The recent, and now over, the venture capital boom was a global affair. While traditionally crowded markets like North America and Europe benefited from the explosion of capital, other regions with more burgeoning startup scenes also saw big gains in their ability to raise funding. Southeast Asia is an often-cited example of the phenomenon. Latin American too.
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Africa also saw its venture capital totals soar during the latest startup gold rush. In recent quarters, as in other startup regions around the world, the results of African companies have declined. March even posted what was described as “the worst month in 2.5 years” for Africa, including “the first time the monthly amount of funding raised by startups in Africa fell below the $100 million mark since 2020”, by The Big Deal, a publication aimed at the venture and startup market on the continent.
The quarter was clearly a step backwards. Naturally, we wanted to better understand what was going on in one of the most exciting venture markets in recent years. So this morning, The Exchange rounded up two other sources of data for us to chew on.
We know that deals are still being made in Africa. MinRegion recently covered a $4 million round for Shuttlers, which we describe as a “Nigerian Shared Mobility Company.” Chargel, based in Senegal, recently raised $2.5 million. But MinRegion’s coverage of individual rounds is, by definition, partial compared to all activities, so we’ll have to grapple with aggregates to get a clearer picture.
From a lower ceiling in terms of dollars raised, the slowing pace of fundraising by African startups is pushing quarterly results below the $1 billion mark. That’s meager support for such a large, geographically diverse and increasingly digitally connected area.
Let’s talk business results, unique issues for the African startup scene, and look ahead to see if we can spy any good news on the horizon.