Total venture funding for African startups in 2020 so far has passed the $500m mark. This is according to Maxime Bayen, a company builder at GreenTec Capital, a German but African-focused investment firm.
Bayen carries out surveys on investments secured by African startups. However, most of his reports only contain deals of $1 million or more.
In the first quarter of 2020, Bayen reported that 35 African startups had raised over $340 million.
Similarly, Briter Bridges, a tech ecosystem data intelligence consultancy, reported figures akin to Bayen’s. For the first quarter of 2020, Briter Bridges reported that African startups raised approximately $350m. This is significantly higher than $300m, the amount reported by the consultancy in Q1 2019.
Also, the top four countries included South Africa with $112m; Nigeria, $74m; Kenya, $62m; and Egypt, $51m. These countries also received the lion share of Africa’s funding in 2019.