African Startup Funding Hits $550M in July 2025 With 61 Deals Recorded

African startups witnessed a significant rebound in funding activity in July 2025, signifying a notable uptick from previous months, which signaled renewed investor confidence in the continent’s innovative ecosystem.

Report by Africa; The Big Deal, revealed that 61 startups across the continent, announced funding rounds of at least $100,000, a significant increase from the monthly average of around 40 during the first half of the year.

Notably, 41 of these startups were based in the continent’s “Big Four” tech hubs (Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa), but funding activity was well distributed, with 15 countries represented. This included a historic milestone, the first $100,000+ funding deal ever recorded in Libya.

In total, startups raised $550 million during the month, making it the highest monthly funding figure Africa has seen in over two years. Remarkably, 83% of this amount was raised by just two companies in the energy sector, d.light and Sun King, both with Kenyan roots.

In July 2025, d.light, a leading off-grid solar energy company, secured over $300 million in new capital to purchase consumer receivables, expanding its “Brighter Life by d.light” (BLd) financing facility. This move increased its total securitized financing capacity to $842 million across five facilities in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Nigeria.

The funding, led by Mirova and arranged by African Frontier Capital, aims to scale the distribution of solar home systems to 10 million people over two years using d.light’s Pay-As-You-Go (PayGo) model, which allows low-income households to make affordable weekly payments. This initiative supports d.light’s mission to provide clean, accessible energy to off-grid communities, with a proven track record of impacting over 200 million lives.

On the other hand, Sun King, a leading off-grid solar energy company, closed a landmark $156 million (KES 20.1 billion) securitization deal in Kenya, marking the largest solar-backed debt facility in Sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa. This transaction, arranged by Citi with Stanbic Bank Kenya as the placement agent, is designed to scale affordable solar access to approximately 1.4 million low-income households and businesses in Kenya through Sun King’s pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model

When factoring in several smaller transactions, debt accounted for 89% ($493 million) of July’s total funding and 45% of all funding raised on the continent since the beginning of 2025. Equity funding, on the other hand, amounted to $58 million, the second-lowest monthly figure this year. Despite this, the continent’s ecosystem celebrated a major milestone, surpassing $1 billion in equity funding for the year, a powerful signal of renewed investor confidence and the continent’s growing tech maturity. This milestone was reached much earlier than in 2024 (October) and nearly matched the pace set in 2023 (June).

Notably, this achievement marked a turning point following a period of global funding slowdowns and economic uncertainty. The momentum so far has been driven by a combination of large growth-stage rounds and a healthy volume of early-stage deals across key markets like Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa, with emerging contributions from markets such as Ghana, Senegal, and Morocco.

Fintech remains the dominant sector, but increasing activity in logistics, Healthtech, AI, and climate tech shows diversification in both investor appetite and innovation focus. Also, the participation of global venture firms alongside African-focused funds and angel syndicates reflects a growing recognition of the continent’s long-term potential.

While total startup funding (excluding exits) for the year fell just $25 million short of the $2 billion mark, this near miss signals the continued momentum of Africa’s startup scene with the next major milestone likely just around the corner.