…Moove, Flutterwave, Jumia, Yellow Card Attract 69% Of Nigerian inflows
Nigerian startups attracted $635m in funding between January and September 2026, representing an increase of about 157 per cent from the $247m recorded in the corresponding period of 2025, as the country regained its position as Africa’s leading startup investment destination.
The latest report, compiled by ‘The Big Deal’, a platform that tracks African startups raising at least $100,000, represent Nigeria’s highest startup funding total for the first nine months of a year since 2022.
Nigeria’s performance contrasted sharply with declining investments in other major African startup markets, particularly Kenya and South Africa, where funding fell by 73 per cent and 58 per cent to $201m and $182m, respectively.
Egypt ranked second behind Nigeria, attracting $445m during the nine-month period, an increase of 10 per cent from the previous year.
Nigeria accounted for 37 per cent of funding raised by startups headquartered in individual African countries, excluding pan-African ventures.
This was the country’s highest share of the continent’s startup funding since 2021.
The figures highlight a significant recovery in Nigeria’s technology investment landscape following a period in which funding activity across Africa’s startup ecosystem was affected by tighter investment conditions and greater scrutiny of businesses seeking external capital.
However, the increase was driven substantially by a handful of large transactions, raising questions about the extent to which the funding rebound is benefiting smaller businesses and early-stage entrepreneurs.
Four companies-Moove, Flutterwave, Jumia and Yellow Card, accounted for $440m, or approximately 69 per cent, of Nigeria’s total startup funding during the period.
Moove, a mobility fintech company, raised $250m, while payments technology company Flutterwave secured $100m.
E-commerce company Jumia attracted $50m, while cryptocurrency infrastructure firm Yellow Card raised $40m.
The concentration of funding among these companies suggests that although Nigeria has regained its lead in attracting investment, the headline figure does not necessarily reflect an equally strong improvement in access to capital across the broader startup ecosystem.
Nevertheless, the number of Nigerian startups raising at least $100,000 increased to 77 in the first nine months of 2026, compared with 70 in the corresponding period of 2025.
Nigeria was the only country among Africa’s four largest startup markets to record an increase in the number of funded ventures, providing evidence that the recovery extended beyond the largest transactions.
The country’s performance also comes amid a shift in the distribution of startup investments across Africa, with logistics and transport overtaking financial technology as the continent’s largest recipient of funding.
According to Africa: The Big Deal, logistics and transport startups attracted $780m between January and September 2026, compared with $760m for fintech companies.
The logistics and transport sector accounted for 36 per cent of total startup funding during the period, its highest share for any January-to-September period since the platform began tracking the market.
The sector’s performance was largely driven by major transactions involving electric motorcycle company Spiro and mobility fintech firm Moove.
Spiro raised $345 million, while Moove secured $250m, bringing their combined funding to $595m.
Without the two transactions, logistics and transport startups would have raised approximately $185m, a figure broadly in line with previous years, according to the funding tracker.
Moove’s $250m fundraising was particularly significant for Nigeria, contributing substantially to the country’s return to the top of the African startup funding table.
Fintech, despite losing its position as the largest sector by funding value, retained the lead in the number of startups securing at least $100,000, with 80 ventures raising capital during the period.
The changing funding distribution reflects the growing influence of large transactions on sectoral rankings and highlights the importance of distinguishing between aggregate investment figures and the number of businesses benefiting from available capital.
Beyond Nigeria, the distribution of investment across the continent remained heavily concentrated in the largest startup markets.
Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa accounted for 85 per cent of funding raised by startups headquartered in individual African countries, excluding pan-African ventures, compared with 83 per cent in the first nine months of 2025.
Startups outside the four leading markets raised $260m across 106 ventures in 19 countries, representing a 29 per cent decline from the corresponding period of 2025, when 133 ventures across 22 countries secured funding.
The figures underscore the uneven nature of startup investment across Africa, where a relatively small number of countries and companies continue to attract a substantial proportion of available capital.
In Nigeria, the challenge will be to translate the increase in funding into a broader and more sustainable investment market, particularly for early-stage businesses that may struggle to compete with established companies for large financing rounds.
The funding data also revealed significant disparities across sectors, with energy and healthcare startups recording sharp declines despite the overall improvement in Nigeria’s investment position and the strong performance of logistics and transport businesses.
Across Africa, energy startups raised $187m in the first nine months of 2026, down 74 per cent from $721m in the corresponding period of 2025.
The sector accounted for nine per cent of total startup funding, its lowest share since 2021, following a record performance in 2025 when energy businesses represented 32 per cent of funding during the first nine months.
Healthcare funding fell by an even larger margin, declining 88 per cent to $21m across 35 ventures, compared with $178m in the same period of 2025.
The amount was the lowest recorded for the January-to-September period since Africa: The Big Deal began tracking startup funding in 2019.
Meanwhile, climate technology accounted for 35 per cent of total African startup funding, compared with 39 per cent in 2025.
The category spans several industries, including energy and mobility, and therefore overlaps with other sector classifications.
The funding trends indicate that the overall performance of Africa’s startup market is increasingly being shaped by the size and distribution of individual transactions, with some sectors benefiting from major capital injections while others experience significant declines.
The figures also highlight persistent funding disparities affecting women-founded businesses.
Startups with at least one woman co-founder accounted for 28 per cent of ventures that raised at least $100,000 during the first nine months of 2026, representing 86 companies.
However, they received only 8.9 per cent of total funding, compared with 8.5 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025.
The median funding round for startups with at least one woman co-founder was $240,000, less than one-third of the $750,000 median recorded for startups with at least one man co-founder.
Businesses with women-only founding teams raised a combined $16m, representing less than one per cent of total funding during the period.
The data suggest that the concentration of investment in large transactions may further limit access to capital for businesses that typically secure smaller funding rounds.
For startups led by women chief executives, total funding reached $115m, representing 5.4 per cent of overall funding, compared with 2.7 per cent a year earlier.
However, much of the increase was attributable to a $74 million fundraising by Odyssey Energy Solutions in September.
Without that transaction, the share of funding going to startups with a woman chief executive would have been closer to two per cent.
The number of startups with a woman chief executive that raised at least $100,000 fell to 46 from 64 in the corresponding period of 2025, marking the lowest January-to-September figure since 2021.
Looking ahead, African startups will need to raise an additional $1bn in the fourth quarter of 2026 to surpass the $3.2bn recorded in 2025, according to Africa: The Big Deal.
The target remains achievable, although it would require funding activity to exceed the $930m raised in the fourth quarter of last year.
The outlook for equity funding is comparatively stronger, with an additional $466m required to surpass the $1.9bn recorded in 2025.
That amount is below the $744m raised in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the $620m recorded in the final quarter of 2024.
For Nigeria, the final quarter will provide a further test of whether the country can sustain its renewed leadership of Africa’s startup funding market.
Although the increase in the number of funded Nigerian startups points to some expansion in investment activity, the dominance of four major companies means that the durability of the recovery will depend partly on whether more businesses can attract capital.
Nigeria’s return to the top of the funding table is a significant development for its technology ecosystem. However, the longer-term measure of progress will be whether the investment surge supports a wider range of companies, encourages innovation across different sectors and creates more opportunities for emerging businesses to scale.
