Joy Agwunobi
Fintech startups have once again cemented their dominance in Africa’s startup investment landscape, attracting the largest share of funding in the first half of 2025.
According to Africa: The Big Deal, a platform that monitors startup funding on the continent, fintech ventures accounted for 45 percent of all disclosed investments—excluding exits—securing approximately $640 million between January and June 2025.
The report revealed that this performance is consistent with 2024 figures, where fintech held a 47 percent share, and marks a notable rebound from previous years when the sector experienced a relative dip. The longer-term analysis over a 12-month rolling period shows fintech funding share has risen to 51 percent—closing in on its all-time high. This growth follows a period of stagnation that saw fintech’s share plummet to 28 percent around mid-2023, one of its lowest recorded points.
“Fintech alone attracted 45 per cent of all funding (exc. exits) in H1, bagging around $640m,” the report stated,adding “This is in line with what we’d seen in 2024 (47 per cent) but higher than in previous years.”
Among the standout fintech transactions for H1 2025 was Wave Money’s $137 million debt financing, the largest deal in the sector so far this year. Other major deals included Bokra’s $59 million sukuk raise in Egypt, Stitch’s $55 million Series B round in South Africa, LemFi’s $53 million Series B in Nigeria, and a $50 million bond issued by Egypt-based MNT-Halan’s Tasaheel.
However, Kenya, traditionally one of the “Big Four” African tech ecosystems alongside Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt, trailed far behind its peers. The country’s fintech sector raised only $23 million in the first half of 2025, significantly less than the over $100 million secured individually by Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa.
Historically, fintech startups in South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria have commanded a significant portion of their respective national startup funding pools since 2019—61 percent, 57 percent, and 56 percent, respectively. In contrast, Kenyan fintechs have accounted for just 10 percent during the same period.
The report further highlighted that fintech deals continue to surpass their non-fintech counterparts in both volume and size. In H1 2025, the median fintech deal stood at $1.7 million, while the average reached $10 million. In comparison, non-fintech deals recorded a median of $0.5 million and an average of $4.8 million.
Despite commanding nearly half of all funding, fintech represented a smaller proportion in terms of deal count—just 27 percent of all transactions recorded in the first half of the year. This share increased to 31 percent for deals exceeding $1 million and to 46 percent for those valued above $10 million. However, fintech comprised only 21 percent of the smallest deals (ranging from $100,000 to $1 million).
Beyond fintech, the energy sector emerged as the second-largest recipient of startup funding in Africa for H1 2025, securing $220 million, which accounted for 20 percent of total investments. Kenya led the energy funding charge with two notable transactions—Burn Manufacturing’s $85 million and PowerGen’s $55 million. This aligns with Kenya’s historical trend, where 50 percent of all funding since 2019 has gone to energy-related startups. By comparison, the sector claimed just seven percent, six percent, and two percent of startup investments in South Africa, Nigeria, and Egypt, respectively, and 16 percent continent-wide.
Healthcare came in third, attracting $160 million or 11 percent of all funding, largely driven by a landmark $100 million merger between South Africa’s hearX and US-based Eargo. Logistics and transportation ranked fourth, pulling in $116 million, or 8 percent, while proptech rounded out the top five. This was primarily due to Egypt-based Nawy’s historic $75 million raise—split between a $52 million Series A and debt financing—the largest-ever proptech deal recorded on the continent.
Nigeria retained its position as a leading investment destination in Africa, ranking third in terms of startup funding received during the first five months of 2025, trailing behind only South Africa and Egypt.
The report also spotlighted the growing influence of climate-focused startups across various sectors. When aggregating all deals tagged as “climate tech”—including those in energy, logistics, agriculture and food, and select fintechs the segment accounted for $300 million, or 21 percent of total funding in H1 2025. Notably, these climate-aligned ventures represented 28 percent of all deals worth $100,000 and above.
The data underscores fintech’s continued appeal to investors, but also highlights the emergence of energy and climate-focused sectors as fast-growing funding magnets on the continent.
