Q1 2020 Funding Report

2019 was a record year in terms of investment for African tech start-ups with total funding exceeded $1.93billion, but have things continued at the same pace in 2020?

Funding in Q1 2020 totalled $283 million USD, exceeding the total in Q1 2019 by $26 million USD. However, despite a strong quarter for FinTech and Transport and Logistics companies, and an overall increase in the number of deals, the overall funding for pre-seed and seed stage companies reduced compared to the same stage in 2019.

We look at some of the market drivers behind the figures and offer our thoughts on how we see VC investment evolving throughout the rest of 2020.

Q1 2020 Tech Investment Africa Graph

  • Funding in Q1 2020 exceeded Q1 2019 both in terms of the number of deals and the total amount invested, which increased from $253 million USD across 80 deals to $283 million USD across 90 deals.
  • A total of 62 pre-seed and seedmstage investments were made over Q1 2020, however, the total amount invested at pre-seed and seed stage saw an overall reduction from $21.089 million USD in Q1 2019 to $12.385 million USD in Q1 2020.
  • The FinTech sector continued to attract significant investor attention, along with HealthTech and Transport and Logistics sectors. Cumulative investment into these three sectors equalled 78.4% of the total investment over the period. 

This report was first published in April 2020.

Download full report in PDF 

Download Report

Q1 2020 Funding Report

2019 was a record year in terms of investment for African tech start-ups with total funding exceeded $1.93billion, but have things continued at the same pace in 2020?

Funding in Q1 2020 totalled $283 million USD, exceeding the total in Q1 2019 by $26 million USD. However, despite a strong quarter for FinTech and Transport and Logistics companies, and an overall increase in the number of deals, the overall funding for pre-seed and seed stage companies reduced compared to the same stage in 2019.

We look at some of the market drivers behind the figures and offer our thoughts on how we see VC investment evolving throughout the rest of 2020.

Q1 2020 Tech Investment Africa Graph

  • Funding in Q1 2020 exceeded Q1 2019 both in terms of the number of deals and the total amount invested, which increased from $253 million USD across 80 deals to $283 million USD across 90 deals.
  • A total of 62 pre-seed and seedmstage investments were made over Q1 2020, however, the total amount invested at pre-seed and seed stage saw an overall reduction from $21.089 million USD in Q1 2019 to $12.385 million USD in Q1 2020.
  • The FinTech sector continued to attract significant investor attention, along with HealthTech and Transport and Logistics sectors. Cumulative investment into these three sectors equalled 78.4% of the total investment over the period. 

This report was first published in April 2020.

Download full report in PDF 

Download Report