African Startups Raise $254 Million in May as Egypt Leads Investment Surge
Startups across Africa secured a total of $254 million in May 2025, marking a slight decline from April but a better performance compared to March.
While the May figure does not break records, it pushes Africa’s year-to-date total to over $1 billion, up 40% compared to the $750 million raised in the same period last year, according to data from Africa: The Big Deal.
More significantly, the report indicates that African startups have now raised $2.5 billion over the past 12 months (June 2024 to May 2025), the highest rolling 12-month total since early last year.
Fewer deals, bigger cheques
Although May saw fewer individual deals than in previous months, with 36 startups announcing raises of $100,000 or more, investors wrote larger cheques.
Seven ventures secured over $10 million each, a sign that interest in African tech remains strong even if slightly more concentrated.
Egypt was the undeniable star of the month, accounting for six of the seven biggest deals and leading the continent in startup funding so far in 2025.
Egyptian startups have raised more than $330 million this year, representing 31% of all funding on the continent.
The biggest highlight was Nawy, an Egyptian proptech platform that raised $75 million, $52 million in equity through a Series A round led by Partech, and $23 million in debt. It is now the largest-ever proptech deal in Africa.
Other notable Egyptian deals in May include:
- Tasaheel, a subsidiary of MNT-Halan, which completed Egypt’s largest corporate bond issuance to date at $50 million.
- Valu, a fintech firm, which raised $27 million from Saudi investors and is preparing for a public listing.
- Thndr, another fintech player, raised over $15 million.
- Sylndr, a mobility start-up, also raised over $15 million in a Series A round.
- Money Fellows, a digital savings and credit platform, secured $13 million in a pre-Series C round to fund expansion outside Egypt.
The lone non-Egyptian $10 million+ raise came from AURA, a South African healthtech start-up. It closed a $15 million Series B co-led by Partech and CAIF to fuel its entry into the U.S. market.
Continental breakdown
So far in 2025, Egypt leads the African startup funding race with 31% of total disclosed investments, followed by South Africa at 26%, Nigeria at 15%, and Kenya at 12%.
In addition to the funding boom, May saw four notable exit events, three of which were Egyptian.
They include MaxAB-Wasoko’s acquisition of Fatura; a merger between wellness start-ups Miran and Welnes; and Catalyst Partners Middle East’s $23 million acquisition of Qardy.
West Africa also saw a major exit with BioLite acquiring a majority stake in Baobab+, a solar energy and digital services provider.
