Over the past six years, Kenya has secured an average of 81% of the total funding available in East Africa
Key takeaways:
Kenya dominates East Africa’s startup funding, securing over 83% of all funds raised between 2019 and 2024 — a clear indication of its position as the region’s startup capital.
Kenya’s startup funding share has remained consistently above 80% since 2020.
2023 and 2024 saw Kenya secure nearly 89% of all funds, marking its strongest position.
Other East African countries combined have not received more than 30% of the funding in any year since 2019.
The lowest share of funding Kenya secured was in 2019 (69.81%).
Kenya has established itself as the undisputed leader in East Africa’s startup funding landscape, securing a staggering 83.26% of total startup investment in the region between 2019 and 2024. Over the past six years, its dominance has been unwavering, averaging 81% of the total funds raised. While Kenya’s funding share has seen fluctuations, the overall trend is clear: investors overwhelmingly trust and back Kenyan startups over those in other East African nations.
Between 2020–2024 H1, 40.58% and 50.91% of deal volume went to consumer staples and consumer discretionary respectively, showing that everyday goods and lifestyle products are fast becoming investment magnets.
The utilities sector deal volume exploded in recent years, jumping from 21.62% in 2016–2019 to 70.27% in 2020–2024 H1, an indication that basic infrastructure services like energy, water, and power are now central to investment strategies.
78.57% of all deal volume in the information technology sector happened in the most recent period, suggesting that digital solutions and tech platforms are increasingly being backed by private capital.
The industrials sector also bounced back, with 46% of its deal volume coming in the 2020–2024 period.
Energy sector investment dropped from 66.67% to 33.33%, and real estate recorded no new deals after 2015.
Health care remained consistent across all three periods, securing exactly 33.33% of the deal volume each time, highlighting its stability, even if not standout growth.
Francophone Africa attracted $1.8 billion in private capital in 2021, about 9x the previous year (2020).
That same year saw 34 deals, which is quite high when compared to some other years, indicating strong investor confidence.
In 2024, deal value amounted to just $0.1 billion, and deal volume to 19, pointing to a significant cooling in activity.
Between 2012 and 2015, the region saw low deal values, with both 2014 and 2015 recording just $0.01 billion in investments.
A notable spike occurred in 2017 with $0.7 billion invested across 17 deals, marking the first major surge before 2021's breakout.
Deal counts haven’t always aligned with capital volume. For instance, 2023 had 42 deals but only $0.4B, suggesting a trend of smaller-sized investments.
