Corporate venture capital (CVC) investments in African startups have surged to their highest level in three years, which signals a renewed and deeper engagement by global and local corporate investors in the continent’s innovation ecosystem.
According to GCV’s Corporate venture capital funding round data, African startups secured 26 corporate-backed funding deals in the first half of 2025, a 44 percent increase from the previous peak of 18 deals recorded in half-year periods over recent years.
After a period of stagnation in corporate investment between late 2023 and late 2024, the first half of 2025 has corporates returning to Africa with strategic intent rather than experimental engagements, suggesting confidence in the continent’s long-term tech potential.
The uptick represents a structural shift in how African tech companies are financed and scaling, with more founders attracting strategic partners and expanding beyond traditional foreign venture capital.
Unlike traditional VCs that often focus primarily on financial returns and quicker exits, corporate VCs combine financial backing with strategic goals such as access to new technologies, strengthening supply chains, or expanding market reach.
As a result, these investors are typically more patient, selective, and operationally involved with their portfolio companies.
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Some notable corporate-backed deals in the first half of 2025 include Flour Mills of Nigeria investing in B2B e-commerce player, OmniRetail, during its $20 million Series A round; South Africa’s Hollard Group leading a $38 million Series B+ investment in Naked Insurance; and MediaTek injecting $10 million into Egyptian semiconductor startup, InfinLink.
Also, PepsiCo’s Kgodiso Fund is backing South African agritech, Khula, with $7 million. These deals show that corporate investors are active across fintech, agritech, semiconductors, and more, often aligning investments with their business interests.
While Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria continue to attract the most corporate VC deals due to their more mature markets and established startup ecosystems, newer markets like Tunisia, Ghana, Ethiopia, Togo, and Uganda recorded their first corporate-backed deals in H1 2025.
The mix of investors also changed as corporates from Asia and the Middle East are playing increasingly significant roles alongside traditional European and North American players. Chinese firms remain prominent, especially in countries such as Nigeria, even if their participation is less visible externally.
Fintech continues to dominate corporate deals, making up roughly half of all corporate-backed investments, with major names like Moniepoint, Opay, and others paving the way. Other areas, such as agritech, are gaining attention, illustrated by strategic backing of companies like Khula and Tunisia’s Kumulus Water, which is developing technology to produce drinking water from air.
Niche hubs such as the Seychelles are emerging, particularly in crypto and blockchain sectors, driven in part by firms such as KuCoin participating in multiple rounds.
The rising trend in corporate VC fosters diversified capital sources for African startups and strengthens their negotiating positions. Founders are increasingly pitching themselves not just as financial opportunities but as strategic partners that help corporate backers innovate, expand, and compete globally.
