African startups raised $174 million in January 2026 from deals of at least $100,000, a drop from the same month last year and one of the calmest openings to a year in recent times.
Disclosed by Africa: The Big Deal, the amount raised was well below the $276 million recorded in January 2025 and also under the average monthly total of $263 million seen over the past 12 months.
Still, it was higher than January figures from earlier years, including 2023 and 2024, when funding volumes were far lower.
What stood out in January was not just the money, but the number of deals.
Only 26 startups across the continent announced funding of $100,000 or more. That figure is unusually low and the weakest monthly count since at least 2020.
A small group of companies accounted for much of the funding announced during the month. In Egypt, fintech firm valU secured $64 million in debt from the National Bank.
Nigeria-based mobility financing company MAX raised $24 million through a mix of equity and asset-backed debt.
Several other firms closed double-digit rounds. NowPay, another Egyptian fintech, raised $20 million in equity. Moroccan proptech start-up Yakeey announced a $15 million Series A round.
Terra Industries raised $12 million, while Côte d’Ivoire fintech company Cauridor announced a round of more than $10 million.
There were also transactions that did not count towards the funding total. Flutterwave acquired Nigerian startup Mono in an all-stock deal valued at about $30 million.
Tech talent company Savannah was acquired by Commit, and Izili Group took over off-grid solar firm Qotto.
January is usually a slow month for startup funding, both African and international, especially after a busy December, and similar dips were recorded at the start of 2023, 2024 and 2025, not just 2026.
Even so, the thin deal flow this time has shown how tough investors have become.
Fintech continued to attract the largest share of capital, but deals in property technology, mobility and defence showed that interest was spread across sectors.
Egypt and Nigeria led activity, while Morocco and Côte d’Ivoire featured through fewer but sizeable transactions.
