Venture funding into Africa increased in September as 58 startups raised a combined $140 million. This is according to data from the African venture funding analytics company, Africa the Big Deal. This represents an impressive 50.5 per cent increase from the $93 million raised in the previous month.
While it doesn’t come close to the $550 million raised in July, September’s total marks a rebound from the slump in August, which was the second-slowest funding month in 2025, behind March, when startups only raised a little over $50 million.
And while the tally for September 2025 is generally below average, it is similar to the $146 million raised in the same month last year (2024). It also trumps the $124 million raised in September 2023.
Thus, as far as September’s go, this was not a bad one.
The 58 African startups that raised $100,000 and above were responsible for September’s total, also representing an impressive 77.7 per cent uptick in the number of startups that received investments in August (33).
Indeed, September saw the second-highest number of startups that raised funding in 2025 so far, behind only July, when 61 startups pooled $550 million in investments.
Nigeria’s Kredete leads
Similar to August, when Nigeria’s Koolboks led the pack, another Nigerian startup led September’s venture funding drive. Kredete, a Nigerian fintech company focused on helping African immigrants build credit and access financial services, secured a $22 million Series A funding round to fuel its expansion into European markets.
The round was backed by AfricInvest via its Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund (CAIF) and Financial Inclusion Vehicle (FIVE), with participation from Partech and Polymorphic Capital. With the new investment, the fintech aims to achieve a strategic expansion into new territories, including Canada, the United Kingdom, and key European markets.
South Africa’s Pura Beverage, though not necessarily a tech startup, raised venture funding. The company raised $15 million in Series B funding, which will be leveraged to accelerate the company’s market penetration, brand building and marketing across the globe.
It will also provide the funds required to increase and support product listings across major retailers, predominantly in the US, but also in other international territories.
South African identity startup, Contractable, also raised $13.5 million. Led by Venture Capitalworks, with backing from Fireball Capital, Ke Nako Capital, and Mavovo, the new investment will help expand its platform and roll out new products across African markets.
Egypt will not be left out as Intella, an AI-focused speech intelligence startup, secured $12.5 million in a Series A oversubscribed round.
Led by Prosus, with participation from 500 Global, Wa’ed Ventures, Hala Ventures, Idrisi Ventures, and HearstLab, the new fund will accelerate the startup’s mission to power a digital AI workforce across the Arabic-speaking world. It will also be deployed to double down on R&D, product expansion, and regional hiring.
Completing the top 5 most-funded African startups in September 2025 is the South African edtech startup, The Invigilator, which secured $11 million during the month. Led by Kaltroco Partners and other investment professionals from Nashville, Zurich and Cape Town, the fund will help the company scale its artificial intelligence offering outside the coast of Africa.
African startups raised $2.2 billion in 2025
2025 has truly defined itself as a good year for African venture funding, as venture funding into startups across the continent has now hit $2.2 billion. This means it has more or less equalled the 2024 total after only three quarters and with three months of the year left.
On a quarter-by-quarter basis, the second quarter remains the most-funded quarter of the year with startups raising $963 million in the three months of April, May and June. The third quarter is the second-highest so far, with startups attracting $785 million during the quarter.
The first quarter is still the least-funded, as startups raised $461 million, dulled by March, which saw only $50 million in investments, representing the slowest month of the year.
On the mode of funding side, equity investments continue to rise, registering an increase in September. Of the $140 million raised, $105 million, representing 75 per cent, came in the form of equity. $32 million came in the form of debt, while $3 million came in the form of grants.
This is pretty consistent with the previous month of August, when three-quarters of the $93 million raised was in the form of equity. This is quite imperative, seeing as most of the July funding came in the form of debt.
