Most Funded African Startups in Q1 2024

According to Africa: The Big Deal, in January 2024, African startups raised over $83million in just seven disclosed deals, with 28.4% in AgriTech and 13% in Fintech. The startup ecosystem in Africa is growing fast and has secured half a billion in funding in just Q1 of 2024.

In 2022, the ecosystem had a spike in funding by raising over $1.8B in Q1 2022 but was depleted by over 47%, especially when the total amount raised in Q1 2024 is compared to that of Q1 2023, which was over $0.8B.

As growth is expected in the coming quarters of 2024, many African startups are securing millions in Series A and B funding rounds. Here are the  Most Funded African Startups in Q1 2024.

Roam – $14M Series A

In February 2024, Roam, the Kenyan e-mobility company, raised $14M in Series A equity funding; Equator Africa and many other stakeholders led this round. Founded in 2017, Roam has disrupted the electric motorcycle market in Kenya by offering riders greater flexibility and the option to own their batteries. This allows users to charge their batteries using a standard household outlet, significantly reducing operational costs while enabling longer travel distances.

Furthermore, Roam is enhancing the utility of its motorcycles through the deployment of Roam Hub stations – multi-purpose, open-architecture electric motorcycle charging stations that provide a wide range of after-sales services, including the option to rent additional batteries for a flexible period.

With this, Roam is one of the startups in Africa that is changing energy and e-mobility alongside competitors like Ampersand, Spiro, and Max.

Mantra Dao – $11M Series A

Located in Seychelles, Mantra DAO is one of Africa’s few blockchain and crypto-based startups driving financial inclusivity and growth in emerging markets by building compliant infrastructures, empowering developers, and expanding real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.

In March 2024, the company secured $11M Series A funding led by Shrooq Partners, a Middle East early-stage Venture Capital & Debt fund alongside Three Point Capital, Forte Securities, Virtuzone, Hex Trust, and GameFi Ventures.

Founded in 2020 by John Patrick Mullin, Rodrigo Quan Miranda, and Will Corkin – MANTRA’s network for issuing and trading real-world asset tokens (RWAs) is not operational yet. However, it is planned to launch on Cosmos, a network of interconnected but independent blockchains. Currently, Cosmos does not have a designated blockchain specifically for trading tokenized RWAs, according to MANTRA’s documentation.

Once live, MANTRA plans to initially focus on attracting users already familiar with cryptocurrencies, decentralized exchanges, on-chain lending and borrowing, and related concepts – the “crypto native” crowd.

Mullin, MANTRA’s founder, had to adjust his original crypto business plans due to the numerous industry failures in 2022. He acknowledges the challenges involved in building a sustainable product for RWAs, a sector that has not yet gained significant traction despite optimistic projections.

Mullin’s strategy is to take a lower-risk approach in this high-risk landscape by positioning MANTRA as a platform that others can utilize to build their own RWA businesses. “We don’t want to tokenize every asset or build every decentralized application. We need to operate at the protocol level, too,” he explained.

Roha Medical Campus – $42M Seed Round

The Ethiopian startup is a world-class hospital that provides affordable and advanced healthcare services across multiple hospitals and facilities. This will be Ethopia’s first Joint Commission International-accredited hospital with plans to increase the advanced medical equipment and services shortage. 

According to the World Health Organization, Ethiopia currently has only 6% of the total number of hospital beds required, which is significantly low compared to the other countries in East Africa, with Rwanda having 32%, Kenya at 27%, and Uganda at 10%. At the moment, Roha Health has been able to provide 350+ more hospital beds as it continues building its health campuses/hospitals across Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It plans to open in 2025 and claims to be one of the largest healthcare investments in Africa.

In February 2024, Roha Health secured a $42M seed round of funding. 

With these companies leading the funding of Q1 2024, it is expected that the total amount raised by African startups will increase by the end of Q2 2024 as the most funded startups in Q2 at the moment have raised a total of $47.5M both in their Series B rounds raised $20M and $27.5M respectively.

Also read: Kenyan Startup Pula Advisors raises $20M in Series B round