75 African fintechs raised ~$1.2B in risk capital in H1 2023
Insights from the updated Afridigest Fintech Transactions Database
Hello again, friends! The H1 2023 update of the Fintech Transactions Database is here.
In it, you’ll find all the announced fintech deals we tracked this year from Week 1 to Week 26, plus all of the fintech deals from last year. That includes equity fundraises, debt fundraises, and M&A deals — and, in line with global deal reporting best practices, it excludes grants.
If you’re a paying subscriber, you’ll be able to download the database below. 🙏🏽
In the first half of 2023, 75 fintech startups in Africa announced raising ~$1.2B in risk capital across 85 transactions.
That’s an average of 14 deals and ~$200M in funding raised per month.
And while the total amount raised was down 21% from H1 2022, there’s a bit more nuance to the story. Things diverge quite a bit when looking at equity vs. debt.
Equity funding raised by African fintechs in the first half of the year fell ~40% from last year. But debt funding was up over 80%.
While the rise in debt is due largely to just two deals (MNT-Halan’s $140M securitized bond issuance and the ~$200M in debt financing raised by M-Kopa), it’s worth noting that there’d still be a slight y/y increase in H1 debt funding if these deals were excluded.
Here’s a quick summary of fintech funding in Africa in the first half of the year:
In terms of verticals, Banking/Lending led the way, accounting for $0.66 of every dollar of equity raised and $0.96 (!) of every dollar of debt raised in H1.
Major players in the Banking/Lending vertical include lending platforms like MNT-Halan & Lulalend, digital banks like TymeBank & FairMoney, and asset financing platforms like M-Kopa and Planet42.
(And FYI, the fintech transactions database contains detailed sub-vertical categorization for all companies.)
Beyond equity and debt financing, there was also a slight uptick in fintech M&A across Africa with 15 deals announced in the first half of the year, compared to 13 in the same period last year.
Here’s a quick overview of select acquisitions:
That’s just a sampling of what’s in the database.
If you're interested in:
Seeing the investors leading & investing in fintech rounds in Africa at a glance
Identifying who’s lending to African fintechs
Analyzing the fintech M&A landscape
Getting detailed sub-vertical category listings
Understanding African fintechs by country, funding stage, and much more
Then this database is for you.
We hear it’s the most comprehensive dataset available on disclosed fintech transactions in Africa. And we’ll be improving it going forward.
Download the Afridigest Fintech Transactions Database below:
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