Issue 02 / Q3 2026
The African Venture Report
African startups announced $712 million across 114 deals between July and September 2026, more money than the second quarter from fewer deals. One round, one country and four markets took most of it.
By AR Abdi · Propel Africa
ABOUT THIS ISSUE
A quarter of concentration
Issue 01 measured the first half of 2026: how much African startups raised, in what form, where and from whom. It is the baseline, and it still is.
Issue 02 measures the third quarter. On the surface it was a better quarter than the one before, with more money. Underneath, the money came from fewer places. One company raised a third of it, one country nearly half, and the number of countries recording a deal fell from 21 to 15.
Every figure is drawn from the same records as Issue 01, dated and sourced, and compared with the previous quarter and with the same quarter of 2025.
THE HEADLINES
Six findings. A clearer picture.
African startups announced $712 million across 114 deals between July and September, 28% more money than in the second quarter from 8% fewer deals.
It was Nigeria’s quarter. Nigerian startups raised $326 million, 46% of the total and their most in a quarter since early 2022. Moove’s $250 million Series C alone was 35% of all the money.
Equity held the lead. Equity rounds brought in $510 million, the most in a quarter since the end of 2025, while debt took 28% of the money, against 39% in the first half.
The map narrowed. Startups in 15 countries recorded a deal, against 21 in the previous quarter, and Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa took 83% of the money.
The early stage thinned. 41 deals were pre-seed, seed or under $1 million, against 62 in the second quarter and 57 a year earlier.
Healthcare raised $1.8 million from 6 deals, the least money in a quarter in our records.
PART I · THE QUARTER
More money. Fewer deals.
The third quarter brought in 28% more announced funding than the second, even as deal numbers fell from 124 to 114. It was the strongest quarter of 2026 so far for money, but still below the same quarter a year earlier.
- Q3 2025$780M
- Q2 2026$556M
- Q3 2026$712M
Disclosed amounts only. The latest quarter may rise as late announcements are added.
Propel Africa records · Issue 02.
PART II · CONCENTRATION
Nigeria’s quarter, led by one round.
Nigeria recorded 31 deals, against 32 in Q2. Its funding total rose sharply because of Moove. Without that round, Nigerian startups raised $76.3 million: more than Q2, but broadly level with Q1. Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa together took 83% of the quarter’s money.
- Nigeria$326M
- Egypt$103M
- Kenya$84.7M
- South Africa$78.2M
Country is the company’s home market in Propel’s records. Pan-African companies are reported separately.
Propel Africa records · Issue 02.
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
$250MSeries C · August 2026
Moove: one round, a third of the quarter.
Moove’s Series C was led by Mubadala, with Woven Capital and Ion Pacific among the backers. It represented 35% of all funding announced in the quarter, and the round carried a reported $2.1 billion valuation.
Founded in Nigeria to finance vehicles for ride-hailing drivers, Moove is also building fleet infrastructure for autonomous vehicles. Its round helped keep logistics and transport funding level with Q2, despite the sector recording 12 deals rather than 19.
In October 2026, Moove announced it would close its Nigerian operations. Its home market in the records is therefore not a statement of where all the funding will be spent.
Propel Africa records; company and investor announcements · Issue 02.
PART III · THE PIPELINE
Thinner at the start.
While large rounds lifted the total, early-stage deals fell to 41. Healthcare raised just $1.8 million across six deals, its smallest quarter for money in these records. The headline recovery did not extend evenly across the market.
- Q3 202557
- Q2 202662
- Q3 202641
Early-stage means pre-seed, seed and unlabelled rounds under $1 million.
Propel Africa records · Issue 02.
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.
Jumia’s $50 million share sale in August is left out, as a sale of shares by a listed company, and so is LemFi’s reported Series B extension in May, which has not been confirmed. September 2026 records come from a reviewed import: entries that could not be matched to a source are left out until they can be confirmed.
Source: The African Venture Report, Issue 02, Q3 2026.
THE FULL REPORT
Keep the complete picture.
Download the Q3 2026 edition for the full analysis and reference tables.
- Quarter-by-quarter comparisons and country and sector movements
- Moove and the programmes behind 22 grants
- The ten biggest rounds and the investors behind the quarter
- The year so far, outlook, methodology and source notes
CITE THIS REPORT
Propel Africa, The African Venture Report, Issue 02, Q3 2026. propel.africa/reports