African Market Witnesses Active Venture Capital Involvement from Launch Africa, Techstars, and 54 Collective in the First Half of 2024
In the vibrant world of African tech startups, several key players have been making waves in the first half of 2024. According to a report by Africa the Big Deal, a leading Africa-focused tech startup analytics firm, the investment landscape has shown some interesting shifts.
Leading the charge is Launch Africa, a Pan-African venture capital (VC) fund. With 12 deals under its belt, Launch Africa was the most active VC during H1 2024. The fund, which raised over $36 million and has already invested $31 million in 133 startups across 22 countries, is addressing the funding gap in Seed and pre-Series A investments across Africa.
Techstars, a leading pre-seed venture capital firm, ranked second on the list of most active investors in Africa during H1 2024. With nine deals, Techstars represents a significant portion of its total deals in the first half of 2023, accounting for 32% of the 28 deals closed during that period.
54 Collective (formerly Founders Factory Africa) was also among the active investors on the continent, involved in seven deals during H1 2024. The rebranding of 54 Collective reflects its ambition to offer local startups a more global outlook, empowering entrepreneurs across Africa through a dynamic investment strategy and hands-on venture support.
Catalyst Fund, a thesis-driven VC fund and accelerator, was also active, with seven deals during the first half of 2024. The fund, primarily composed of ex-founders, has spent over 400 hours working directly with its portfolio founders to accelerate their growth.
Other notable investors, such as Ventures Platform and Norrsken, which averaged more than one deal per month in 2023, have been less active in H1 2024. Renew Capital, headquartered in Addis Ababa, has bucked this trend, having already exceeded its 2023 performance with seven deals in 2024.
Y Combinator, having completed 12 deals in 2023, remains on track to match that figure this year. DFC and Baobab Network have also surpassed their 2023 deal count during the first half of 2024.
However, the number of investors participating in deals worth $100,000 or more has seen a significant decline. While 286 investors participated in at least one such deal during H1 2024, this is a drop from the 393 investors involved in the same period last year and the 698 VCs that participated in the first half of 2022.
This review provides a snapshot of the investment landscape in African tech startups during H1 2024. As the year progresses, it will be interesting to see how these trends evolve and which players continue to shape the landscape.
