African startup fundraising reached $460 million in the first quarter of 2025, with Nigeria and Kenya emerging as leading investment destinations. This marked a significant decrease from the previous quarter’s $774 million, but still represents a respectable figure considering it was only half of Q1 2024’s total. Africa-focused venture capital analytics firm Africa the Big Deal provided data on funding deals exceeding $100,000 for the first quarter. African startups raised a significant portion of the funding in January ($289 million), followed by a less impressive showing in February and March with $119 million and $50 million respectively. This represents a drop from Q4 2024’s total, making Q1 2025 the second-slowest quarter since Q4 2020 during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.