🌍 The State of African Startup Funding in 2022

Welcome to The Draft – Techloy's weekly newsletter that brings you data-driven news and insights into technology across the world's largest emerging markets from trusted sources.

My eyes were peeled at the many quarterly and annual reports on startup funding, smartphones, company revenues, and more that were released within the past week – and I've curated the most important stories (including charts 📊) in this week's newsletter for you to catch up on this weekend.

This edition puts a spotlight on the African startup funding landscape in 2022, which saw startups raise a record $4.8 billion in 2022, after a pretty solid first half of the year, despite a funding drought in the second half of the year – an increase from the $4.3 billion raised in 2021.

The number of deals worth $100,000 or more also saw an increase, with over 1,000 deals announced in 2022, an 11% year-over-year increase. Some notable $100 million+ ‘mega deals’ in the year were – Flutterwave’s $250m Series D in February and Interswitch’s $110m round in May. The number of unique investors participating in deals on the continent also grew, reaching over 1,000, a 15% increase from the previous year.

The West African region took the biggest share of funding ahead of other regions in the African funding landscape to remain in the lead as startups in the region took a $1.8 billion share out of the total $4.8 billion raised in Africa in 2022. Meanwhile, Nigeria continued to remain the largest market by far in Africa in terms of funding with over 286 $100k+ deals  (+14% YoY ) and an estimated $1.2 billion in funding in the year.

If you're interested in learning more about the startup funding landscape in different regions across the world, why not become a paid member today to gain full access to data-led startup news and VC deals, incisive charts, and deeper insights?

The rest of this week's edition of The Draft continues below, featuring other important technology stories, more and more and more and more tech layoffs, product launches, startup funding deals, and mobile insights across emerging markets and the world.

Have a top weekend!

- Emmanuel, Data Journalist at Techloy.com