African tech startups raised US$1.19 billion in the first half of 2023, down by more than half on the total from the corresponding period in 2022, as investment in the sector continues to feel the effects of the global economic climate.
According to the most recent edition of the annual African Tech Startups Funding Report released by Disrupt Africa, available free in partnership with Flat6Labs, MarketForce, 4Di Capital, Mercy Corps Ventures, Newtown Partners, and InsiderPR, 633 African tech startups raised a combined US$3,333,071,000 in 2022.
This represented incredible growth. The number of funded startups increased by 12.2 per cent on 564 in 2021, while the total secured funding jumped 55.1 per cent on US$2,148,517,500 in 2021.
This year is set to be a regressive one, however, in line with global trends in investment – what is becoming known as the “reset” after tremendous growth that went before. In the first six months of 2023, 131 African tech startups have banked a combined US$1.19 billion, down from 303 startups and US$2.275 billion in H1 of 2022. That’s a decline of 52.4 per cent, which is in-line with the quarter-on-quarter figures from Q1, which fell by 57.2 per cent.
Last year’s H1 ended up accounting for around half the startups and half the total investment for the whole of 2022, so if the current trajectory holds then year-on-year funding looks set to decline by more than 50 per cent.
