Kenya beats Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria as it rakes in Ksh.127 billion start-up funding

Approximately Ksh.127 billion ($984 million) was raised by Kenyan start-ups, accounting for 31% of funding channelled to Africa in 2025. Egypt followed with $614 million, South Africa with $599 million, and Nigeria got $343 million.

The study was conducted by the Nuvoni Centre of Innovation Research, the University of Wuppertal, the University of Oxford and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, showing 80% of start-up funding was concentrated in the four countries. 

Kenya’s Ksh.127 billion funding was a rise from Ksh.83.5 billion ($648 billion) in 2024. 

According to the survey, 82% of the funding was channelled to the top five Kenyan start-ups, including d.light, Sun King, M-Kopa, Burn and PowerGen.

The research further revealed that the Ecosystem breadth decreased in Kenya in 2025, with capital tilting towards a few mature, late-stage start-ups.

This left agri-tech startups receiving less than 10% of total startup investment, accounting for 6% of the Ksh.127 billion channelled to Kenya in 2025.

Nuvoni research notes that while agri-tech funding in Kenya is more evenly distributed across the agricultural value chain, the majority remains concentrated within financial services. This primarily entails products or credit specifically designed for smallholder farmers.

“Ecosystem findings from the end of 2023 reveal that 16% of agri-tech startup funding went to financial services, followed by 15% to energy infrastructure. Critical sectors receiving negligible investment, ranging from 1% to 2%, included manufacturing, skill development, water infrastructure, and end-of-life solutions,” said Nuvoni research. 

“These small percentages indicate stark underinvestment in addressing post-harvest losses, where innovations in manufacturing and end-of-life activities are crucial,” it added. 

As Kenya looks towards financial services, funding in Nigeria and Egypt was focused on production, while South Africa’s agri-tech funding focused on the retail sector.