Startups across Africa secured a total of $844.51 million in funding in the second quarter of 2025 (April, May, June) according to data compiled by Launch Base Africa. This late-quarter boost brings Africa’s year-to-date total to an estimated $1.45 billion, suggesting a measured recovery from the investment slump that followed the post-pandemic funding peak of 2021 and the global pullback of 2023.

But beyond the funding volume, a deeper pattern is emerging: a small group of bold, thematically focused investors are shaping the contours of Africa’s next startup surge.

Top Most Active Investors of Q2

E3 Capital (Kenya): Betting on Energy and InfraTech
 E3 Capital maintained a sharp focus on clean energy and infrastructure solutions. The firm backed:

• Kofa (Ghana): A clean energy firm making solar products accessible. $8.1M was raised by the startup in April. 
• Open Access Energy (South Africa): Specializing in AI-powered energy trading. The startup raised $1.8 million in June. 
• Cutstruct (Nigeria): A construction tech startup modernizing procurement in West Africa’s building sector. The startup secured $2.4M in May.

Norfund (Norway): Targeting Scale and Utility
 Norfund spread its investments across diverse, high-impact verticals:

• Wave (Senegal): Africa’s best-funded mobile money platform this quarter. Wave raised $137.2M in debt financing last June. 
• OmniRetail (Nigeria): A B2B commerce network digitizing Africa’s informal retail sector. Norfund co-led OmniRetail’s $20M round in April. 
• Arnergy (Nigeria): A cleantech startup expanding distributed solar systems. Arnergy raised $18M in April. 

Partech Africa (Senegal): Cross-Sector Versatility
 Partech’s Q2 bets demonstrate a high-conviction, multi-sector approach:

• Carrot Credit (Nigeria): Lending against digital assets. The startup raised $4.2M in May. 
• AURA (South Africa): Emergency response marketplace tech. AURA raised $15M Series B in May. 
• Nawy (Egypt): A proptech platform raising one of Egypt’s largest rounds this year. Nawy landed $75M in early June. 

BII — British International Investment (UK): Clean Energy and Mobility
 The UK’s development finance institution remained consistent in its Africa strategy:

• Arnergy (Nigeria): Reinforcing the cleantech transition. Arnergy raised $18M in April.
• Wave (Senegal): Backing financial inclusion. Wave raised $137.2M in debt financing last June.
• ARC Ride (Kenya): Electric two-wheelers and battery swapping infrastructure. In May, BII poured $5M into Arc Ride. 

EDFI Management Company (Belgium): Scaling Impact with CleanTech and Agriculture
 The EU-backed impact investor participated in three high-impact ventures:

• BURN Manufacturing (Kenya): Clean cookstove maker securing $80M in new funding. Backed BURN in May in a $5M round. 
• Complete Farmer (Ghana): Platform digitizing agriculture and export logistics. Backed Complete Farmer in June in a $2.5M round. 
• Arnergy (Nigeria): Distributed solar power provider for SMEs. Arnergy raised $18M in April.

Nclude by DPI (Egypt): Egypt’s Fintech and Digital Infrastructure Specialist
 With three Egypt-focused deals, Nclude proved instrumental in domestic growth:

• Sylndr: A used car marketplace targeting the auto resale economy. The startup raised $15.7M in May. 
• MoneyFellows: A modern ROSCA platform heading toward Series C. Moneyfellows raised $13M in May. 
• Nawy: Real estate proptech raising one of Q2’s largest rounds in Egypt. Nawy landed $75M in early June.

International Finance Corporation (IFC): Development Capital with Broad Reach
 The IFC, the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, quietly became one of the most active institutional backers in Q2 — spanning cleantech, fintech, and health innovation:

• Husk Power Energy Systems (Nigeria): Rural electrification through solar mini-grids. $5M investment in May. 
• Kera Health (Senegal): AI-driven health diagnostics and preventive care. $10M investment in June. 
• MDP (Egypt): Strategic investment in fintech infrastructure. An investment in May. 

Other Prolific Backers

Other cohort of investors include:

What This Tells Us

The investor activity for Q2 tells a story of selective aggression — investors aren’t just deploying capital broadly, they’re doubling down on core African problems in infrastructure, clean energy, fintech, and digitization of the informal economy.

Unlike the high valuations and blitz-scaling bets of 2021, Q2’s most active investors are focused on grounded, economically necessary sectors — from logistics and power to mobile money and health tech. Many of them are return backers supporting portfolio companies in successive rounds, or deploying through strategic accelerators and blended finance platforms.

It’s also worth noting the geographic spread of these investors — from local African VCs (Future Africa, E3 Capital) to global DFIs (BII, Norfund, IFC) — demonstrating the blended nature of capital sustaining Africa’s innovation ecosystems in 2025.

Outlook

The African tech ecosystem is still recovering from macroeconomic headwinds, but the sustained activity of firms like E3 Capital, Norfund, and Partech Africa points to long-term conviction. With energy, climate, and fintech continuing to dominate investor attention, founders may find their best opportunities in building for these high-need sectors.

If June’s momentum holds, Q3 may well surpass it. But for now, in a quarter marked more by strategic focus than frothy enthusiasm, these top investors are setting the pace for African startup capital in 2025.