Start-up funding hits US$56m

The nation’s start-up ecosystem attracted US$56million in funding for 2025, placing it eighth among African markets by total capital raised, according to figures compiled by funding tracker The Big Deal Africa.

While the country trailed markets such as Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, Benin and Morocco in total investment, Ghana maintained a relatively strong position in terms of the number of ventures raising at least US$100,000; ranking fifth on the continent in this segment.

The disparity between total funding value and deal volume reflects an ecosystem that is active but still maturing, analysts say.

“Ranking higher by deal volume than by total funding value suggests that Ghana is producing a healthy pipeline of start-ups which are able to raise early and growth-stage capital, particularly tickets above US$100,000,” Solomon Adjei, President-Association of Ghana Startups, told B&FT.

“The lower total funding value indicates that most of these deals are still relatively small. Ghana’s ecosystem is broadening before it is deepening. The next phase will require stronger local institutional capital, more follow-on funding and policies that enable start-ups to scale regionally and globally from Ghana,” he added.

Ghana continues to perform better on deal frequency than on deal size, with most ventures receiving smaller rounds. Compared with the Big Four, Ghana still faces challenges in attracting large equity deals – which require deeper local institutional capital, international investor engagement and supportive scale-stage structures.

“If Ghana is to compete more strongly with the Big Four, start-ups must be built for scale from day-one. Founders and investors must collaborate more intentionally through syndication, co-investment and blended finance structures. Policy consistency, including passage of the Ghana Innovation and Startup Bill, is also critical to boosting investor confidence,” Mr. Adjei further stated.

Across Africa, the Big Four – Kenya, South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria – continued to dominate investment, capturing 82 percent of total funding in 2025.

Kenya led with US$984million raised, 52 percent higher than in 2024 and driven primarily by energy and mobility ventures including d.light, Sun King, M-Kopa, and Burn.

Egypt followed with US$614million while South Africa and Nigeria raised US$600million and US$343million respectively. South Africa saw heavy concentration in equity investments with more than 90 percent in this segment.

Nigeria however experienced a 17 percent decline from 2024, reducing its share of continental funding from 19 percent to 11 percent.

Beyond the traditional Big Four, several smaller markets recorded significant funding rounds. Senegal raised US$157million, climbing from the tenth position in 2024 – largely due to mobile money service provider Wave’s US$137million debt facility. Benin’s US$100million total was entirely attributable to sustainable transportation provider Spiro’s US$100million round.

Morocco and Tunisia raised US$58million and $37million respectively, while Ghana followed with US$56million. Other markets attracting between  US$10 million and US$100million in 2025 included Togo (US$31million), Côte d’Ivoire (US$28million), Mali (US$18million), Rwanda (US$25million) and Uganda (US$22million). Several additional markets raised between US$1million and US$10million, while in 26 countries no deals above US$100,000 could be identified.

When measured by the number of ventures raising at least US$100,000, Ghana ranked fifth on the continent – ahead of Morocco (6), Tunisia (7), Tanzania (8), Rwanda (9) and Uganda (10).

Gender disparities

Funding for women-led ventures remains extremely limited both in Ghana and across Africa, the data showed. In 2025, women-led ventures across the continent received less than one percent of total funding while gender-diverse teams captured 8 percent.

Men-only founding teams accounted for 91 percent of investment. Grants present a slightly more favourable picture for women but they represent only 1.5 percent of total investment, offering limited opportunity to scale.

“In Ghana, this gap is not just statistical. It is structural and its consequences are profound. Female founders consistently report being over-questioned, underfunded and discouraged, even when presenting ideas equal to or stronger than those of their male counterparts. Grants and small funding instruments slightly improve access; but these account for a tiny fraction of total funding, offering limited opportunity to scale,” Mr. Adjei noted.

He highlighted the barriers faced by women: namely long, opaque due diligence processes, sectoral pigeonholing into ‘acceptable’ industries and discriminatory collateral requirements.

These obstacles, he said, often result in women founders accepting predatory investment terms, diluting ownership or failing to scale ventures that are otherwise viable.

“The funding gap is not an accident of market forces, it is the result of deliberate choices embedded in policies, practices and cultural norms that can and must be changed,” he explained.

“Ghana has an opportunity to lead Africa in creating an equitable funding ecosystem. The question is whether we have the political will to do so,” he added.

His recommendations for reform include establishing growth-stage funds specifically for women-led ventures, mandating gender-diverse investment committees, introducing alternative collateral frameworks and creating founder protection offices to guard against predatory term sheets.

The analyst insists that sustaining Ghana’s start-up growth will require bridging the gap between deal volume and large-scale equity, addressing gender inequities, and developing sectoral hubs for scaling. Investment continues to concentrate in energy, mobility and fintech, while unicorn activity remained limited and IPOs outside Morocco and South Africa were scarce.

“Ghana’s start-up ecosystem is healthy at the early and growth phase, but we are still building the bridge to the kinds of large capital commitments seen in the continent’s biggest hubs. That is exactly where our strategic focus should be in the coming years,” Mr. Adjei said.

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