For so long, fintech startups have dominated Africa’s funding landscape, but data from CB Insights suggests that investments in the sector have dropped significantly in Q3 2022.
In 2021, fintech startups raised $2 billion in funding, according to Crunchbase News. In a record-breaking year for funding in the continent, 198 fintech startups raised $2 billion, a whopping 88.45% increase from the $231 million raised in 2020.
As funding slowed down in the second quarter of 2022, all continents were affected, although it appeared that African startups were not feeling the pinch as much as their global counterparts. But as the year wore on, the numbers revealed that funding to African startups had decreased. CB Insights State of Fintech Q3 2022 report details the financing decline for African fintechs.
With $161 million raised in Q3 2022, fintechs in Africa raised significantly less than the previous two quarters, with $383 million in Q2 and $369 million in Q1. The number of deals has also dropped from 74 in Q1 2022 to 43 in Q3 2022; Q2 had 61 deals.
One thing hasn’t changed, though; early-stage fintech startups still raise the most money with 90% of deals announced so far, 2% more than 2021’s numbers. Furthermore, there haven’t been any mega-deals (defined as deals above $100 million). TeamApt’s $50 million round remains the highest raised by an African fintech and constitutes 30% of recorded fintech funding. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the number of mergers and acquisitions has increased, with 18 M&As so far.
Launch Africa, Huobi Ventures, and AfricInvest are the most active investors, with four, three, and two investments, respectively. Globally, fintech funding for Q3 2022 has dropped to its lowest levels since Q4 2020, with $12.9 billion raised so far, while the number of mega deals has dropped to its lowest since Q2 2018.
