{"id":54646,"date":"2025-04-05T20:58:45","date_gmt":"2025-04-05T20:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/start-ups-raise-460m-in-q1-2025-with-fintech-leading-funding-and-gender-disparity-persisting"},"modified":"2025-05-06T22:07:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T22:07:43","slug":"start-ups-raise-460m-in-q1-2025-with-fintech-leading-funding-and-gender-disparity-persisting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/start-ups-raise-460m-in-q1-2025-with-fintech-leading-funding-and-gender-disparity-persisting","title":{"rendered":"Start-Ups Raise $460M in Q1 2025, with Fintech Leading Funding and Gender Disparity Persisting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>As expected, the performance in March significantly impacted the overall numbers. In total, start-ups raised $460m in Q1 through $100k+ deals (excluding exits), which is only slightly below the Q1 2024 total of $486m, reflecting a 5% YoY decrease.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s important to note that Q1 2024 itself was not a particularly strong quarter. In fact, Q1 2025 marks the second-lowest quarter for start-up funding since late 2020.<\/p>\n

Looking at the number of start-ups that raised at least $1m in Q1, there is a more positive outlook. With 52 such start-ups, this figure aligns with the 2023-2024 average.<\/p>\n

As expected, 83% of the funding went to the Big Four countries, with Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa each attracting approximately $100m in funding (24%, 24%, and 22% of the total, respectively).<\/p>\n

Egypt followed with $61m (14%). Togo rounded out the top five, bolstered by Gozem\u2019s $30m Series B funding round. Nearly half of the funding (46%) was raised by fintech start-ups ($53m for LemFi, $38m for Naked, etc.<\/p>\n

), with energy (18%) and logistics & transportation (10%) following in terms of sectoral breakdown.<\/p>\n

Female CEOs secured just over 2% of the total funding ($10m), with the largest round being a $6.2m grant awarded to South African biotech company African Biologics.<\/p>\n

If grants are excluded, the proportion of funding raised by female CEOs in Q1 2025 drops to 0.7%. Ultimately, 79% of the funding went to either solo male founders (11%) or male-only founding teams (67%).<\/p>\n

Diverse founding teams received 20% of the total, which, while not ideal, is relatively strong compared to previous quarters. A mere 1% was allocated to solo female founders or female-only founding teams.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. As expected, the performance in March significantly impacted the overall numbers. In total, start-ups raised $460m in Q1 through $100k+ deals (excluding exits), which is only slightly below the Q1 2024 total of $486m, reflecting a 5% YoY decrease. However, it\u2019s important to note that Q1 2024 itself was not a particularly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":54645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-54646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nStart-Ups Raise $460M in Q1 2025, with Fintech Leading Funding and Gender Disparity Persisting - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As expected, the performance in March significantly impacted the overall numbers. 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