African start-ups raised $272m cash in Feb
No fewer than 40 start-ups announced a total of $272million in funding in February this year through $100k+ deals (equity, debt, grants; exc. exits) in Africa. According to Africa: The
No fewer than 40 start-ups announced a total of $272million in funding in February this year through $100k+ deals (equity, debt, grants; exc. exits) in Africa.
According to Africa: The Big Deal, from an amount perspective, that is a clear improvement on January’s $174million, and also slightly above the previous 12-month monthly average of $254million. 54 per cent were raised as equity; 45per cent 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.
Read Also: Start-ups in Nigeria, others raise over $442m
As usual, the month’s total was driven disproportionately by a relatively small number of larger tickets. Spiro in Benin alone announced $57million in debt across two transactions, while Breadfast in Egypt secured $50million in pre-Series C funding. GoCab in Côte d’Ivoire wasn’t far behind with $45million raised across debt and equity. Also announcing over $20million 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 $22million in debt; and Lula - also in South Africa - who secured $21million from DFI FMO.
In other words, February’s recovery was real but it was also quite concentrated, with these six ventures alone attracting 80per cent of the funding. Geographically speaking, Egypt ($64million), Benin ($57million), Côte d’Ivoire ($45million) and South Africa ($44million) made up the top four. From a regional point of view, West Africa dominated and attracted more than half of all the funding (53per cent), followed by Northern (24per cent) and Southern Africa (21per cent). What is puzzling is that East Africa - which topped the charts in 2025 with 34 per cent of all the funding - ranks #4 in February with just three per cent of the total, and barely more if we look at 2026 YTD (four per cent).
