16 venture capital firms in Africa actively funding startups in 2025

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A Venture Capital firm provides funding, strategic guidance, and other resources to startups with high growth potential, ranging from early-stage to later-stage companies. Unlike taking a loan, VC investments do not require repayment if the startup fails. Instead, VC firms take an equity stake in the company, meaning their returns depend on the startup’s success, incentivising VC firms to create the success of their portfolio startups.

VC firms typically raise capital from high-net-worth individuals, larger funds, and institutions like development finance institutions, using these funds to build a diverse portfolio of startups. Due to the potential for high returns, venture capital is a highly competitive funding source, with investors actively seeking out innovative businesses poised for rapid growth. Here are some of the active VC firms actively investing in African startups.

16 venture capital firms actively funding African startups in 2025

1. 54 Collective (Founders Factory Africa)

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: Despite the planned shutdown of its venture studio operations by April 30, 2025, following the conclusion of its partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, 54 Collective’s $40 million venture capital fund, UAF1, remains active and committed to investing in African startups. Website checks confirm recent investment activity in late 2024 and early 2025, including a partnership announcement with Carbin Africa in 2024. Notably, 54 Collective was recognised as Africa’s most active pre-seed investor for deals exceeding $100,000 in 2024, underscoring their continued significance in the early-stage funding landscape.

Primary Investment Focus: 54 Collective adopts a sector-agnostic approach, allowing them to invest in a diverse range of startups across various industries. Their primary focus is on pre-seed and seed-stage companies operating across Africa. This broad mandate enables them to identify and support promising ventures at their earliest stages, regardless of their sector.

2. Accion Venture Lab

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: Accion Venture Lab expanded its investment portfolio by investing in SUKHIBA, an AI-powered conversational commerce platform in Africa. The firm also co-invests with firms like Baobab Network, highlighting their collaborative role within the ecosystem.

Primary Investment Focus: Accion Venture Lab’s primary investment focus is on financial inclusion, targeting innovative startups that address the financial needs of underserved populations globally, with a significant emphasis on Africa. They typically invest in companies at the early and seed stages.

3. Ajim Capital

Summary of Investment Activities: Ajim Capital has actively deployed capital across 22 companies since its inception in 2022. This activity level positions them as a significant early-stage investor in the African tech landscape. While specific names of the 22 companies invested in during early 2025 were not detailed in the report by Weetracker, the sheer number of investments underscores their active role in funding African startups across various sectors.

Primary Investment Focus: Initially adopting an agnostic approach, Ajim Capital increasingly focuses on sectors such as B2B SaaS, HealthTech, PropTech, and Developer Tools, alongside their continued interest in the broader technology space. They typically invest in companies ranging from Early to Growth stages, with a geographical focus on Africa, particularly Kenya and Nigeria.

4. Aruwa Capital Management

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: Aruwa Capital Management is a female-founded and led growth equity impact investment company based in Lagos, Nigeria. They hosted a strategy retreat to refine their focus for the year and were featured in the PEVCA Nigeria 2024 Year-End Report. The firm also actively participated in the Demo Day of the Transitioning to Tech for Women Programme, underscoring its commitment to gender-lens investing. Additionally, they conducted strategy sessions with new and existing portfolio companies, indicating a hands-on approach to supporting their investments.

Primary Investment Focus: While their initial focus was relatively agnostic, they strongly emphasise gender-lens investing, supporting rapidly growing companies that provide essential goods and services to the female economy or are founded or co-founded by women. They invest across the early-stage, seed-stage, seed-to-growth, and Series A stages, primarily targeting Nigeria and the broader West African region.

Read More: Aruwa Capital, a female-led equity fund, has closed its first institutional fund, surpassing its $20 million target.

5. Capria Ventures

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: In March 2025, Capria Ventures announced its intention to invest between $1 and $3 million each in two more African Series A startups. This clear statement signals their active interest and availability of capital for growth-stage ventures in the African market.

Primary Investment Focus: Capria Ventures is an impact-driven venture capital firm focusing on key sectors such as fintech, agtech, HR tech/job tech, edtech, health tech, and B2B SaaS. Their primary investment stage is Series A, targeting companies in emerging markets, specifically Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt. This strategic focus allows them to support companies that have already demonstrated product-market fit and are ready to scale.

6. Catalyst Fund

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: While specific investment news for 2025 is not prominent, the Catalyst Fund has built a significant portfolio of 81 companies across 19 markets since its inception in 2015, strongly emphasising ventures in Africa.

Primary Investment Focus: The Catalyst Fund specialises in supporting early-stage startups in the agritech, cleantech, healthtech, and insurtech sectors, with a broader focus on technology solutions that promote climate adaptation and resilience in Africa. They typically provide pre-seed and seed-stage funding to emerging market companies with a significant African concentration.

7. DOB Equity

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: DOB Equity commenced 2025 with a strategic investment in Spouts International, a Ugandan company specialising in ceramic water filters. This investment, made in January 2025, marks the first under DOB Equity’s revised investment strategy, emphasising sustainable solutions and impact-driven ventures within the East African region.

Primary Investment Focus: DOB Equity’s investment focus centres on the agritech, edtech, and fintech sectors, mainly focusing on companies operating in East Africa. They typically provide funding to businesses in the early to growth stages. This regional and sector-specific approach allows them to build deep knowledge and provide tailored support to their portfolio companies.

You Might Also Like: DOB Equity shakeup as co-CEOs step down in leadership overhaul.

8. Flourish Ventures

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: Flourish Ventures has been an active investor in the African tech space in 2025, focusing on the Fintech and Mobility sectors. The firm backed MoneyHash, an Egyptian startup, and through its subsidiary Madica, made investments in Medikea (HealthTech), Motherbeing (Reproductive Health), and Pixii Motors (Clean Mobility). Key investments include MoneyHash in Egypt, which raised $5.2 million to scale its payments infrastructure, and the investments made by Madica in Medikea, Motherbeing, and Pixii Motors, although the specific amounts for these were not disclosed.

Primary Investment Focus: Flourish Ventures targets startups in the digital infrastructure, financial inclusion, fintech, and insurtech sectors. They typically invest in companies from the early to growth stages and have a global investment mandate, with a significant presence and activity in Africa. They focus on supporting the foundational technologies and business models that drive financial empowerment.

Related Post: Flourish Ventures wants to create systemic change and build fair African financial systems.

9. Future Africa

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: Future Africa’s accelerator program, Accelerate Africa, is actively running cohorts in 2025, supporting early-stage African founders. While the accelerator does not directly invest, the Future Africa Fund can make follow-on investments ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 in the most promising startups graduating from the program.

Primary Investment Focus: Future Africa adopts a sector-agnostic approach, focusing on identifying and supporting early-stage startups across various African industries. Their primary investment stages are pre-seed and seed, often reached through their accelerator program.

10. HoaQ:

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: In 2025, HoaQ VC solidified its commitment to the African startup ecosystem by transitioning from an angel investor syndicate to a dedicated venture capital fund, enabling more profound engagement with early-stage ventures. Their activities emphasised providing strategic guidance and access to valuable networks alongside financial capital. Recognising the dynamic funding landscape, HoaQ advocated for “blended capital” strategies, encouraging startups to explore diverse financing options. The firm also celebrated notable successes, achieving exits with Baseline, which was acquired by Cloudflare, and Raenest, which delivered a significant 600% net return. Although specific announcements of new investments made in 2025 are not readily availablel, their diverse portfolio indicates ongoing investment and support within the African tech ecosystem.

Primary Investment Focus: HoaQ VC focuses on early-stage technology and tech-enabled startups, particularly pre-seed and seed-stage startups. They target sectors critical to Africa’s economic development, including finTech, adtech, mobility, healthtech, logistics, data analytics, and AI. Geographically, their investment strategy is tailored towards startups building solutions for Africa and its diaspora, encompassing ventures based within the African continent and in key diaspora hubs like the UK and the USA. A key criterion for their investments is the potential to address substantial market opportunities, typically those exceeding a market size of $1 billion.

11. Launch Africa Ventures

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: Launch Africa Ventures continues to solidify its position as a leading pan-African VC fund, actively addressing the critical funding gap within the continent’s early-stage startup ecosystem. Their ongoing deployment of Fund II and the transition to a mezzanine structure for Fund III indicate sustained and evolving investment activity throughout 2025. They seek to bridge the gap between seed and Series A funding, a stage where many African startups face significant challenges.

Primary Investment Focus: Launch Africa Ventures maintains a sector-agnostic approach, but with a strong emphasis on B2B and B2B2C tech-enabled startups. While they have historically focused on sectors like fintech, marketplace, big data, healthtech, and logistics, they are increasingly exploring opportunities in cleantech, agritech, and AI/big data. This reflects their recognition of Africa’s unique challenges and the growing importance of these sectors. They primarily invest in companies at the early and seed stage, with typical initial investments ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 and potential follow-on investments up to $1 million. Their strategic approach prioritises achieving meaningful ownership stakes to maximise returns for their LPs.

Read More: “Most African companies don’t need VC” – Launch Africa’s Uwem Uwemakpan.

12. Norrsken22

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: Norrsken22 maintained an active investment pace in the African venture capital scene in 2025. The firm participated in an undisclosed funding round for Kapu, a Kenyan e-commerce platform, and co-led a $6.75 million round for Taager, an Egyptian social commerce platform. Additionally, they contributed to the $11 million funding secured by Raenest, a fintech company focused on cross-border payments.

Primary Investment Focus: Norrsken22 is a global impact fund dedicated to Africa, investing in commercially successful companies that contribute to positive societal impact. While their focus is relatively agnostic, they strongly invest in high-growth technology startups across various sectors. They typically invest in companies at the growth stage and seed-to-growth stages.

Notable Recent Investments in African Startups (2025): Their significant investments in Kapu, Taager, and Raenest demonstrate their commitment to backing promising ventures in key sectors like e-commerce and fintech across East and North Africa.

New Funds Targeting African Startups (2025): Although no new funds were launched in 2025, Norrsken22 completed the final close of its $205 million fund in November 2023, which is actively being deployed to support African startups in 2025.

13. Oui Capital

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: Oui Capital continues to be an active investor in the African startup ecosystem. In February 2025, the firm achieved a significant milestone by becoming one of Africa’s first venture capital firms to return a fund from its 2019 vintage, driven by a remarkable 53x return on its early $150,000 investment in Moniepoint.

Primary Investment Focus: Oui Capital is a technology-focused venture capital firm that invests in startups across Africa, ranging from early to growth stages. Their sector interests span a wide array of technology-driven businesses, reflecting their belief in the transformative power of innovation across the continent.

More on Our Capital – Oui Capital’s 2021 Deals: Quabbly, Clane, Aifluence, and More

14. Renew Capital

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: Renew Capital maintained its strategic focus on investing in early-stage African startups throughout 2025. The firm made notable investments in Sevi, a Kenyan fintech startup, and Dabchy, a Tunisian fashion e-commerce platform. The co-CEO of Renew Capital also expressed optimism regarding an anticipated increase in US venture capital activity in Africa during 2025.

Primary Investment Focus: Renew Capital supports innovative companies with high growth potential in e-commerce, health, and Logistics. They primarily invest at the seed stage, with an average investment of approximately $228,000. Their operations span sub-Saharan Africa, with established exchange hubs facilitating investment activities.

Notable Recent Investments in African Startups (2025): The investments in Sevi, a fintech company in Kenya, and Dabchy, a fashion e-commerce platform in Tunisia, illustrate their continued support for early-stage ventures across East and North Africa.

15. TLcom Capital

Summary of 2025 Investment Activities: TLcom Capital remains active in Africa’s venture capital ecosystem, recently closing its $154 million TIDE Africa II fund for early-stage startups. This milestone, achieved over two years, reinforces its commitment to funding high-growth tech companies despite a challenging investment landscape.

Primary Investment Focus: TLcom Capital invests primarily at the seed and Series A stages, with follow-up capital for growth-stage portfolio companies. While sector-agnostic, it has shown strong interest in Fintech, EdTech, and AgriTech. The firm operates across Africa, with offices in Lagos, London, and Nairobi.

Notable Recent Investments in African Startups (2025): The TIDE Africa II fund has already been deployed in South Africa and Egypt, backing LittleFish, a Cape Town-based software company enabling payment and banking products for SMBs, and ILLA, a Cairo-based middle-mile logistics company. TLcom has previously invested in notable African startups like Andela, Twiga Foods, uLesson, Vendease, and SeamlessHR.

New Funds Targeting African Startups (2025): TLcom Capital successfully closed TIDE Africa II at $154 million, nearly double the size of its previous fund. Investors include the European Investment Bank (EIB), Allianz, DEG Impact’s AfricaGrow, Visa Foundation, and Bertelsmann. With this fund, TLcom aims to invest in 20-25 startups and support female-founded tech startups, continuing its partnership with FirstCheck Africa.

16. Ventures Platform

Primary Investment Focus: Ventures Platform continues to invest across various sectors, including health, logistics, insurtech, autotech, SaaS, agritech, edtech, financial inclusion, and fintech. The firm predominantly targets startups at the pre-seed and seed stages, deploying over 90% of its previous funds at these early stages. Ventures Platform provides follow-on funding to promising startups where data supports further investment.

The firm’s investment strategy focuses on startups addressing critical challenges in Africa, such as limited access to healthcare, education, and financial services. While initially centred on Nigeria, Ventures Platform has expanded its reach with investments in key African markets, including Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, and Francophone West Africa.

Recent Investments and Geographic Expansion (2025): Ventures Platform has actively broadened its investment scope beyond Nigeria, reinforcing its goal of becoming a pan-African investor. The firm has backed startups in 12 non-Nigerian markets, including South Africa, Zambia, and Egypt, focusing on Francophone West Africa. It views this region as a “lake strategy”—targeting startups that can dominate niche markets and rapidly scale across neighbouring countries.

Recent investments have followed this expansion strategy, with startups in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and Cameroon receiving funding. Ventures Platform believes these markets present easier paths to exit due to interest from French corporations seeking acquisitions. One such investment was in Tanel, a health insurance startup based in Senegal.

Notable Portfolio Companies: Ventures Platform has built an impressive portfolio of African startups, including Piggyvest, Remedial Health, OmniRetail, and Union54. The firm was also an early backer of Paystack, which Stripe acquired for over $200 million in 2020. These investments highlight Ventures Platform’s ability to identify high-growth startups with strong unit economics.

Final Thoughts:

The venture capital environment in Africa in 2025 is characterised by dynamism and robust activity, with a wide array of firms actively backing innovative startups across the continent. The 16 firms in this report represent a diverse mix of pan-African and regionally focused investors, each with unique sector interests and investment strategies. Their collective efforts are pivotal in shaping African technology and entrepreneurship trajectories. As the year progresses, further investment activity and the emergence of new influential players are anticipated, reinforcing Africa’s growing significance as a global frontier for innovation and investment.

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