💸2024💸 (Just) $2.2 billion in the bank

Start-ups in Africa raised a total of $2.2b in 2024, a 25% YoY drop

That’s it, 2024 is in the past (HNY everyone!🎉) and our database is now fully up to date, which also means that it’s time for me to analyse the data… So let’s start at the very beginning - a very good place to start - and look at the high-level numbers for this first post in our 2024 series…

Start-ups in Africa raised $2.2b in 2024 in equity, debt and grants (exc. exits). While this is a good amount in absolute terms, it represents a -25% drop compared to the $2.9b that were raised on the continent in 2023. A total of 188 ventures raised $1m or more in 2024 (exc. exits), which is just 10% less than in 2023 though. On the exit front, there were 22 exits made public last year, versus 20 in 2023. And it’s not all doom and gloom…

Indeed, if we zoom in a little, we realise that the relative counter-performance of 2024 is mostly to be blamed on a slow start of the year: just under $800m raised in H1, the slowest semester since 2020. However, there was a serious rebound in the later part of the year as $1.4b were raised in H2 alone (+25% YoY and +80% compared to H1), which made it the second-best semester since the beginning of the ‘funding winter’ in mid-2022. The numbers were driven in part - but absolutely not in full - by the two mega deals of Moniepoint and Tyme Group in Q4, minting two new unicorns back-to-back, the first such events since early 2023.

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🎙️ Don’t miss us live on Linkedin on January 16 for our 2024 Round-Up, bringing to life the data & trends in start-up funding in Africa. You can register for free here and join the 500+ people who have already bookmarked the event!

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Another reason to remain positive is that the YoY decline in funding is mostly attributable to a decline in debt funding. You may remember we’d dubbed 2023 ‘The Year of the Debt’, and while the share of debt in the overall funding announced remained high in 2024 (30%), it was not as high as it was in 2023 (38%). While debt contracted -40% YoY, the total equity raised in 2024 ($1.5b) was ‘only’ -11% below 2023 numbers ($1.7b). It is quite encouraging to see equity levels stabilising, after taking the hardest hit in 2023 (-57% YoY).

Ok, we’ll stop here for today, but believe us: there is much more coming! And remember that if you need access to the full data - we’re talking 3.5k deals over the past 6 years, worth a staggering $19b+ -, you can access our full database here. Actually, if you’ve read this post all the way down, you deserve a little discount you can redeem here.

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👉UP NEXT👉 A look at 2024 numbers with a geographical lens… But can you guess which region/country attracted the highest share of funding in 2024?