Venture Capital in Africa Report (March 2025) (AVCA)

Summary

• Africa's venture ecosystem raised US$3.6bn across 487 deals in 2024, including US$1.0 billion of venture debt.p.3
• The median venture capital deal size rose to US$2.5 million in 2024 (+32% YoY), while 427 venture capital deals were recorded across US$2.6 billion in disclosed value.p.4
• Venture debt was the only funding segment to record annual growth, closing 60 deals worth US$1 billion, a 3% increase by both volume and value.p.5
• Global venture funding reached US$314 billion across 23,000+ deals in 2024, up slightly from US$305 billion in 2023.p.8
• African venture funding fell 28% YoY by value, and the US$2.6 billion raised brought Africa's share of global venture funding to less than 1%.p.11
• 8 super-sized deals raised a cumulative US$1.3 billion, and venture capital funds reaching a final close in 2024 totalled US$736 million, an increase of 41% YoY.p.3
• Financials accounted for six of Africa's eight super-sized deals, capturing US$984 million.p.23

Key insights

1. Africa secured 487 deals in 2024, of which 427 were venture capital and 60 were venture debt.p.13
2. The 2024 deal tally represented only 81% of the deals struck in 2023 and 57% of those in 2022.p.13
3. Venture debt made up just 12% of deal volume but 37% of deal value in 2024.p.14
4. Late-stage deals numbered 7 (down 22% YoY) worth US$813 million (down 18% YoY), with the median deal size rising from US$75 million in 2023 to US$100 million.p.17
5. The average Seed to Series A transition fell from 25 months in the 2015-2017 cohort to 14 months in the 2021-2023 cohort.p.20
6. 55% of venture capital deal volume and 64% of deal value in 2024 went to startups headquartered in the Big 4 markets.p.29
7. African startups posted median Series B and Series C deal sizes of US$29 million and US$38 million, above global averages of US$21 million and US$35 million.p.11
8. Super-sized deals of US$100 million or more accounted for 36% (US$1.3 billion) of Africa's total funding in 2024, with 8 companies securing them versus 10 in 2023.p.22
9. Moniepoint closed a US$110 million Series C and TymeBank a US$250 million Series D, both reaching unicorn status.p.5
10. 26 VC-backed exits took place in 2024, with a median holding time of 3.2 years.p.3