Africa’s start-up ecosystem has crossed the $2 billion funding mark in 2026, excluding exits, although the pace of capital raising remains below the levels recorded during some of the continent’s strongest months.

According to Africa: The Big Deal, the milestone was reached last week, with the continent’s start-ups raising more than $2 billion so far this year.

The figure was reached in August in both 2023 and 2025, while 2024 did not cross the threshold until December.

The latest data suggest that, if current trends persist, total start-up funding in Africa could approach $3 billion by the end of the year.

Since 2019, more than $25 billion has been invested in more than 2,600 start-ups that have each raised at least $100,000, highlighting the expansion of the continent’s venture-capital ecosystem.

The full September data are expected to be released next week.

However, the funding environment has remained uneven.

In July, 44 African start-ups raised $102 million, but only $25 million came through equity, representing the lowest equity total since April 2019.

Debt accounted for 74 per cent of the month’s funding, led by M-Kopa with $30 million, Bridgement with $20 million, BioLite with $11 million and Nesa Power with $9 million.

July’s total funding was 60 per cent below the 12-month average of $258 million and represented the weakest monthly performance since March 2025.

There was, however, some activity on the exits front, with Stakpak and Better Auth acquired by the United States cloud platform Vercel, while Conservio was acquired by Dutch glampings.com.

The transactions took the number of exits recorded in 2026 to 28, slightly ahead of last year’s pace.

From January to July, African start-ups raised $1.46 billion, down 27 per cent from the $2 billion recorded during the same period in 2025.

Equity funding stood at $921 million, down nine per cent year-on-year, while debt funding fell 44 per cent to $529 million.

The number of ventures raising at least $100,000 also declined to 241, from 302 in the corresponding period of 2025.

The number of active investors fell to 256 from 328, representing a 22 per cent decline.

The figures suggest that while Africa continues to attract substantial venture capital, the funding environment remains more selective, with debt accounting for a growing share of capital raised.