African Startups Raise $174m in January 2026 as Trend Extends for Fourth Year

By Adedapo Adesanya

African startups raised a total of $174 million in January 2026, according to the latest data released by Africa: The Big Deal, the platform that tracks all startup funding across the continent.

The platform, which considers disclosed deals of $100,000 and above, showed that the figure represents a sharp slowdown compared with January 2025, when startups raised $276 million, and is also well below the $263 million monthly average recorded over the previous 12 months.

However, the funding levels remain higher than in January 2023 at $106 million and in January 2024 at $85 million.

The data revealed that only 26 startups announced funding rounds of at least $100,000 in the review month, pointing to caution among investors.

This is just above half of the monthly average over the past year and significantly below the number of deals recorded in January 2025.

Based on this, January 2026 marks the lowest monthly tally since at least 2020, highlighting how selective capital deployment into African startups has become as investors prioritise fewer, larger, and often later-stage bets.

“Actually, a MoM dip between December and January is something the ecosystem’s already experienced in 2023, 2024 and 2025,” according to The Big Deal.

The data showed that Egypt-based fintech valU emerged as the top fundraiser after securing $64 million in debt financing from the National Bank of Egypt (NBE).

Nigeria’s mobility financing startup MAX followed, raising $24 million through a mix of equity and asset-backed debt, while Terra Industries raised $11.75 million in the defence sector, to further step up its infrastructure and bet on expansion.

NowPay, an Egyptian fintech, raised $20 million, Moroccan proptech startup Yakeey came in with a $15 million Series A,  and Côte d’Ivoire-based fintech Cauridor raised $3.5 million in seed funding to enhance its payment infrastructure, support expansion efforts, and strengthen its presence in new markets.

There were three noteworthy announcements in January: Flutterwave acquired Mono in Nigeria for around $30 million in an all-stock deal; Commit acquired tech talent start-up Savannah; and Izili Group acquired Qotto, a company specialising in off-grid solar solutions operating in Benin and Burkina Faso. The transaction expands Izili’s footprint to six African countries and strengthens its position in rural and off-grid electricity access.