African startup money rebounding

The force

After two hard years, investors are putting money into African start-ups again. Partech counted $4.1 billion raised by African tech companies in 2025, up 25%. Equity was $2.4 billion, and loans to start-ups hit a record $1.6 billion, 41% of all capital (Partech). Kenya ranked first, with $1.04 billion, up 72%. Fintech (money apps) was the biggest sector, at $769 million (Partech).

Briter, another tracker, counted $3.6 billion across 635 deals, also up 25%. It found that local African investors now supply nearly 40% of the money, up from 25% (TechCabal).

Sources differ

The two trackers count differently, so 2025 is "$3.6 billion to $4.1 billion". Figures for the first half of 2026 range from $1.44 billion to $3.3 billion, mostly because some count loans and others don't (TechCabal Insights; Africa.com).

Inside the country

Somalia has fewer than 500 start-ups. 53 have raised $47.8 million across 49 rounds. Of 131 companies founded in the last five years, 95 have closed, 5 were bought and 8 were founded by women (TechCabal). Dealroom lists only a handful of Somali companies at venture stage (Dealroom).

Support is growing. In August 2026, iRise Hub in Mogadishu, SIMAD iLab and HarHub in Hargeisa launched a national start-up network under an EU-funded, UNIDO-run project. It received more than 3,600 applications, trained about 500 founders and incubated more than 200 start-ups (MENA Startup Digest). In 2023 Caafisom, a Hargeisa health start-up, raised a $110,000 seed round, described as Somaliland's first funded start-up (African Business).

Why the region matters

Somalia joined the East African Community as its eighth member on 4 March 2024 (EAC). That puts it inside the region that led African start-up funding in 2025.

What it means for young Somalis

About 500,000 young Somalis enter the job market each year, against about 80,000 new jobs (MENA Startup Digest). Start-ups that grow fast create work. The money to grow them is moving again, and it is moving closest to home in Kenya.