Issue 01 / H1 2026
The African Venture Report
Where Africa’s startup money went in the first half of 2026: $1.15 billion across 224 deals, led by mobility and lifted by debt.
By AR Abdi · Propel Africa
ABOUT THIS ISSUE
The baseline
Every week African startups announce new money, from a $100,000 grant in Kigali to a nine-figure round in Lagos. Each announcement tells you about one company. Put together, they show where the continent’s founders are finding capital, who is providing it and on what terms.
The African Venture Report puts them together. It is built on Propel Africa's records of announced funding for African startups, which run from January 2019 and grow as new rounds are announced, each linked to the companies and investors behind it.
This is Issue 01, the baseline. It measures the first half of 2026 against the years before it. Each issue that follows measures what moved in the latest quarter, starting with Issue 02 on July to September.
THE HEADLINES
Six findings. A clearer picture.
African startups announced $1.15 billion across 224 deals in the first half of 2026. That is 20% fewer deals than in the same months of 2025 and 12% less money.
Companies that move people and goods took the largest share. Logistics and transport raised $471 million, 41% of the total, led by Spiro’s $270 million equity round in June.
Debt made up 39% of the money and 42 of the 224 deals. No full year in our records came close to that share of deals: the highest was 11% in 2024.
The money was concentrated. 28 rounds of $10 million or more accounted for 80% of everything raised.
Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa hosted 57% of deals. Egypt raised the most of any single country, $273 million.
Healthcare drew 32 deals but only $15.7 million, about 1% of the money.
PART I · THE MONEY
The money held up better than the deal count.
The first half brought $1.15 billion across 224 deals, compared with $1.30 billion across 280 deals a year earlier. Debt and a few large rounds supported the total, while the number of deals fell by 20%.
- H1 2024$0.803B
- H1 2025$1.30B
- H1 2026$1.15B
Disclosed amounts only. Period totals are rounded as in the report.
Propel Africa records · Issue 01.
PART II · FUNDING TYPES
Debt carried more weight than its deal count.
Equity made up two-thirds of deals. Debt accounted for 42 of the 224 deals, but 39% of the money. Much of it went to businesses with vehicles, assets or loan books to lend against. Grants showed the opposite pattern: 15% of deals and less than 1% of funding.
- Equity$693M
- Debt$448M
- Grants$6.7M
Debt includes loans, credit facilities and bonds. Equity includes convertible instruments. Rounded amounts may not sum to the rounded headline total.
Propel Africa records · Issue 01.
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
$270MEquity · June 2026
Spiro: the round that shaped the first half.
Spiro’s June equity round was the largest disclosed funding round in the first half. It helped lift logistics and transport to $471 million, or 41% of all announced funding.
Spiro announced the June round in two parts, $215 million and $55 million. It also raised a separate $50 million debt facility in February.
This is why the total needs context: 28 rounds of $10 million or more accounted for 80% of the half’s funding. A few very large announcements can make the market look stronger than the experience of a typical founder.
Propel Africa records · Issue 01.
PART III · WHERE IT WENT
Mobility led. Healthcare waited.
Logistics and transport raised $471 million, about four times its total a year earlier. Fintech still recorded the most deals, at 62, but raised less money than mobility. Healthcare drew 32 deals and only $15.7 million: founders were raising, but the cheques were much smaller.
- Logistics & transport$471M
- Fintech$355M
- Energy & water$49.9M
- Healthcare$15.7M
Selected sectors, not the complete sector ranking. Disclosed amounts only.
Propel Africa records · Issue 01.
THE REFERENCE
Methodology and sources
Figures are drawn from Propel Africa's records of announced funding for African startups, which run from January 2019. Each record carries a month, a company, its country and sector, a funding type and, where announced, the amount and the investors.
Deals are funding rounds, grants and debt deals. Acquisitions, listings, secondary sales and share sales by listed companies are left out.
Money adds up amounts disclosed in announcements, in US dollars. Where an amount is our own estimate, the deal counts but its amount does not. Debt means loans, credit facilities and bonds; grants are awards that are not repaid; equity is everything else, including convertible instruments.
Stages follow the label in the announcement. Many rounds are announced without one, so stage counts are minimums. Countries are the company’s home market in our records; companies that work across several markets without one home market are shown as pan-African.
The records cover announced deals and are not a census. Late announcements are added as they surface, so the latest months may rise.
Spiro’s June round was announced in two parts and appears as two records. LemFi’s reported Series B extension in May is left out because it has not been confirmed.
Source: The African Venture Report, Issue 01, H1 2026.
THE FULL REPORT
Keep the complete picture.
Download the H1 2026 edition for the full analysis and reference tables.
- The long view: African funding since 2019
- Sector and country comparisons, funding types and typical rounds
- The ten biggest rounds and the most active investors
- Who is raising, the outlook, methodology and source notes
CITE THIS REPORT
Propel Africa, The African Venture Report, Issue 01, H1 2026. propel.africa/reports