Top 35 Startup Investors in Africa (September 2026)

Portfolio highlights

• Grapevine — Grapevine makes it possible for groups to invite members, collect and distribute donations, establish a community and connect with nonprofits.
• Untapped Global — Untapped connects global investors, and foreign capital to opportunities in emerging markets. Delivering competitive returns, and measurable impact for global investors.
• Necessary Ventures — We invest in what the world needs.

Portfolio highlights

• Credpal — Buy now, pay later. Split in 6.
• Encore Pay — Encore Pay is a UAE-based FinTech and Payment solutions provider.
• MarketForce — MarketForce connects Africa’s informal retail outlets and consumers directly to suppliers of consumer goods and financial services by digitizing orders, delivery, and payments with the aim of solving the last mile distribution challenge.

Portfolio highlights

• TRVL CAPE — Your Cape Town travel companion App. Your gateway to Cape Town! Quickly book flights, hotels, shuttles, and rental cars. Enjoy real-time updates, exclusive deals on our app! Let our travel experts help you plan the perfect trip to Cape Town. Let our skilled advisors craft a flawless itinerary for your journey.
• The AI Studio — The AI Studio is an advanced artificial intelligence research and innovation hub operating under Amani Creative Studios. It is designed to enhance and integrate AI capabilities into our existing services, spanning Web2, Web3, cybersecurity, branding, and software development. Every solution we offer at Amani Creative Studios and Web3 Studio willnow be AI-powered and AI-enhanced, unlocking new capabilities in automation, prediction, personalization, and efficiency.AI-Powered Web3 Solutions – AI-driven smart contracts, blockchain forensics, and decentralized automation., AI-Driven Branding & Marketing – Intelligent content creation, data-driven strategies, and hyper-personalization, AI-Powered SaaS & Software Development – Automated workflows, predictive analytics, and intelligent decision-making, AI-Optimized UI/UX & Product Design – AI-powered design systems, adaptive interfaces, and automated A/B testing.
• Cyrrix Cybersecurity — At Cyrrix Cybersecurity, we understand the importance of protecting your business from online threats. Our team provides a full range of cybersecurity services to help safeguard your company's sensitive information and systems. We offer comprehensive risk assessments, penetration testing, and incident response planning to identify and addressvulnerabilities in your network. Our managed security services provide ongoing monitoring and threat detection to keep your business protected around the clock. With our help, you can rest easy knowing that your company's valuable assets are secure.

Portfolio highlights

• Accrual Software — We are a Software Development Company
• Cyrrix Cybersecurity — At Cyrrix Cybersecurity, we understand the importance of protecting your business from online threats. Our team provides a full range of cybersecurity services to help safeguard your company's sensitive information and systems. We offer comprehensive risk assessments, penetration testing, and incident response planning to identify and addressvulnerabilities in your network. Our managed security services provide ongoing monitoring and threat detection to keep your business protected around the clock. With our help, you can rest easy knowing that your company's valuable assets are secure.
• Aesthetic Prosthetic Bionics — Biological Engineering, Bionics, Biomimetics, Hydraulics, Prosthetics, Neuroprosthetics, Exoskeleton Suits, Dynamics, Kinematics Robotics, Human-Robot Interaction, Artificial Organs, Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, Knowledge Reasoning, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, Robotics, Artificial GeneralIntelligence, Deep Learning, Bayesian Networks, Evolutionary Algorithms, Computational Neuroscience, Neurocybernetics, Cybernetics, Cognitive Science, Source Coding, Channel Coding, Algorithmic Complexity Theory, Algorithmic Information Theory, Information-Theoretic Security, Grey System Theory & Biotechnology

Portfolio highlights

• Shopify — Try Shopify free and start a business or grow an existing one. Get more than ecommerce software with tools to manage every part of your business.
• FundThrough — Businesses in the U.S. & Canada can get paid in a day by advancing funds from unpaid invoices with online invoice financing and factoring from FundThrough.
• Sparrow BioAcoustics — Sparrow BioAcoustics ,developers of a smartphone stethoscope designed to gather and collaborate on medical-grade cardiac and pulmonary data.

Portfolio highlights

• Nuru — Nuru is a solar hybrid site. Nuru (Swahili for "light") is a company dedicated to enhancing connectivity in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nuru deployed Congo's first solar-based mini-grid in 2017 and is currently constructing a 1.3MW solar hybrid site in Goma, the largest off-grid mini-grid in sub-Saharan Africa.Nuru is arenewable and environment company that specializes in the fields of storage micro-grids and solar energy. The company deployed Congo's first solar-based mini-grid in 2017 and is currently constructing a 1.3MW solar hybrid site in Goma.Nuru was founded in 2015 and headquartered in Goma, Nord-Kivu, Congo.
• Delta40 — Delta40 is the venture studio that invests in African female entrepreneurs involved in energy, agriculture and mobility sectors.
• CrossBoundary — CrossBoundary Energy's energy solutions help decarbonize enterprise by providing cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable power.

Portfolio highlights

• Purple Elephant Ventures — We are Africa's first venture studio focusing on the travel & tourism sector. Our aim is to build businesses that will lead Africa's tourism industry to a greener future

Portfolio highlights

• M2X Energy — M2X Energy is a scalable methane conversion technology company that provides automated gas-to-product systems for methane conversion.
• Last Energy — Last Energy develops and delivers micro modular nuclear power plants designed to provide decarbonized, reliable energy through a full-service delivery model that spans design, construction, and operations. The company offers factory-produced modular plants, like its 20 MWe PWR-20 units, that can be deployed rapidly to serve energy-intensiveindustrial customers and utilities with baseload electricity and heat. Its services include long-term power purchase agreements that eliminate upfront capital for customers while enabling flexible siting and minimal resource requirements. Last Energy’s solutions support both behind-the-meter applications for industries and grid-scale energy projects for broader power delivery. The company integrates established reactor technology with its delivery process to help clients access consistent, carbon-free energy.
• Found Energy — Found Energy's aluminum-thermal power systems extract renewable energy from aluminum at double the energy density of diesel and at a competitive cost. Compact, modular, safe, and carbon-free, our technology makes industrial decarbonization practical.

Portfolio highlights

• CrossBoundary — CrossBoundary Energy's energy solutions help decarbonize enterprise by providing cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable power.
• Sun King — Sun King is a solar company that designs, distributes, installs, and finances solar home energy products across Africa and Asia. Sun King produces solar home systems, inverter systems, and portable lanterns, providing a solution for communities that live without reliable energy access. Sun King also offers pay-as-you-go financing options, furtherallowing consumers to access energy without high up-front costs. Sun King works with their network of international distribution partners to expand the off-grid market.
• Giyani Metals — Giyani Metals Corp. is developing the next generation of battery grade manganese for EVs and energy storage. Vertically integrated from mine to market in Botswana.

Portfolio highlights

• Purple Elephant Ventures — We are Africa's first venture studio focusing on the travel & tourism sector. Our aim is to build businesses that will lead Africa's tourism industry to a greener future

Portfolio highlights

• Bibblio — Conversion optimization, powered by AI. Increase user engagement, grow revenues and drive new audiences, for stronger site metrics and ROI.
• Believe.in — Believe.in provides a white label technology that improves online fundraising, donation processing, and event performance of non-profit organizations.Available in multiple markets, languages, and currencies, Believe.in supports 2.8 million non-profit organizations globally and is easily customized and integrated into any non-profitorganization’s website and existing back-office toolkit.Believe.in was founded in May 2011 and is based in London, United Kingdom.
• Purple Elephant Ventures — We are Africa's first venture studio focusing on the travel & tourism sector. Our aim is to build businesses that will lead Africa's tourism industry to a greener future

Portfolio highlights

• BioLite — BioLite designs off-grid personal scale energy products for cooking, charging, and lighting. Perfect for camping, fishing, tailgating, power outages, and more.
• Spironet — Time 100 Influential Company 2024 | Africa's Largest EV Player | 15k bikes deployed | 9 million battery swaps | 270 million clean KM driven
• Kasada Capital Management — Kasada is the leading independent real estate private equity platform dedicated to delivering sustainable value across the hospitality sector in Africa.

Portfolio highlights

• Miarakap — Miarakap is the first impact investment company dedicated to financing and supporting Small and Medium Enterprises with high potential in Madagascar.
• Dhamana Guarantee — Dhamana provides guarantees that unlock local currency financing, mobilise domestic capital and support sustainable growth across East Africa.
• Africa Renewables Katalyst — ARK (Africa Renewables Katalyst Ltd) a Kenyan based company focused on helping Africa realize its full renewable energy potential through I-RECs

Portfolio highlights

• GetEquity — GetEquity is a NASDAQ for venture capital. We provide an exchange and liquidity for private companies, and an infrastructure for different cadres of venture capital around investing, founder liquidity, and shareholder management
• Healthtracka — Healthtracka is a digital health platform that allows consumer direct access to lab tests bookings, at-home sample collection and digital results in 1-3days
• Helium Health — Helium Health empowers healthcare providers in Africa with digital tools, financing solutions, and data partnerships. Learn more about our innovative solutions.

Portfolio highlights

• Purple Elephant Ventures — We are Africa's first venture studio focusing on the travel & tourism sector. Our aim is to build businesses that will lead Africa's tourism industry to a greener future

Portfolio highlights

• ZincFive — ZincFive is an intelligent energy storage and delivery solutions company providing nickel-zinc battery based UPS solutions for mission-critical applications in data centers, intelligent transportation, motive power, and other industries. With 74 patents awarded and 29 patents pending, ZincFive leverages nickel-zinc chemistry within our solutions toprovide high power density and performance simultaneous with superior safety and environmental advantages. ZincFive was founded in 2016 and is based in Tualatin, Oregon.
• Eos — Eos is accelerating the shift to clean energy with positively ingenious solutions that transform how the world stores power.
• Purple Elephant Ventures — We are Africa's first venture studio focusing on the travel & tourism sector. Our aim is to build businesses that will lead Africa's tourism industry to a greener future

Portfolio highlights

• Barka Fund — WHAT WE DO Creating Value for Our Clients Technical AssistanceWe provide a comprehensive suite of professional services to support entrepreneurs throughout their business journey. Read More Impact InvestingWe intentionally invest to create positive outcomes while generating financial returns through a blended finance approach. Read More Advisory & ResearchWe provide expert consultation, in-depth analysis, market research,
• Rabo Foundation — Rabo Foundation is an impact investment fund, founded by Rabobank. Rabo Foundation invests in de self-sufficiency of farmer organizations in 22 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. We provide access to finance, knowledge, network, and new technological developments.
• The Green Belt Movement — The Green Belt Movement is a restoration group to train Tree Nursery Women's Groups on restoration techniques and livelihood development.

Portfolio highlights

• MDaaS Global — At MDaaS Global, we build and operate modern, tech-enabled diagnostic centres in clinically-underserved communities, starting in Nigeria. Our big goal is to create affordable healthcare solutions for Africa's next billion.
• Nestcoin — Nestcoin is a web3 application company that builds, operates, and invests in crypto-native products.
• GetEquity — GetEquity is a NASDAQ for venture capital. We provide an exchange and liquidity for private companies, and an infrastructure for different cadres of venture capital around investing, founder liquidity, and shareholder management

Portfolio highlights

• Fortera — 8% of global greenhouse emissions are caused by cement manufacturing, accounting for more than 3.5 billion tons of CO2 produced each year. Fortera addresses CO2 emissions directly from the kiln.
• CrossBoundary — CrossBoundary Energy's energy solutions help decarbonize enterprise by providing cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable power.
• Group14 Technologies — Founded to enable the electrification of everything - from tiny medical, consumer and commercial devices to every possible flavor and size of transportation - Group14 brings new finely-tuned performance capabilities to the era of the lithium-silicon battery. Our novel composite materials and our industrial process to make them reliably answer thecost, scale and performance barriers that have slowed the world’s transition towards the all-electric future.

Portfolio highlights

• Zerax — Zerax is an African tech startup recognized as an innovator in the fintech space. It helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by providing an automated storefront platform and access to smart loans.
• Invopay — InvoPay is a financial platform designed for small and medium enterprises that provides instant cash by funding your unpaid invoices, offers free invoice generation and management, and facilitates low-cost payment collections.
• Venille — Ending period poverty, one step at a time

Portfolio highlights

• Mombak — Mombak is a carbon removal company that focuses on the reforestation of the Amazon. The company's team combines experts in science, technology, forestry, and carbon markets
• Rize — Rize is an AgTech startup formed through a joint venture between Temasek, Wavemaker Impact, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, GenZero to decarbonize rice cultivation in Asia.
• Just Transitions Incubators — JUTI is committed to inspiring individuals and organizations to take bold action that results in equitably shared opportunities and benefits in the transition to a regenerative post-carbon world.

Portfolio highlights

• Abivax — Abivax recently presented impressive 9-month interim extension data from studies of ABX464 in ulcerative colitis during an oral presentation at DDW 2019, demonstrating a continued duration of beneficial effect in patients after 11-months of treatment. View the conference presentation, here:
• Maverick Power — Maverick Power provides power distribution products, solutions, field services, and project management for mission-critical infrastructure. Its offerings include low-voltage power distribution systems and related electrical equipment. The company also provides on-site field support and project management services for power infrastructure projects.
• Collinson Group — We are a global, privately-owned company helping the world travel with ease and confidence. We help the biggest brands build loyalty and engagement.

Portfolio highlights

• Purple Elephant Ventures — We are Africa's first venture studio focusing on the travel & tourism sector. Our aim is to build businesses that will lead Africa's tourism industry to a greener future

Portfolio highlights

• Purple Elephant Ventures — We are Africa's first venture studio focusing on the travel & tourism sector. Our aim is to build businesses that will lead Africa's tourism industry to a greener future

Portfolio highlights

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• Latitude — Latitude is working on a global payments system that links stablecoin-based settlement with local currency payout systems.
• Aeovian Pharmaceuticals — Aeovian is a San Francisco based biopharmaceutical company developing novel and highly selective therapeutics modulating mTORC1 pathway.

Portfolio highlights

• Weza Power — Weza Power is the first new private-sector energy distribution firm to operate at the national level in Sub-Saharan Africa in a decade.
• CrossBoundary — CrossBoundary Energy's energy solutions help decarbonize enterprise by providing cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable power.
• RVE.SOL - Solucoes de Energia Rural — Rural populations forced reliance on biomass and kerosene for their energy needs is causing over 1.6M# deaths per annum. Their lack of access to clean water causes over 5M people to die; 2M of them are children under the age of 5.RVE.SOL's _Changing Rural Life Forever_ initiative is creating alternative, renewable energy choices for therural poor, allowing them to take advantage of natural resources like sunlight, cattle manure and raw water to manage their own way to a better future.Our _KUDURA_ rural village energy hub is community managed; provides communities with potable water, solar electricity, biogas for cooking and organic fertiliser for agriculture.A holistic approach, the solution seeks to target the four areas of rural life that prevalently cause poverty to propagate:1. Access to clean water to obviate transmission of water borne disease2. Access to renewable electricity to obviate the dependance on kerosene for light and improve children's opportunity to study at night3. Access to Biogas to obviate mass destruction of primary forest in a bid to be able to cook food4. Access to fertiliser to reinvigorate over-used soils and so increase quality and quantity of crop harvest for subsistence farmers.Ultimately, this approach seeks to create wealth for rural farmers by offering a choie of more cost effective and efficient services utilising naturally available resources.

Portfolio highlights

• onafriq — MFS Africa is the largest mobile money inter-operability hub in Africa, which connects mobile network operators across the continent through a single API. In addition to mobile remittance services, the MFS Africa API enables merchant payment, bulk payment, bank-to-wallet transfers, and an array of other cross border digital payments services.
• Aradel Energy — Aradel Energy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aradel Holdings Plc and focuses on upstream energy operations in Nigeria.
• Sun King — Sun King is a solar company that designs, distributes, installs, and finances solar home energy products across Africa and Asia. Sun King produces solar home systems, inverter systems, and portable lanterns, providing a solution for communities that live without reliable energy access. Sun King also offers pay-as-you-go financing options, furtherallowing consumers to access energy without high up-front costs. Sun King works with their network of international distribution partners to expand the off-grid market.

Portfolio highlights

• Treasure8 — Through our commercial partnerships and USDA-patented dehydration technologies, Treasure8 transforms food streams and food waste into nutrient-dense elements that can be enhanced, shaped, shipped, and enjoyed almost anywhere and when needed most.
• Good Nature Agro — Their priority is to generate lasting income with small-scale farmers. They build local community leaders into qualified Private Extension Agents (PEAs) who oversee and train farmers throughout the growing season. They support PEAs to provide frequent trainings and personalized recommendations on how their growers can make their field healthier andmore productive. PEAs promote improved farm practices and deliver a farmer-friendly loan of seeds and additional inputs. At harvest, Good Nature is a guaranteed market for the certified legume seed that their growers produce. Choosing to produce these high-value crops over traditional cash crops - maize and cotton - more than doubles their income.
• Purple Elephant Ventures — We are Africa's first venture studio focusing on the travel & tourism sector. Our aim is to build businesses that will lead Africa's tourism industry to a greener future

Portfolio highlights

• Delta40 — Delta40 is the venture studio that invests in African female entrepreneurs involved in energy, agriculture and mobility sectors.
• Ignitia — Ignitia provides hyper-local weather updates, via SMS, based on GPS location. Since our commercial launch in 2015, we have established partnerships to work with small-scale farmers. We send daily, monthly and seasonal rain forecasts to help farmers avoid adverse impacts of an ever-changing climate.Unlike other regions, rain in the tropics isproduced by small-scale systems where convection is a driving force. These convection forces can appear much more quickly and without seemingly any notice to the untrained eye. Ignitia's technology is specifically designed to predict this kind of weather.
• Rethread Africa — We are a team of stubborn optimists, researchers, scientists, and social entrepreneurs dedicated to building a just, inclusive planet-positive future for the materials industry. We work at the intersection of a sustainable materials future and regenerative agriculture. We do this by transforming agricultural waste, from smallholder farmingcommunities across Africa, into sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based synthetics. Our mission is to empower smallholder farming communities, promote environmental sustainability, and enhance livelihoods by upcycling agricultural waste into valuable products. We are committed to fostering innovation, environmental responsibility, and social impact.

Portfolio highlights

• VS Agri — VS Agri is a machinery manufacturing firm offering Agriculture, Construction, Mining Machinery.
• Apex Commerce Partners — Apex Commerce Partners is an e-commerce holding company that focuses on acquiring and growing high potential eCommerce businesses.

Portfolio highlights

• ROAR — ROAR AlwaysOn is the most reliable workplace panic button system to assure staff are safe no matter where they are. Contact us today to learn more!
• Greether — Greether is the platform that connects female travelers to local women around the world.
• Purple Elephant Ventures — We are Africa's first venture studio focusing on the travel & tourism sector. Our aim is to build businesses that will lead Africa's tourism industry to a greener future

Portfolio highlights

• IIFL Finance — IIFL Finance - A leading finance & investment services company in India, providing gold loans & business loans at low-interest rates, no hidden charges and minimum documentation.
• TerraPay — TerraPay, a mobile-first international payment network, has been founded with the vision to send money to any mobile. TerraPay interconnects financial services providers -- mobile wallet service providers, money transfer operators, banks and payment platforms – to create a “one network” for secure and seamless transnational movement of funds. Thenetwork facilitates a broad transaction set including interpersonal transfers, e-payments and government disbursements.TerraPay is platform agnostic and supports standard open APIs for integration with any mobile wallet provider. Through a single connection, partners gain access to a global payment network enabling rapid services up-scaling whilst minimizing Opex and Capex investments. As a fully regulated financial intermediary services network, TerraPay offers services beyond principal core transaction, routing and processing functions and assumes end-to-end responsibility for, regulatory compliance foreign exchange management and funds settlement.
• AND Global — AND Global is a Financial Technology as a Services company that provides everything that a modern digital bank needs and more. The company was founded in 2015 and headquartered in Central Region, Singapore.

Portfolio highlights

• Growwr — Growwr is an AI-native workforce infrastructure platform building the operating system for global work.Its flagship product, Growwr AI, acts as an intelligent hiring agent that helps companies source, screen, evaluate, and hire talent through conversational workflows instead of manual recruiting processes. Companies can describe a role, definehiring priorities, and automatically receive ranked candidates based on verified skills, work history, and performance data.Beyond hiring, Growwr provides integrated global payment infrastructure that enables companies to pay talent across 180+ countries through cards, bank transfers, mobile money, and local payment rails.Because hiring, work, and payments happen inside one system, Growwr continuously generates verified workforce data around earnings, productivity, reliability, and work consistency. The company is leveraging this infrastructure to build workforce financial services including payroll, invoicing, credit scoring, and access to financial products for professionals in emerging markets.Growwr supports 90,000+ users across 15 countries, has processed over millions in payouts, and serves businesses across Africa, the UK, and the US.The company is building the AI and financial infrastructure layer powering the future of global work.
• Paycrest — Decentralized routing protocol for instant, secure, zero-fee payments in emerging markets.
• Cr3dentials — Embedded financing for neobanks

Portfolio highlights

• GoMetro — Fleet management simplified with GoMetro. Integrate telematics, gain real-time visibility, and optimize operations with a secure, scalable platform,
• Sendmarc — Manage your organization's DMARC, SPF, and DKIM with world-class implementation services and support. All in one easy-to-use platform.
• visionAI — Discover how AI MES software enhances factory efficiency and reduces blindspots to minimize equipment downtime and boost productivity.

Portfolio highlights

• VitVio — VitVio is a platform built around AI and computer vision with the goal of improving efficiency and quality of care in operating rooms.
• UniPay — UniPay is an eCommerce platform for infrastructure and industry-lacking regions that offers 5 products that enable trust, promote transparency, and enforce accountability.
• Emission Sentri — Drive emission management and reduction with insights