121 startups in Nigeria, other African countries raise $466m in three months

Startups in Nigeria and other parts of Africa raised $466 million in the first quarter of 2024.

Interestingly, Nigerian startup, Moove, in the mobility sector, led the pack.

According to the Q1 2024 funding report released by the research firm, ‘Africa: The Big Deal’, Moove alone accounted for 24 per cent of the total funds raised by African startups in the first three months of this year. Within the period, Moove raised a total of $110 million, including a $100 million Series B round led by Uber.

The report indicated that the $466 million raised by African startups in Q1 was realised through 121 startups that secured $100,000+ deals. This, however, represented a 27 per cent decrease quarter on quarter, and was only half of the amount that was raised a year earlier in Q1 2023.

Further, the report noted that only one African startup raised more than $25 million in Q1 2024 and that was Moove.

“Moove leads with $110 million announced this quarter in total: a $100 million Series B round led by Uber, and a $10 million debt deal to finance its India expansion. Moove alone attracted 24 per cent of the funding on the continent in Q1, therefore influencing other trends.

“87 per cent of the funding went to start-ups HQ’ed in the Big Four with 60 per cent going to Nigeria (2/3 of which were the Moove deals) and Kenya. Few other countries managed to claim more than $5m in funding during the period,” the report stated.

More analysis of the report showed that transport and logistics snatched the number one spot in terms of the total amount raised. Moove’s deals make nearly 3/4 of that amount, followed by fintech.