Nigerian Tech Firms Raise $100m in Q1 2025 Amid Funding Squeeze

This is part of a wider slowdown in funding on the continent as funding into the African tech ecosystem dropped 5 per cent to $460 million in the first quarter of 2025, according to data by Africa: The Big Deal.

The decline shows the consistent drop in venture capital funding on the continent, which fell from $486 million raised in the same period of 2024,

The data insight firm, which tracks funding rounds of $100,000 and above, revealed that nearly $300 million was raised by start-ups in January, and fell to $119 million in February.

March saw one of the lowest monthly totals since late 2020, with just $50 million in funding announced.

The Big Deal noted that despite a steady number of start-ups securing funding, the lack of deals exceeding $10 million significantly impacted overall investment figures.

“Q1 2025 is the second-lowest quarter in terms of start-up funding since late 2020,” the insight company noted.

“However, things are looking more positive if we focus on the number of start-ups that announced at least $1 million in funding during the quarter, with 52 such deals aligning with the 2023-2024 average,” a post seen by Business Post showed.

Nigeria alongside Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt – referred to as the Big Four – got 83 per cent of funding during the period under review.

Nigeria attracted roughly over $100 million in funding (24 per cent), same as Kenya (24 per cent) and followed closely by South Africa with $100 million (22 per cent).

Egypt secured $61 million (14 per cent), while Togo emerged as a surprise entry in the top five, buoyed by Gozem’s $30 million Series B funding round.

Fintech remained the dominant sector, accounting for nearly half (46 per cent) of total investment, the report disclosed with deals including LemFi’s $53 million raise and Naked’s $38 million.

The energy sector followed with an 18 per cent share of the total funding, while logistics and transportation startups secured 10 per cent.

It raised eye brows over the disparity in gender based funding with just over 2 per cent ($10 million) of Q1 funding went to female CEOs.

The largest such deal being a $6.2 million grant awarded to South African biotech firm, African Biologics.

Excluding grant funding, female-led start-ups accounted for a mere 0.7 per cent of all investments  while in contrast, Big Deal added that 79 per cent of total funding went to either solo male founders (11 per cent) or all-male founding teams (67 per cent).

It revealed that diverse founding teams attracted 20 per cent of the investment, this remains a modest improvement compared to previous quarters.

“A mere 1% was invested in solo female founders or female-only teams,” the report said.