After two years of retreat, African tech funds are once again targeting the market in their numbers. African tech startups raised approximately $4.1bn in 2025, up 25% from the prior year — the strongest performance since 2022, according to Partech’s annual Africa Tech Venture Capital Report. Launch Base Africa, which compiled its own dataset, put the figure at $3.1bn, still representing a sharp increase from the $2.2bn recorded in 2024. The divergence in headline numbers reflects differing methodologies, particularly around how venture debt is counted — but on direction, there is no disagreement: the funding winter appears to be thawing.

What makes 2026 significant is not just the volume of capital available, but the volume of undeployed capital — what the industry calls dry powder. Launch Base Africa has curated a database of over 250 recently announced and active funds with a stated mandate to invest in African startups. That represents a deep pool of committed capital waiting for the right pitches.

For founders, the question is no longer whether money is out there. It is how to reach the right managers, and under what conditions they are willing to write cheques.

The investor landscape: who is writing cheques

The 250-plus funds tracked by Launch Base Africa span a wide range of ticket sizes, stages and geographies. A few patterns are worth understanding before founders start reaching out.

Pan-African and sector-specialist VCs remain the most active at the earliest stages. Funds such as Launch Africa Ventures, Ventures Platform, TLcom Capital, and 4DX Ventures have continued to write seed and pre-Series A cheques. Partech Africa, operating with a $300m fund, focuses on high-traction startups with clear revenue potential. Future Africa, founded by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, occupies the very earliest stages of the funnel, backing founders before products are fully proven.

Development finance institutions play a growing role, particularly in capital-intensive sectors. European DFIs including Norfund and BII are increasingly acting as anchor investors in sectors where scale, regulation and infrastructure matter more than speed. Proparco’s Choose Africa initiative targets equity rounds from €500,000 to €3m. The African Development Bank has deepened its engagement, backing climate and infrastructure funds alongside direct investments.

Corporate venture and grant programmes offer non-dilutive routes for early-stage companies. Google’s Black Founders Fund and Microsoft’s challenges provide grants and support. The Tony Elumelu Foundation’s 2026 Entrepreneurship Programme offers $5,000 seed grants to founders across all 54 African countries, targeting scalable tech solutions.

Emerging and specialist funds are worth watching. In the Republic of Congo, a new alliance between Fondation BantuHub and L’Archer Group has committed €1m in equity into Congolese SMEs and startups throughout 2026 — a modest figure by global standards, but significant for a market where structured private financing is rare. Similar micro-funds are appearing in Francophone West Africa and other underserved regions, often funded by a blend of diaspora capital and development money.

What founders should do now

The data points to a few practical conclusions for African startups preparing to fundraise in 2026.

Lead with unit economics. African tech funds are applying higher scrutiny to burn rates, customer acquisition costs and path to profitability. Decks that open with market size and opportunity will struggle against those that open with margin and retention data.

Understand the instrument before the ask. Equity and venture debt are not interchangeable. Hybrid financing — combining small equity tranches with venture debt or revenue-based financing — can extend runway without aggressive dilution, but requires tight financial forecasting and an ability to present covenant scenarios. Founders unfamiliar with debt structures risk accepting terms they cannot service.

Move early on relationships. Dry powder does not deploy itself. Many of the funds in the list below are running competitive processes, with founders across multiple markets competing for the same capital. Warm introductions through accelerators, angels and portfolio founders continue to matter significantly at seed stage.

The 250+ funds: a curated reference

The list below, compiled and maintained by Launch Base Africa, covers over 250 recently announced and active venture capital funds, DFIs, corporate venture arms, grant programmes and angel networks with a mandate to invest in African startups in 2026. It spans pre-seed to growth equity, and includes both sector-generalist and specialist vehicles across fintech, climate tech, health, agritech, logistics, enterprise software and more. Where available, we have included contact details for the investors covered. The list also features hundreds of the most active funds in 2025.

The African tech funds are listed in no particular order of preference. Founders should verify fund status, stage focus and geographic mandate before approaching any investor, as fund activity and mandate can change. The list is updated periodically by Launch Base Africa.

Africa-Focused Investment Funds Summary

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