Denis Opudo
A recently report which was released by Weetracker, a research and publishing company, stated that Kenyan startup sector continues to hit the headlines of the dailies. Out of the top ten startups that got the highest amount of capital in the first six months of 2018 Kenya had five startups. Kenyan startup Cellutant that hit a record of investment worth Sh4.8 billion ($47.5M) led the other Kenyan startups. The startups included Africa’s Talking which is a software company, M-kopa Solar and mobile lender Branch. Those startups made it to the top of the most funded startups in the first six months of 2018.
These together with WeFarm, an agritech startup secured a total of $91 million. The value is more than half of the Sh17 billion ($168.6M) capital that was channeled to 118 deals within Africa during the last six months. We can state that 2018 looks to be a fruitful year for African startups compared to 2017. In 2017 Sh5 billion went to 72 deals which is an increase of 3.5 times compared to 2018. Fintech companies have maintained their excellent record by securing 25 deals. Healthtech startups came second, Agritech were the second runners-up. E-commerce came in the fourth position. The three secured 13, 10, and nine deals respectively.
In relation to the ranking of countries, Nigeria presented the highest number of startup. It had 31 startups that secured funding. Kenya was second with its 23 startups securing funding. Egypt becomes the third country as 23 startups from there got funded. South African had 19 startups that got funded placing the country in the 4th position.
The report stated that despite Nigeria having the highest number of funded startups it secured a total of $29.41 million compared to Kenya that had fewer startups and got around three times of funding secured by Nigeria. The six months period also saw the launch of 15 funds. The funds included AFDB, A24 Media, Goodwell Investments, and African Guarantee Fund. All the 15 funds aimed at supporting the African startup development.
