with a $4 million mixed debt-and-equity round to scale its interoperable 1Net financial ATM infrastructure across Africa.
Regional Funding Breakdown
Eastern Africa emerged as the most funded region in December, driven largely by Kenya-based mega deals.
- Eastern Africa: $208.1 million (64.73%)
- Northern Africa: $84.4 million (26.25%)
- Southern Africa: $41.1 million (12.78%)
- Western Africa: $15.5 million (4.82%)
This marks a temporary shift away from Southern Africa’s dominance in November, when IPO activity boosted inflows.
Country-Level Funding Concentration
Funding concentration was equally pronounced at the country level:
- Kenya: $206.7 million (64.29%)
- Egypt: $77.2 million (24.01%)
- South Africa: $40.9 million (12.72%)
- Ghana: $5.7 million (1.77%)
- Nigeria: $4.7 million (1.46%)
- Algeria: $4.5 million (1.40%)
- Senegal: $4 million (1.24%)
Kenya’s dominance was driven almost entirely by M-Kopa’s mega Series F round, while Egypt stood out for deal volume and sectoral diversity across fintech, healthcare, agrifood, and waste management.
Outlook: Cooling, Not a Reversal
December 2025 reflects a cool-off rather than a reversal in Africa’s startup funding trajectory. While headline funding volumes declined sharply from November’s IPO-led highs, investor appetite remained strong for fintech, energy access, healthcare, and infrastructure-led platforms.
The data suggests investors continue to back large, proven African startups, even as smaller transactions regain momentum toward year-end, setting the stage for a potentially more balanced funding environment heading into 2026.
