Four countries absorbed 84% of all funding, with South Africa and Kenya alone accounting for more than half. Egypt followed. Nigeria slipped to 8%, its lowest share since 2019, after years as the top destination for large funding rounds.

However, Nigeria still closed more deals than any other country.

That contrast runs through Briter’s findings as deal volume stayed high, but cheque sizes grew larger and fewer. African startups are still forming and raising capital, but in 2025, funding became harder to access.

Fintech and climate-focused businesses received most of the funding by value, driven by large, capital-heavy deals. Agriculture, health, education and AI startups accounted for most transactions, keeping innovation spread wide even as funding clustered at the top.

How companies raised money also changed. Debt financing crossed $1 billion for the first time, overtaking equity as scaled startups leaned on loans, structured facilities and other non-dilutive instruments to grow. 

Revenue strength, assets and predictability are now more important than rapid expansion.

Exit activity hit a record. Sixty-three acquisitions were announced in 2025, the highest ever recorded. More than half involved startups being bought by corporates, not other startups or private equity firms. Few disclosed prices, but the volume alone shows a market where buying has become easier than building.

Foreign investors still dominate African venture funding, led by the United States and Europe. Briter, however, notes a gradual widening of the pool, with more inflows from Asia and the Gulf, alongside a stronger base of Africa-focused investors providing steadier capital.

The bigger picture is restraint, not retreat. Dario Giuliani, founder and managing director at Briter, said Africa’s investment landscape continues to move through cycles of expansion and preservation, with the current phase firmly in the latter. 

“Capital is more selective, risk appetite more measured, and growth expectations more realistic,” he noted. “Yet beneath this restraint, company formation remains active across the continent, even as a handful of ecosystems continue to dominate and true geographic diversification remains limited.”

In short, funding has returned but access has not. Africa’s tech sector is still moving forward, just with fewer passengers in first class.

By early 2025, the company, with a goal to place one million e-bicycles on African roads by 2030, had dismissed most of its 50 employees across departments. 

Internal documents sent to staff in February cited “a substantial decline in revenue, extremely high cost of operations, an unsustainable employee wage bill, and restructuring of the business to adopt a leaner, more efficient structure.”

Barely 10 employees remained after the first round of layoffs, but they too left by mid-year. “We understand that this news is difficult, and we share in the sadness of having to take these steps,” the company wrote in its redundancy notice. 

“Please know that we are doing everything we can to minimize the impact of these layoffs, and that the decision is driven solely by the need to ensure the company’s sustainability in the face of the current economic climate.”

This reveals a challenge in Kenya’s e-mobility market, where delivery riders and commuters are opting for electric motorbikes instead of bicycles. Riders point to cost and power. 

eBee’s eBX model, priced at KES 99,999 ($774) or about KES 9,500 ($74) per month on lease, remains far out of reach for the very workers it targeted, such as boda boda operators. Even with financing options, demand never picked up.

The company’s problems increased when the Tax Appeals Tribunal ruled against it in February 2025 in a dispute with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). eBee had declared its imports as parts for local assembly, which would attract a 10% duty, but regulators disagreed. 

The tribunal ruled the shipments were fully built electric bicycles, subjecting them to a 25% import duty, 16% VAT, and an excise duty of KES 10,520 per unit. The decision left eBee with an additional tax bill of KES 2.78 million ($20,857).

The ruling stressed that the motor, not the battery, is the key defining part of an electric bicycle. eBee’s claim that sourcing batteries locally qualified its products as “assembled in Kenya” was dismissed. 

Industry watchers warn the case could set a precedent for other electric mobility firms, including BasiGo, Ampersand, and Spiro, which also rely on importing parts.

eBee, however, says it is not shutting down. In a written statement, the startup said it “remains operational and focused on serving customers and partners” while maintaining warranty and after-sales services. It also noted a “renewed strategy to strengthen commercial traction and ensure sustainable growth,” but gave no details on which locations were being merged or what form the strategy would take.

Founded in 2021 by Sten Van Der Ham, Jaap Maljers, Isidoor Maljers, and Joost Boeles, eBee built its brand on assembling and leasing e-bikes for courier companies such as Jumia, Glovo, and Bolt. 

The startup also expanded into Uganda and Rwanda through partnerships. Models like the Nyuki cargo bike, retailing at KES 119,999, were marketed for last-mile delivery.

But the timing worked against it. Kenya’s EV adoption remains weak. By mid-2025, only 671 electric vehicles were officially registered, nearly half of them motorcycles. A report by ALN Kenya has already called for clearer tax guidelines, incentives, and stronger public-private partnerships to prevent more startups from folding under regulatory and financial pressure.

Leadership changes have added more tension. In March, CEO and co-founder Sten Van Der Ham resigned, weeks after the company lost its tax dispute. His departure revealed the fragility of a business once seen as a pioneer in Africa’s clean mobility revolution.

According to the latest report by Africa: The Big Deal, 83% of the total was raised by two companies, d.light and Sun King. 

d.light, an energy solutions company providing affordable and sustainable solar power to communities across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, expanded its receivables financing by $300 million.

Sun King, one of Africa’s leading off-grid solar energy providers, secured a $156 million debt facility.

In July, 61 startups announced at least $100,000 in funding, a significant jump compared to the first half of the year, when the number typically hovered around 40 or fewer.

Of the 61 startups, spread across 15 countries, 41 were located in the “Big Four” markets: Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya. However, $493 million, representing 89% of the total funding raised, came from debt deals.

In terms of equity, $58 million was announced, marking the lowest equity funding within a month this year. Rwazi’s $12 million Series A was the largest equity deal in July. 

Per TechCabal, the company says it’s relocating its central distribution hub, but the decision goes beyond a change of address, showing a sign of high internal issues, shrinking investor patience, and a model that’s struggling to survive Kenya’s retail market.

The firm confirmed the pause is part of “the final stage” in its current restructuring and will see it move from its Tatu City base in Kiambu County to a location closer to the city, potentially in Baba Dogo, Mombasa Road, or Syokimau. 

But looking deeper, this change exposes a company still wrestling with the consequences of earlier decisions that bloated its cost structure and delayed critical changes to its business model.

Twiga’s original vision was solid, owning the entire farm-to-retail supply chain, from working directly with farmers to handling warehousing and delivery. It believed full control would eventually reduce costs and deliver efficiency. Instead, the approach drained resources. One former employee said, “We were burning money trying to do everything—farming, warehousing, and deliveries.”

Now the firm is trying to correct course. After raising more than $180 million in funding over multiple rounds, including a $35 million convertible note in 2023, Twiga is under pressure to show results. 

In May, it laid off over 300 workers, most of them in supply chain roles. This followed earlier acquisitions of local distributors Jumra, Sojpar, and Raisons as part of an initiative to widen its network without building more infrastructure.

Twiga’s plan now leans heavily on centralisation and technology. The company says its aim is to streamline operations using data and a lighter physical footprint. 

“The internal reorganisation impacts a certain number of roles, mainly within supply chain functions,” it stated, indirectly confirming the existence of a leaked document, codenamed Project Easter, which outlined staff cuts.

What has become obvious is that Twiga’s leadership waited too long to pivot. Insiders suggest the company stuck with its asset-heavy model well past the point of viability. 

Two former employees told TechCabal that internal resistance to change persisted into 2025. One person familiar with the situation noted, “The supply chain department was mismanaged and cost Twiga a lot of money.”

Twiga Foods still operates eight distribution centres across Central, Coast, and Western Kenya. But in Nairobi, further infrastructure expansion has been shelved.

Instead, the company plans to lean on third-party partners to handle parts of its logistics, and this could contrast with its original plan of building a vertically integrated supply chain.

In cutting jobs and consolidating its operations, Twiga is trying to steady the business, but there are still high risks. Any profit from tech-enabled logistics or data optimisation will take time to materialise, and with investor trust wearing thin, the company has little room for further missteps.

Twiga says the current pause will give it time to stabilise and realign.