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October Sets Record as African Start-ups Raise $254 Million

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Kenya's OmniRetail Unicorn: Investing Opportunities

Business Honor
06 November, 2024

October sees African start-ups raise a record $254 million, driven by Moniepoint's $110 million funding round

According to a report by Africa, The Big Deal, 42 ventures raised a total sum of $254 million, including equity, debt and grant funding deals of at least $100,000, other than exits. That tally is nearly 50 per cent higher than the year's 12-month average and just shy of the $304 million raised in July: it is the strongest October since 2019.

A major highlight of the month was Nigerian fintech Moniepoint’s $110 million Series C funding round, led by the African Development Partners (ADP) III fund. Capturing 43% funding share in the month and may land Moniepoint as a member of the African club of its 8th unicorn, it presents an emerging story for fintech investors growing more confident, not even put down by region-based tech slowdowns in investing.

The most prominent rounds were BasiGo's $42 million Series A to help deploy electric buses in Kenya and Rwanda, and Yellow Card's $33 million Series C led by Blockchain Capital, to expand its cryptocurrency exchange platform.

Nigeria dominated the funding landscape by taking 60 percent of the total amount distributed with fintech firms taking 60 percent of the overall funds. A gender imbalance was noted in the sector, with 98 percent of the investments going to male-led ventures and 97 percent into start-ups without female founders.

On the mergers and acquisitions front, Nigerian B2B eCommerce platform OmniRetail acquired fintech startup Traction Apps. This is the only exit announced this month, as part of the deal will have Traction's Point of Sale (PoS) solution integrated into OmniRetail's OmniPay platform.

Despite such strong performance in October, overall funding in 2024 lags last year's pace. So far, African start-ups have raised $1.7 billion to date, marking a 32% drop compared with 2023. So all eyes are on November, where they will look for continued momentum.