By David Akinmola
Nigeria strengthened its position as Africa’s leading destination for startup investment in August, attracting $364.1 million, representing 83.7 per cent of the continent’s disclosed startup funding, as a handful of mega-deals drove a sharp rebound in venture capital inflows.
According to Nairametrics Research analysis of data from The Big Deal, African startups raised a combined $435.2 million across 32 deals during the month, representing a 325.8 per cent increase from the $102.2 million recorded in July.
The concentration of capital was particularly striking, with the continent’s top 10 deals accounting for $428 million, or 98.35 per cent of the total funding raised in August.
Nigeria’s performance was largely driven by a $250 million Series C funding round secured by Moove, the mobility technology company, alongside significant investments in Jumia, Yellow Card, Terra Industries and ThriveAgric.
The Moove transaction alone accounted for about 57.4 per cent of Africa’s total disclosed startup funding for the month, highlighting the growing influence of large-scale transactions on the continent’s venture capital market.
The funding surge is significant because it came despite a decline in the number of transactions. African startups recorded 47 deals in July, compared with 32 in August, indicating that the increase in funding value was driven predominantly by larger transactions rather than broader participation by startups.
Year-on-year, August’s funding also represented a major improvement. African startups raised $111.3 million in August 2025, meaning the latest figure represents an increase of about 291 per cent.
Nigeria’s $364.1 million was spread across 20 deals, placing the country substantially ahead of other major African startup markets. Egypt followed with $36.2 million across four deals, while South Africa attracted $31.6 million from four transactions.
Other markets recorded significantly smaller inflows, with Côte d’Ivoire attracting $1.5 million, Kenya $1 million and Uganda $800,000 during the month.
At the regional level, West Africa accounted for $365.6 million, or 84 per cent of the continent’s disclosed startup funding, with Nigeria contributing almost the entire amount.
The concentration of funding was also evident across sectors. Logistics and transportation attracted $263 million from just two deals, representing 60.43 per cent of total funding, largely because of Moove’s $250 million transaction.
Fintech followed with $87.7 million across eight deals, while retail attracted $51 million from two deals. Deeptech accounted for $19.5 million, while education and jobs, despite recording the highest number of deals among the smaller sectors, attracted only $9.6 million.
The major Nigerian transactions included Jumia’s $50 million equity raise, Yellow Card’s $40 million strategic funding round, Terra Industries’ $18 million financing and ThriveAgric’s $3.9 million debt funding.
Jumia secured the $50 million injection from its largest shareholder, Axian Telecom, and the International Finance Corporation, while Yellow Card attracted strategic investment from SC Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund, Polychain Capital and Blockchain Capital.
Terra Industries’ latest $18 million funding brought its total seed financing to $52 million, while ThriveAgric raised N5.3 billion through its first commercial paper issuance to finance commodity purchases and agricultural trading.
The August figures point to a stronger appetite for African technology businesses, but the heavy concentration of capital in a few mature companies also highlights the uneven distribution of venture funding across the ecosystem.
Data from The Big Deal similarly showed that Africa’s startups raised $455 million across 31 deals of at least $100,000 in August when measured on its broader methodology, with Moove’s $250 million round accounting for more than half of the month’s funding.
For Nigeria, the latest performance reinforces its position as the continent’s dominant startup investment hub, but the concentration of funding in a small number of companies suggests that access to growth capital remains considerably more difficult for early-stage ventures.
The challenge for the ecosystem, therefore, will be to convert the renewed investor interest and large transactions into broader capital access, stronger startup survival rates and sustainable technology businesses capable of scaling beyond Nigeria and the African market.
