Recent studies by a researcher, policy, and advisory team called Startup Genome has announced Lagos state as the foremost place in the Sub-Saharan startup eco industry. This announcement was made with regards to the cost of startup ecosystem and total value in amounts raised.
About $8.4 billion was valued between 2020 to 2022 second quarter as the total amount of the state’s startup ecosystem compiled using exits and startup valuations. Nairobi came second and Cape Town third with their startups calculated as $7 billion and $3 billion respectively.
Lagos raised $8.2 million in the preliminary phase funding, the largest in the sector. Additionally, there are between 51 and 60 in the international emerging startup ecosystem grade in Lagos.
With regard to the value of funding, OPay’s $400 million Series C in August 2021 was the region’s biggest deal, while Flutterwave’s $250 million Series D in February 2022 saw its valuation increase to over $3 billion. Venture Capital (VC) funding reduced by 6% from year 2021 to 2022. However, the major performing tech industry was Fintech which was 41% of all startup commercial activities from 2018 to 2022. The biggest Fintech hub within the region was revealed to be Nairobi.
Other regions that came up within the top five tech startups were Abuja, Kampala, Dar-es-Salaam, Abidjan, and Dakar.
