Investing in African Startups

For decades, the investment model in Africa has been simple: extract resources, export profits, leave almost nothing behind. Mining companies strip the land. Big agriculture takes the yield. Foreign capital flows in, and the returns flow straight back out to London, New York, and Dubai. The continent has often been treated as a balance sheet to be optimised, not a place where people are trying to build lives. We opened our Cape Town office about two years ago. I'll be honest - when we first set it up, my thinking was mostly operational - better time zone coverage, that sort of thing. But having a team on the ground in Africa means that we also have a real responsibility to do something other than extract. GoCab is a good example of what that can look like. It's a London-based startup that sells vehicles to taxi drivers and couriers across Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, and Morocco. Drivers pay daily instalments over 3 years, with maintenance and insurance included. At the end, the car is theirs. Before GoCab, most of these drivers had no path to ownership. They leased from hire companies, built zero equity, and owned nothing no matter how many years they worked. Now they're earning around $500 a month - roughly 4x the local minimum wage. Once the car is paid off, net monthly income can exceed $1,000. GoCab has over 120 staff across 5 countries, $17m in annual recurring revenue, and just closed a $45m round. Forbes covered it this week - link in the comments. I'm also pleased to share that the USD Income Fund at Cur8 Capital also deploys into this opportunity. Capital from our investors flows into a financing facility, which flows into a vehicle, which flows into a driver's hands in Abidjan - who then feeds his family, hires his cousin, and starts building real wealth for the first time. That is what ethical investing in Africa could look like. Not extraction. Capital that builds something and leaves people better off than it found them, and also generates a decent return for investors. If you're interested in learning more about investing into the USD Income Fund, the link is in the comments alongside the Forbes piece. As always, please keep me and rest of the Cur8 team in your prayers 🤲

📉 Africa’s startup funding didn’t crash. It changed pace. The 2024 Africa Investment Report from Briter breaks down where the money is going, what’s being left behind, and how founders are getting funded when traditional VC pulls away. Here are my key takeaways: 🔶 Disclosed funding hit $2.8B, but half of all deals had no public figures. What looks like a decline may only reflect what’s visible. 🔶 Only seven companies crossed the $100M mark. The rest of the market is moving toward smaller rounds tied to specific themes or sectors. 🔶 Fintech still brings in the most capital, but other sectors are catching up. Climate, mobility, agtech and education are being backed with different kinds of money—mostly grants and debt. 🔶 EVs pulled in more funding than any fintech product in 2024. That’s not because of hype. It’s because asset-heavy models attract lenders, not equity. 🔶 Mid-stage deals are fading. The $500K to $2M bracket is thinning out fast, and there’s no obvious replacement yet. 🔶 Accelerators now play a bigger role than most VCs. They’re where DFIs and donors are routing early capital, especially in high-impact sectors. 🔶 Most of the funding in climate, agriculture and health isn’t commercial. It’s concessional, or structured for policy outcomes, not exits. 🔶 Less than 0.5% of all disclosed capital went to women-only teams. Deal count is rising, but ticket size and follow-on support are still missing. 🔶 Over 75% of funders are based outside Africa. When global risk appetite drops, that becomes a real structural vulnerability. This year is a different funding system with new gatekeepers, different instruments, and a tighter path to scale. #AfricaStartups #ImpactCapital #couchonomics #VC #futureoffinance #payments #fintech #embeddedfinance #digitalassets #futureofmoney NORBr Onalytica Favikon ⁠Global Finance & Technology Network Thinkers360 - ⁠- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 👍 Hit like ♻️ Share it with your network 📢 Drop a comment 🎙️ Check out my podcast Couchonomics with Arjun on YouTube 📖 Get my weekly newsletter on LinkedIn: Couchonomics Crunch 🕺💃 In the MENA region? Join our Fintech Tuesdays community. 🤝 Let's connect! - ⁠- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The most important signal in #Africa's start-up funding story right now is stability... Since Aug 2025, Africa’s 12-month rolling start-up funding has sat in a tight band around $3.1b (±$90m). After the 'heatwave' peak and the long 'winter' comedown, that kind of consistency is rare — it suggests the market has found a baseline, rather than just bouncing off a low. And it’s not just the dollars. The rolling number of ventures clearing meaningful thresholds has also stayed steady: ~211 ventures raising $1m+ (±5) ~65 ventures raising $10m+ (±4) In plain terms: the ecosystem has found a cruising speed, a “repeatable” run-rate where outcomes are less driven by a handful of mega-rounds. But this “new normal” is made of different ingredients. Pre-heatwave, the market was overwhelmingly an equity story. Today, debt is a real pillar: in the current plateau it represents roughly two-fifths of funding (39% ±3%), with equity ~$1.8b (±$125m) and debt ~$1.2b (±$125m) on a 12-month rolling basis. Why does it matter? Because it changes the centre of gravity: > Business models with predictable revenues start to look disproportionately advantaged. > Underwriting-friendly sectors (and founders who can show control + visibility) may get access to capital earlier. > And the market may tilt toward downside protection as much as upside narratives. So the 2026 question isn’t so much “When does the heatwave return?” It’s: "Who benefits from this new structure?" Does a more credit-influenced funding stack accelerate durable scale-ups — or does it quietly narrow the path for riskier, longer-horizon bets? Where do you think the next cycle concentrates: venture-style breakouts, or credit-compatible scale-ups? #Africa #Startups #VentureCapital #PrivateCredit #DebtFinancing #Investment #EmergingMarkets

Does traditional venture capital work for African SMEs? Most investors expect startups to scale fast and exit within a decade. But in Africa, exits are rare, and short-term funding models don’t align with long-term economic growth. This is the gap that 'Luni' Libes is tackling with Africa Eats. Instead of chasing quick returns, he’s building a sustainable investment model designed for patient capital and real impact. His approach? Holding equity indefinitely. Instead of forcing companies to sell, Africa Eats provides long-term funding, hands-on support, and access to public markets so African agribusinesses can scale at their own pace. In my latest newsletter, inspired by my recent Unlocking Africa Podcast interview with Luni Libes, I break down the key pieces of insight from his unique approach. Key takeaways from our conversation: ➡️ Forget the 10-year exit. African SMEs need capital that grows with them, not capital that pressures them to sell. ➡️ Public stock markets can fund SMEs. SEMX, a new segment on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius, is unlocking liquidity for high-growth businesses. ➡️ Supply chain inefficiencies are the real problem. By cutting out middlemen, Africa Eats has reduced post-harvest losses from 30-40% to just 3-5%. This isn’t just about investing; it’s about reshaping food systems so that they are more sustainable, scalable, and profitable. Want the full insights from our conversation? 📩 Read the full blog & subscribe by clicking the link in the comments below! #ImpactInvesting #SMEGrowth #Agribusiness #Entrepreneurship #Podcast #PodcastHost #Newsletter

TymeBank (South Africa) and Moniepoint (Nigeria) have achieved unicorn status with valuations of $1.5 billion and over $1 billion, respectively, by blending digital banking with physical touchpoints. This hybrid model caters to Africa’s 90% cash-based economy and unbanked populations, overcoming barriers like unreliable internet and low trust in online-only systems. Together, these fintechs now serve over 25 million users, redefining what scaling financial inclusion looks like in emerging markets. SO WHAT TymeBank's partnership with supermarkets like Pick n Pay has enabled the deployment of over 1,000 kiosks and 15,000 retail points across South Africa, allowing it to grow to 15 million users. Moniepoint’s 200,000 agents, acting as human ATMs, bridge the gap in Nigeria, where only 16 ATMs per 100,000 adults exist, supporting over 10 million users. Both companies are expanding into Asia and broader African markets, leveraging $360 million in recent funding rounds to replicate their models. A digital-only strategy, like that pursued by Kuda (valued at $500 million), may be more scalable in regions with higher internet penetration and digital trust. However, it risks limiting market reach in areas where 43% or fewer have reliable connectivity. Think about it this way: the hybrid model embraces complexity to unlock growth in underserved regions. Could a hybrid approach redefine banking for other industries or regions, or is this model uniquely suited to Africa’s fintech challenges? What’s your take on scaling such a model sustainably? #fintech

2025 African VC Predictions - Time to share what I'm seeing After spending years investing across Africa, here are my predictions for 2025. Would love to hear your thoughts: 1. We're going to see the full impact of the funding winter. Several well-known African startups will shut down or get acquired at massive discounts. Especially watching the fintech space. 2. Pan-African funds are finally specializing. The "spray and pray" era is over. Expect dedicated climate tech, agritech, and infrastructure funds. We can't all just do fintech anymore. 3. International VCs are coming back, but smarter this time. They'll partner with local funds instead of trying to lead. Keep an eye on Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds - they're going to be everywhere in North, West and East Africa. 4. Corporate VC is about to boom. Major African telcos and banks are launching venture arms. They're hunting for B2B startups that can actually help their core business. 5. Forget IPOs - 2025 is all about M&A. Expecting at least three $100M+ acquisitions. Large African corporations are ready to buy, and international players want in. 6. The "Big Four" (Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, SA) won't be the only game in town. Rwanda and Morocco are building serious tech ecosystems. Their governments get it. 7. Infrastructure is the new sexy. Power, logistics, digital infrastructure startups will raise bigger rounds than consumer apps. About time. 8. Local institutional money is finally showing up. Pension funds and insurance companies are getting ready to play. This changes everything for early-stage funding. 9. AI in Africa won't look like AI in Silicon Valley. Watch for companies solving real African problems - agricultural yields, local language processing, healthcare for low-resource settings. 10. We'll see our first $5B African startup. But plot twist: it won't be a fintech. 11. The talent story is changing. Instead of losing our best to Europe and America, they're staying. Remote work and competitive local packages are making it possible to build global careers from Africa. I've never been more bullish on African tech. Yes, 2024 was tough. But 2025 is when we start building real businesses, not just chasing growth. What am I missing? What are you seeing in your market? #AfricanTech #VentureCapital #StartupAfrica #Tech2025

The Rise of African Family Offices! “Africa doesn’t need more venture capital — it needs more patient family capital.” For too long, Africa’s investment narrative has been dominated by venture capital — chasing quick exits, high returns, and fast growth. But Africa’s greatest opportunities aren’t found in short-term plays. They’re built through patient, purpose-driven capital that stays long enough to shape industries, empower entrepreneurs, and create generational impact. 💼 VC vs Family-Office Capital Venture Capital: ⚡ Short-term, exit-driven, milestone obsessed. 💸 External LPs, 5-10 year horizons, rapid scaling. Family Offices: 🌍 Long-term, values-driven, intergenerational. 🏗 Built for stewardship, legacy, and real-world impact. In Africa, this shift matters — because building industries like energy, agriculture, healthcare, education, and infrastructure takes decades, not funding rounds. 🧭 Fio Capital’s Approach At Fio Capital, we’ve adopted a buy-and-hold philosophy. We invest patient family capital into core impact industries — creating jobs, driving inclusion, and building sustainable African enterprises. We don’t just invest in Africa. We invest with Africa — alongside founders and families who share a vision of conscious, generational wealth creation. 🌱 From Wealth Preservation to Impact Creation A mature family office isn’t just about protecting assets — it’s about preserving purpose. Wealth without wisdom fades. Stewardship ensures legacy. Africa’s next generation of family offices is redefining success — not in terms of ROI alone, but in return on impact, return on integrity, and return on community. 🏆 5 African Family Offices to Watch 1️⃣ Heirs Holdings (Nigeria) — Tony Elumelu’s family office driving investments in power, finance, and healthcare. 2️⃣ Tengen Family Office (Nigeria) — founded by Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede & Herbert Wigwe, focused on long-term value creation. 3️⃣ Oppenheimer Generations (South Africa) — Nicky & Jonathan Oppenheimer’s vehicle, investing in sustainability and African industry. 4️⃣ Dangote Family Office (Nigeria) — Aliko Dangote’s global expansion vehicle for African industrial growth. 5️⃣ Mary Oppenheimer Daughters (South Africa / UK) — diversified investments across private equity and real assets. Do you believe family offices should take a more active role in building Africa’s industries — beyond just preserving wealth? 👉 Comment your view below — or tag a family-office leader shaping the continent’s next chapter.

Startups are not just dying in Africa. They’re being buried with their brilliance. These are not bad ideas. Not poor teams. Not even weak tech. They’re world-class founders with clear market fits… Failing anyway. And that’s what makes this moment so dangerous. Like many, I love a good success story. But I also follow projects like Startup Graveyard Africa and lately, it’s starting to feel like a memorial wall for some of the continent’s most ambitious ideas. Promising startups. Smart solutions. Strong teams. Still, dead. The reasons are deeper than funding alone. Some blame scared capital. Some blame broken economies. But here’s the hard truth… 👉🏽 We’ve been playing a game that wasn’t designed for us. We’ve imported the Silicon Valley playbook —Blitzscaling. It worked in the U.S. because the system was already built: 1. Power. 2. Broadband. 3. Credit systems. 4. Regulation. They only needed to build the product. But in Africa? We’re often building the market itself. We face what Harvard calls “institutional voids.” No intermediaries. No trust rails. No guaranteed systems to scale on. We’re not blitz-scaling. We’re bridge-building. That’”s why our best founders are choosing a different path. Not quick fixes. Not localized clones. They’re solving coordination problems at the root. They’re building infrastructure that lets other businesses thrive. Take Moove for instance. They didn’t just offer vehicles. They created alternative credit scoring for the unbanked, enabling gig drivers to own assets, earn income, and plug into global platforms like Uber and Bolt. That’s not a product. That’s a system unlock. Across the continent, our most successful startups share two core traits: 1. They enable two-sided network effects, connecting fragmented ecosystems. 2. They tackle infrastructure/institutional problems at their roots, not just surface-level solutions. They’re building new roads where none existed. Not speed-racing on highways someone else paved. So maybe the real question isn’t “why are startups failing?”   It’s: Are we solving the real problem? Or are we just replicating playbooks that never fit our context? If you’re a founder, investor, or ecosystem enabler: What game are you playing? Are you building a business, or building a market? Let’s talk. Drop your thoughts below.

After reviewing more pitch decks these past few days, I see African fintech founders are still flogging the dead horse that is "banking the unbanked" as a lazy fundraising pitch. From Yaounde to Cape Town, it’s the same story, another mobile wallet, payments app, another promise to bring financial inclusion to the masses. Truth is: most Africans are not unbanked because they lack access; they’re unbanked because they lack income. A new app won’t change that. The Brutal Truth Lack of Disposable Income – People don’t need more fintech solutions; they need more money. Without increased economic productivity, most “financial inclusion” solutions remain useless. Broken Unit Economics – Many fintechs rely on unsustainable VC fueled growth, acquiring “users” who don’t generate revenue. Regulatory Capture & Infrastructure Gaps – Governments protect banks and telcos dominate mobile money. The real bottlenecks are systemic, not just about "access." Startups often underestimate how slow, expensive, and political it is to scale across markets. Real Problems & Better Solutions Income-Generating Fintech – Instead of just moving money, fintech should help people make money. Platforms enabling gig work, SME financing, and export-focused businesses can drive real financial inclusion. A fintech that helps informal traders access larger markets, rather than just helping them "save." Decentralized Credit & Alternative Lending – Traditional credit models don’t work in Africa. Instead: Use supply chain data, mobile behavior, and transaction flows to build more dynamic credit models. Integrate fintech into cooperative lending structures like tontines or village savings groups, where trust already exists. B2B Payments & Trade Infrastructure – Cross-border trade needs work, killing SME growth. Fix it: Build better escrow and invoice financing tools that help African businesses transact across borders securely. Verticalized Fintech in High-Impact Sectors – Fintech should power real economic activity, not just payments. Agritech fintech: Give farmers access to dynamic pricing, supply chain finance, and better insurance. Healthcare fintech: Enable embedded payments and credit for medical services, helping people afford care without predatory loans. Logistics fintech: Provide financing for truckers, warehousing solutions, and real-time supply chain support. Infrastructure-First Fintech – If power, internet, & ID verification are problems, solve those first. Payments without stable connectivity? Build USSD-based financial services. Weak credit infrastructure? Build platforms that help lenders pool risk and share credit data across borders. The era of cheap fundraising gimmicks is over. African fintech must shift from vanity metrics to real impact, solving income generation, trade inefficiencies, and credit access at scale. I'm tired of saying this, founders who build with these in mind won’t need to beg for funding; investors will come looking for them.

It was an absolute joy to host 80+ African Fund Managers & LPs at my house last week for a conversation on the Future of African Fund Structures (and a few drinks while watching the sunset :). Working with these incredibly wise and resilient women and men is a true honor (and a lot of fun!). The evening closed out a four-week stretch of discussions across multiple countries — all circling around a core question: Is the traditional 10 + 1 + 1, 2/20, equity-only fund model actually fit for African markets? As you can probably guess, the short answer is not really. And thanks to the work of Alyune-Blondin Diop, Desirée Pettersson, Diego A. & Kartik Sharma we now have the data to prove it. Their powerful new whitepaper synthesizes insights from 50+ fund managers, deep interviews, and months of working sessions. I loved getting to convene several conversations with Alyune. Based on the whitepaper, we focused on four structural misalignments define African VC today: • Timelines: 60% of funds run 10-year models, but African companies often need 13–17 years to mature. • Capital Mismatch: Most startups are “phygital,” yet >70% of deals rely on pure equity, forcing founders to dilute just to finance operations. • Liquidity: 58% of GPs say fewer than a quarter of their companies have a clear path to exit; 40% of portfolios contain “zombies.” • Incentives: 2/20 + European waterfalls delay carry for 15–17 years and underfund the real operational work. From our discussions: African GPs overwhelmingly want longer funds — but timelines alone aren’t enough. We need to redesign everything: fee models, deployment rhythms, liquidity tools, deal structures, and the capital stack itself. LPs shared a crucial reminder: GPs must make a value-based case for alternative designs — not just ask for more time, but articulate how new structures create more value for both companies and investors. Hard work, yes. But collective work makes the lift lighter. 🚀 Emerging models already taking shape: • Evergreen + 13–15 year funds • Blended equity/debt and revenue-based instruments • Continuation vehicles & structured exits • Venture studios and ESO-linked funds • Corporate & institution-linked VC 🔮 Key insight: When asked what they’d build with a supportive anchor LP, African fund managers didn’t converge — they diversified: evergreen vehicles, dual equity/debt structures, venture studios, local-currency funds, deal-by-deal carry, copy-cat replication models, and more. Africa doesn’t need one new VC model. It needs a portfolio of fund architectures built for its market realities. I genuinely believe this is where collective action matters. When we build these arguments together, we make the lift lighter for individual GPs. And I will continue advocating for more openness to “non-traditional” structures. I truly believe we can do this. If you'd like to join us, the link to the Innovative Finance initiative is in the comments!