African tech startups raised more funding in the first six months of 2022 than they did across the entirety of 2021, with total investment hitting US$2.275 billion.
The seventh edition of Disrupt Africa’s annual African Tech Startups Funding Report, released in January, found 564 startups raised a combined US$2,148,517,500 in 2021, a record for a calendar year.
Yet that record has already fallen within the first half of 2022, in which 303 startups banked a whopping US$2.275 billion, meaning 2022 is already the best year ever for investment into the ecosystem. It means the sector is on course to increase total funding raised by 100 per cent year-on-year.
Nigeria is leading the way, with 98 companies having raised a combined US$691.8 million since January. This is still short of the US$903,680,000 raised by Nigerian ventures in 2021, though that target is easily surpassable given the current rate of investment.
Egypt comes in second, as it did in 2021, though the US$521 million raised by Egyptian startups in 2022 already represents growth on last year, when the overall total was US$445.8 million. Kenya, in third, has seen US$447.4 million raised by 45 startups, more than US$150 million more than the US$292 million the country raked in across 2021.
So far, South Africa is having a relatively disappointing year compared to other members of the “big four”, with US$263.6 million raised by 30 companies. This still means, however, that the country is on course to better 2021’s total of US$336,405,000.
Once again, fintech is proving the main driver of investment on the continent, with 109 fintech startups having raised a total of US$1,111,570,000 in 2022 so far, already more than the US$ 1,038,456,500 banked in 2021.
You can download the African Tech Startups Funding Report 2021 here.
