Venture funding into African startups witnessed a drastic decline in August 2025 as startups across the continent raised $93 million during the month. With this total, August becomes the second-slowest funding month in 2025, behind the month of March, when startups were only able to raise a little over $50 million.
This total represents a huge 83 per cent decline from the $550 million raised in the previous month (July 2025). It doesn’t, however, look that bad when compared to the same month last year (2024), when African startups raised $56 million, representing a 66 per cent increase.
One major positive of the August funding numbers is the increase in equity investment, as about three-quarters of the $93 million raised last month was raised in the form of equity. This leaves just a quarter raised in the form of debts. This is quite imperative, seeing as most of the July funding came in the form of debt, as equity funding continues to drop.
Indeed, of the $550 million raised last month, $493 million came in the form of debt financing, representing 89 per cent of the funding.
It also brought the total debt financing rate to 45 per cent since the beginning of the year, up from the 28.5 per cent total debt funding as of June. For emphasis, 33 per cent of the total funding by this time last year (2024) came in the form of debts. In 2023, 38 per cent of the funding raised by this time came in the form of debts.
“August was a relatively quiet month on the fundraising front for start-ups in Africa, especially if we compare it to July, which was extraordinarily busy. In fact, it is the second-most quiet month this year so far, after March. But this is not really a cause for concern: the amount raised is still higher than what was raised in August last year, and the number of start-ups who raised is comparable to the same month in 2024 and 2023. Plus, the 2025 numbers to date continue to look strong,” an Africa the Big Deal commentary noted.
33 African startups powered venture funding in August
33 African startups that raised at least $100,000 were behind the August total. Nigerian solar-powered cooling startup, Koolboks, led the pack, raising $11 million in a Series A funding, comprising an unusual mix of equity, debt, and grants.
Equity funding was provided by KawiSafi Ventures, Aruwa Capital, and All On, debt financing from FFEM and bpifrance, while grants were awarded by FFEM/AFD, PREO (co-funded by UK Aid and the IKEA Foundation), Efficiency for Access, Innovate UK, BGFA Uganda, CEI Africa, and the Shell Foundation. The funding will be used to fuel its mission and lay the foundation for its first assembly plant in Nigeria.
Kenya’s health technology startup, Hewatele, was next, securing a $10.5 million investment on August 19. Backed by AfricInvest’s Transform Health Fund (THF), the investment will be deployed for the construction of a new large-scale liquid oxygen (LOX) production facility. This will help the medical oxygen supplier improve the reliability and quality of medical oxygen for hospitals across the region.
Egyptian e-commerce and grocery startup, Breadfast, raised $10 million in a Series B funding round during the month. Led by Novastar Ventures with support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the new capital will help the startup expand its fulfilment centres across Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, and Mansoura while completing its payment platform, Breadfast Pay.
Nigeria’s food delivery startup, Chowdeck, came through in August, raising $9 million in a Series A round. Led by Novastar Ventures and Y Combinator, with participation from HoaQ, True Culture Funds, and prominent angel investors like Paystack co-founders Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, the investment will fuel its ambitious quick commerce strategy and support further expansion into more cities in Nigeria and Ghana.
Next is Egyptian fintech valU, which also raised $9 million in securitised bond issuance.
The Nigerian market appears to have rebounded in August, with Koolboks and Chowdeck among the startups that led the pack. Other markets that had a great impact were Egypt and Kenya; with these three markets, all part of the Big Four African markets, were responsible for 75 per cent of the total funding by African startups in August.
Startups across the continent have already raised more than $2 billion in 2025 so far, with roughly $1 billion coming in the form of equity. At this rate, 2025 is certain to trump 2024 in venture funding and thus make sure the continent records a yearly growth for the first time following two year-on-year decline. It remains to be seen whether investments into African startups would hit the $3 billion mark in the year.