February 2026: We're back on track 👟
40 ventures raised at least $100k last month and bagged a total of $272m+ in funding, putting the year back on a stronger footing
40 start-ups announced a total of $272m in funding in February 2026 through $100k+ deals (equity, debt, grants; exc. exits) in Africa. From an amount perspective, that is a clear improvement on January’s $174m, and also slightly above the previous 12-month monthly average of $254m. 54% were raised as equity; 45% as debt. The number of start-ups announcing funding also rebounded from January, although it remained a little below the prior 12-month average of 46 per month. But overall, after a muted January, February brought the numbers back to the level of activity we’d grown to expect in 2025.
As usual, the month’s total was driven disproportionately by a relatively small number of larger tickets. Spiro in Benin alone announced $57m in debt across two transactions, while Breadfast in Egypt secured $50m in pre-Series C funding. GoCab in Côte d’Ivoire wasn’t far behind with $45m raised across debt and equity. Also announcing over $20m in February were Terra Industries in Nigeria who topped up their previously announced round with an additional $22m; Enko Education in South Africa who secured $22m in debt; and Lula - also in South Africa - who secured $21m from DFI FMO. In other words, February’s recovery was real but it was also quite concentrated, with these six ventures alone attracting 80% of the funding. Geographically speaking, Egypt ($64m), Benin ($57m), Côte d’Ivoire ($45m) and South Africa ($44m) made up the top four. From a regional point of view, West Africa dominated and attracted more than half of all the funding (53%), followed by Northern (24%) and Southern Africa (21%). What is puzzling is that East Africa - which topped the charts in 2025 with 34% of all the funding - ranks #4 in February with just 3% of the total, and barely more if we look at 2026 YTD (4%). Something we’ll want to keep an eye on…
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With February in the books, 2026 is back ahead of where 2025 stood at the same point. Start-ups in Africa have raised $446m+ in January-February 2026, versus $417m during the same period in 2025. So while January had suggested a slower start to the year, February has effectively put 2026 back on track. Not dramatically ahead, and certainly not enough to settle what kind of year this will be yet, but ahead nonetheless.
Now: over to March! :)... As usual, if you want to run your own analysis, or need data to prepare to raise your next rounds, don’t miss our database which you should really access with this discount code. And actually, if you’re a start-up and haven’t applied to our Data for Founders initiative - in partnership with FMO Ventures -, you’d better apply now as the March 20 deadline is fast approaching...
Have a good week! Max