Fintech continues to be a favorite among venture capitalists as the sector attracted $1.026 billion in funding in 2024. This figure represents 47% of the $2.2 billion total, according to company data African analysis of venture capital financing, Africa, the big deal.
According to him, fintech’s share of the total represents an improvement on the 42% share of the total that the sector held in 2023. Indeed, this year’s share is the highest that the sector has enjoyed since the post-pandemic (2021).
This is quite interesting given that at the end of the first half of 2024, the sector had only contributed 22% of total funding, far behind climate technology.
“But if you remember, it was not always obvious that Fintech would come out on top in 2024: in fact, in the first half of the year, Fintech was not even the leading sector in terms of fundraising and only represented “ than » 22%. of the total collected. However, the second half of H2 brought many fintech deals (including Tyme of course), which brought the sector back to the forefront.“, we read in the report.
See also: Climate tech outpaces fintech and attracts 45% of African startup funding so far in 2024
The new fintech unicorns, Moniepoint and Tyme, behind a successful year
Two new unicorns were minted in Africa last year. It’s no surprise that they’re both fintech companies, as seven of the continent’s nine unicorns hail from the sector.
The two mega-funding rounds also took place much later in the year to propel the sector to the top of the funding food chain. Indeed, four of the ten largest startup fundraising rounds in Africa in 2024 were for fintech companies.
In July, Egyptian company MNT-Halan announced an increase of $157.5 million. The increase included contributions of $40 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), with the remainder of the funds provided by Development Partners International (DPI), Lorax Capital Partners, funds managed by Apis Partners LLP, Lunate and GB Corp.
This new influx of capital is expected to fuel the imminent geographic expansion of the Egyptian unicorn.
In October, Moniepoint, considered Africa’s fastest-growing financial institution, raised a $110 million Series C round. This investment also means that the fintech has surpassed its $400 million valuation and reached unicorn status.
In December, Tyme Bank became Africa’s 10th unicorn by raising $250 million in a Series D funding round. The digital bank controlled by South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe saw its valuation reach 1.5 billion following the capital increase which includes a $150 million investment from Latin America’s most valuable financial company, Nu Holding.
Climate technology has seen a decline in 2024
Climate technology is the fastest growing sector in Africa and has indeed found itself competing quite favorably with the fintech sector. Its sub-sector, clean energy, is the second best investment sector for venture capitalists, with startups operating in this area having raised $440 million.
This represents 20% of the total venture capital funding raised in Africa in 2024.
Startups in the sector that saw impressive funding include d.light’s $176 million securitization facility in July, SunCulture’s oversubscribed $27.5 million Series B funding round, and $87 million securitization of Sun King dollars with Citi to expand access to financing for off-grid solar energy in Kenya.
This makes East Africa and Kenya in particular the home of clean energy and climate investments in Africa.
Another climate technology sub-sector, the e-mobility sector retained its place as the third preferred sector for funding, recording total funding of $288 million.
This makes it likely the only sector to see an improvement in funding compared to 2023, when it raised $271 million, a 6% year-over-year increase. The $288 million raised by startups in this sector also means that their share of total venture capital funding on the continent has increased to 13% in 2024, from just 9% in 2023.
Indeed, three of the top ten African startups to have raised funds in 2024 belong to this sector. They include: Moove which raised $110 million in equity and debt financing led by Uber and Stride Ventures; Spiro who raised a significant $50 million debt facility with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in May and Basigo’s $44.5 million Series A financing aimed at delivering 1,000 electric buses across the East Africa over the next three years.
These three companies attracted 75% of the sector’s total funding in 2024.
Investments in clean energy and e-mobility include broader climate-related investments. From a climate technology perspective, they represent 32% of the total invested in start-ups in Africa in 2024.
This is less than the 36% share recorded in 2023 (36%), a drop attributed to lower funding for the energy sector.
In total, 80% of the total $2.2 billion in venture capital funding invested in African startups in 2024 was raised by startups in these top 3 sectors.
All other sectors suffered a loss in absolute and relative terms in 2024, with the agritech and healthtech sectors suffering declines of 44% and 61% respectively.