The bar is set very, very high for 2022 🚀

In 2021, start-ups in Africa have raised more than 2.5 times the amount they had raised in 2020

No matter what happens in the last 10 days of December, it is clear - and it has been so for a while - that 2021 has been a remarkable year for start-ups in Africa. As of 20 December, we have tracked more than 800 deals ($100k & over) worth a combined $4.27 billion. If we look specifically at $1m+ deals (so we can compare with our data from 2019 and 2020), the number of deals has grown +73% YoY, and the total deal value was multiplied by x2.5. As a comparison, between 2019 and 2020, the growth had “only” been +49% YoY and +25% YoY respectively. $100m+ ‘mega deals’ have shown tremendous growth in particular: from 3 in 2019 and 2 in 2020, 2021 registered 12 such deals for a total raised of $1.9 billion, more than the total amount raised in 2020 across the ecosystem through all deals $1m+. In short: no matter how you cut the data, 2021 was all about growth!

We’re going to log off for a couple of weeks now, to spend some well-deserved end-of-year time with our respective families. I hope you also get a chance to relax and recharge your batteries, wherever you are. I think we’ve left you with enough content in the past few weeks to keep you busy, but brace yourselves, as a lot of analysis on the 2021 final numbers will be coming your way in January. Thanks again for your support. Oh, and if you’ve not yet finished your wishlist to Santa, don’t hesitate to add our database on there… 🧑‍🎄😉