African tech startup investment falls 28% to $2.4 billion in 2023 as global “funding winter” begins to bite

The African tech startup ecosystem experienced a notable decline in total investment in 2023, with a 27.8 percent decrease to reach US$2.4 billion. This decline was attributed to the global capital shortage, which started impacting the continent during the mentioned year.

The information comes from the ninth edition of the African Tech Startups Funding Report, an annual report released by Disrupt Africa, a startup news and research portal. The report, part of an open-sourcing initiative in collaboration with Flourish Ventures, AAIC Investment, and Atlantica Ventures, revealed that 406 startups secured a combined total of US$2.4 billion throughout 2023.

Despite the decrease in funding compared to the impressive 2022, where the total funding exceeded US$3 billion for the first time, 2023 still marked the third-best year on record in terms of funded ventures. The number of funded ventures saw a significant decrease of 35.9 percent, dropping from 633 in 2022 to 406 in 2023. Despite this decline, the total capital secured remained the second-highest on record.