African Startups Receive $56m In Funding In August

African Start-ups have received $56million funding in August 2024, down from $443 million recorded in July, and $234 million recorded in August 2023, a report by Africa: The Big Deal revealed.

This made August 2024 the second-slowest month in four years in terms of funding raised, after June 2024 ($42 million), the report stated. The majority of this funding was raised as equity (87 per cent); the rest was debt (9 per cent) and grants (4 per cent), it added.

A total of 27 start-ups announced they had funding in August, well below the monthly average over the past 12 months (40+), the report stated, adding that, “The three largest deals recorded were: Dutch DFI FMO’s $10 million investment into Ghanaian Fintech Fido as part of its Series B round; Solarise Africa’s $9 million announcement (Energy, South Africa); and Nigerian fintech Waza (YC W23) coming out of stealth mode and announcing $8 million in funding ($3 million seed, $5 million debt). No exits were recorded last month.”

Explaining further, Africa: The Big Deal, added that, “2024 keeps tracking below recent years (-40 per cent YoY compared to 2023), but if we care to look on the bright side: despite the August lull -, the ecosystem’s performance was so good in July that the funding raised in Q3 (with one month still to go) is already higher than in Q1 and Q2.”