2⃣0⃣2⃣1⃣ in 2⃣1⃣ numbers

$4.3b+ raised, 818+ deals, over 800 investors, 12 mega deals etc.

Over the next few weeks we will be digging into the numbers in more detail, but we thought it would be helpful to start the year with an overview of 2021. So, Here we go… Start-ups in Africa have raised over $4.3 billion in 2021 through 818 $100k+ deals. This is equivalent to an average raise of $1m every 2 hours and 2.5x times the amount that had been raised in 2020. 800+ investors have been involved in at least one deal. 110 start-ups have raised their first $1m+ round. 30 out of 54 countries recorded at least one $100k+ deal during the year, yet 81% of the funding was raised in one of the ‘Big Four’ (NG, ZA, EG & KE); start-ups in Nigeria alone raised more than $1.5b. 12 ‘mega deals’ ($100m+) happened in 2021, for a total combined value of $1.9b; OPay’s $400m topped the charts. Fintech continued to reign supreme, claiming $2.3b; 1 in 5 dollars raised was raised by a Nigerian fintech. Teams of 2 founders were behind half of the funding raised; male CEOs claimed 93% of the funding. 43% of the CEOs who raised have their alma mater on the continent .82% of the money went to start-ups with a single male founder or an all-male founding team, versus 0.95% for their female counterparts. 0 female only-founded start-up raised more than $6m in 2021.

You may have noticed that there are actually only 20 numbers in the paragraph... The 21st is an opportunity to thank you all for your readership: this substack has recorded 130k unique post views since we started in April 2021. We’re very happy this newsletter and the underlying database with thousands of data points are helping fuel discussions and inform investment decisions. And despite the difficult context of the pandemic, 2021’s given us a lot to look forward to. Bring it on, 2022!