A new analysis shows that start-ups across Africa are now waiting nearly twice as long to raise their next round of funding, reflecting a broader global slowdown in venture capital deployment. This comes as a shifting investor appetite prolongs fundraising for these startups.
The slowdown in funding began with the withdrawal of global venture capitalists as interest rates began rising a few years ago. Investors who have remained active in Africa have been inclined to fund startups at an early stage, where the ticket sizes are smaller.
According to data reviewed by Africa: The Big Deal, analyst Maxime examined how quickly African start-ups were raising capital during the peak funding period. The numbers from that time show a significantly accelerated pace. On average, start-ups moved from launch to pre-seed in 16 months, from Pre-Seed to Seed in just 11 months, and from Seed to Series A in around 15 months. Between Series A and Series B, the typical 18–24-month rule largely held.
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This rapid cycle occurred because the market was overheated. Investors were eager and sometimes even pressured to deploy capital quickly for fear of missing out on strong opportunities. As a result, start-ups enjoyed higher valuations and greater bargaining power.
However, with the market slowdown that followed, the timelines have shifted dramatically. Since 2023, African start-ups have faced fundraising cycles that are 1.5 to 2 times longer than before. The journey from launch to Pre-Seed typically takes around two years, the same applies from pre-seed to seed. The Seed-to-Series A interval has stretched to about 2 years and 4 months, while raising a Series B now takes over three years from Series A.
Several factors contribute to this slowdown which include reduced capital availability, increased investor caution especially from those who were only casually investing in African markets, and the elevated valuations from the heatwave, which make follow-on conversations more difficult and often raise the specter of down rounds.
Partech General Partner Tidjane Deme in an interview with Semafor earlier this year, said that fewer investors are active in the current market, and the terms being offered have become far less attractive, resulting in longer negotiation periods. In his words, “There are less investors active in the market, the terms you find are much less attractive so negotiations take longer. Investors right now are trying to protect their downside, and founders are finding it difficult to take the more expensive and constraining terms.”
Crucially, this trend is not specific to Africa. Global comparisons confirm that extended fundraising timelines are a worldwide reality. A late-2024 analysis by Carta reported that the median interval between Seed and Series A had grown to 25 months—1.8 times longer than three years earlier. This aligns closely with Africa’s median of 28 months. Carta reported a 24-month gap between Series A and Series B, while Crunchbase estimates for a similar period reached 31 months, still in the same range, though slightly shorter than the 39-month interval observed in Africa.
The takeaway for founders is clear, extended fundraising cycles are now the global norm. Where “18–24 months” once guided planning, “2–3 years” has become the new reality. Understanding this shift is essential for strategic preparation, runway planning, and navigating the steadily evolving investment landscape.
