47 Marketing and AdTech Start-ups: Africa Technology Market Map

According to the marketer and author Simon Sinek, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it”. Driving growth and increasing brand equity is rooted in accurately communicating a company mission in a compelling and emotive way. But over the last year, the avenues in which marketers and advertisers usually achieve this has been severely disrupted. Navigating lockdowns, restrictions and curfews across Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic has limited traditional marketing methods.

Gartner, a marketing insights company, predicts that thanks to the accelerated adoption of AdTech and digital into businesses, that by 2023 60% of companies will have pivoted to virtual events. AdWeek a US-based news service reported that in the US advertising on e-commerce platforms jumped 39% in 2020 and is predicted to grow another 30% in 2021.

Changing customer trends is influencing where advertisers and marketers focus their attention, and also how they communicate, listen and engage with their audiences. So is marketing and AdTech in Africa helping to facilitate this change, and enable brands to reach their customers effectively?

47 Marketing and AdTech Start-ups in Africa

AdTech and Marketing Companies Market Map

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There has been significant growth in the number of marketing and advertising start-ups founded in Africa over recent years. 65% of all marketing and AdTech companies in our database were founded during or after 2017. The majority of companies were headquartered in Nigeria (30%), followed by Egypt (13%), South Africa (17%) and Kenya (9%). Unsurprisingly, this correlates closely with the geographies that have some of the most established start-up and technology scenes in Africa.

The use of artificial intelligence has also been seen to be increasingly leveraged in the sector from analysing and deriving insights on customer behaviours such as purchasing habits (Moot Insights). AI is also being applied to help to connect brands with relevant social media influencers (AIfluence) and improve digital media campaign performance through machine learning (ConvertedIn). Neural Sense, South Africa-based AdTech uses biometric data to better understand how customers respond to advertising.


Fig 1: Total funding into African Marketing and AdTech start-ups since 2015

AdTech Funding 2015 to 2020

Analysis from our deals database indicates there have been 41 VC deals disclosed into the marketing and AdTech sector since 2015. Seed stage funding rounds account for 56% of the total number deals, followed by unknown venture rounds (20%) and Series A rounds (15%). Despite Nigeria having the largest number of marketing and advertising companies headquartered on the continent, it was interesting to see from our analysis that North Africa was the geography to secure the largest amount of the total funding ($21.925 million USD), comparative to West Africa ($6.416mil USD), East Africa ($3.71 mil USD) and Southern Africa ($1.23 mil USD).

As seen in the above graph, investor appetite for the marketing and advertising sector has seen a significant rise since 2016, with a total of $23.2 million USD of disclosed venture capital investment (excluding prizes, grant and non-equity assistance) being raised in 2020. During 2021 we have already seen Termii go on to raise their fifth round of capital, closing a $1 million USD round with participation from Kepple Africa Ventures, Future Africa and Y Combinator.

With an increasing number of African companies looking to expand internationally, and more international companies looking to move into Africa, will 2021 be another record year of venture capital investment into the marketing and advertising space?


 

 

 


47 Marketing and AdTech Start-ups: Africa Technology Market Map

According to the marketer and author Simon Sinek, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it”. Driving growth and increasing brand equity is rooted in accurately communicating a company mission in a compelling and emotive way. But over the last year, the avenues in which marketers and advertisers usually achieve this has been severely disrupted. Navigating lockdowns, restrictions and curfews across Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic has limited traditional marketing methods.

Gartner, a marketing insights company, predicts that thanks to the accelerated adoption of AdTech and digital into businesses, that by 2023 60% of companies will have pivoted to virtual events. AdWeek a US-based news service reported that in the US advertising on e-commerce platforms jumped 39% in 2020 and is predicted to grow another 30% in 2021.

Changing customer trends is influencing where advertisers and marketers focus their attention, and also how they communicate, listen and engage with their audiences. So is marketing and AdTech in Africa helping to facilitate this change, and enable brands to reach their customers effectively?

47 Marketing and AdTech Start-ups in Africa

AdTech and Marketing Companies Market Map

Are we missing anyone?

Submit Company Announcment

There has been significant growth in the number of marketing and advertising start-ups founded in Africa over recent years. 65% of all marketing and AdTech companies in our database were founded during or after 2017. The majority of companies were headquartered in Nigeria (30%), followed by Egypt (13%), South Africa (17%) and Kenya (9%). Unsurprisingly, this correlates closely with the geographies that have some of the most established start-up and technology scenes in Africa.

The use of artificial intelligence has also been seen to be increasingly leveraged in the sector from analysing and deriving insights on customer behaviours such as purchasing habits (Moot Insights). AI is also being applied to help to connect brands with relevant social media influencers (AIfluence) and improve digital media campaign performance through machine learning (ConvertedIn). Neural Sense, South Africa-based AdTech uses biometric data to better understand how customers respond to advertising.


Fig 1: Total funding into African Marketing and AdTech start-ups since 2015

AdTech Funding 2015 to 2020

Analysis from our deals database indicates there have been 41 VC deals disclosed into the marketing and AdTech sector since 2015. Seed stage funding rounds account for 56% of the total number deals, followed by unknown venture rounds (20%) and Series A rounds (15%). Despite Nigeria having the largest number of marketing and advertising companies headquartered on the continent, it was interesting to see from our analysis that North Africa was the geography to secure the largest amount of the total funding ($21.925 million USD), comparative to West Africa ($6.416mil USD), East Africa ($3.71 mil USD) and Southern Africa ($1.23 mil USD).

As seen in the above graph, investor appetite for the marketing and advertising sector has seen a significant rise since 2016, with a total of $23.2 million USD of disclosed venture capital investment (excluding prizes, grant and non-equity assistance) being raised in 2020. During 2021 we have already seen Termii go on to raise their fifth round of capital, closing a $1 million USD round with participation from Kepple Africa Ventures, Future Africa and Y Combinator.

With an increasing number of African companies looking to expand internationally, and more international companies looking to move into Africa, will 2021 be another record year of venture capital investment into the marketing and advertising space?