Sub-Saharan Africa Venture Funding 2025 Continues Shifting Toward Debt-Led Growth

July 2025 consolidates the debt-led trends we've observed since the beginning of the year in SSA startup financing, with startups raising a total of US$811.5 million year-to-date. While below 2023's peak of US$988.7 million, this represents a 19.5% increase from 2024's US$679.1 million, solidifying a resilient yet evolving investment landscape.

Deal activity has continued its slowdown, consolidating the pattern from earlier months with 154 rounds YTD—a steep decline from 279 in 2024 and 381 in 2023. Yet, average deal sizes have more than doubled to approximately US$5.27 million (calculated from YTD totals) versus US$2.43 million last year. This shift solidifies investors' growing preference for structured debt over late-stage equity amid persistently high borrowing costs and tighter global financing.

Let’s break down the top five deals that shaped SSA’s funding landscape in July, exemplifying these consolidating trends.

July’s Top Five Funding Rounds

Together, the five biggest deals of July 2025 raised US$197.8 million, underscoring both sector diversity and the centrality of debt financing.

• Sun King (Kenya): The largest deal of the month, Sun King closed a record securitization of US$156M to expand solar solutions across Kenya. Backed by Citi and Stanbic Bank, the financing will bring electricity to 1.4 million low-income households and businesses, cementing Sun King’s position as a global leader in off-grid energy.

• Paymenow Group (South Africa): Paymenow, an earned wage access (EWA) platform, raised a US$22.5M facility from Standard Bank. Operating in South Africa, Namibia, and Zambia, the startup helps workers access earned wages before payday, reducing reliance on predatory lending.

• Payaza (Nigeria): Payaza, a pan-African payments infrastructure provider, secured  approval to issue US$13M in commercial paper. The funds will scale its infrastructure, widen its product suite, and strengthen cross-border payment flows.

• Solarise Africa (Mauritius): Solarise Africa raised US$3.3M from Mergence Investment Managers to expand its energy-as-a-service model for commercial and industrial clients. The company is targeting 200 MW deployed capacity by 2030.

• BFree (Nigeria): Debt recovery startup BFree collected US$3M from Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund. Serving over 6.6 million borrowers, the company applies ethical, digital-first approaches to distressed loan portfolios across Africa.

The Future of Sub-Saharan Africa Venture Funding 2025

July's numbers reinforce the year's venture funding pivot toward fewer but larger deals, consolidating SSA debt-led venture trends 2025. The total raised by the top five startups alone—US$197.8 million, all via debt—shows how this financing is fueling the region’s most capital-intensive sectors. In the top five list above for Sub-Saharan Africa venture funding 2025, we see renewables, payments infrastructure, and wage access solutions.

Unless global rates ease and equity markets rebound, expect debt-led financing to dominate SSA venture capital through Q3 2025, per World Bank insights on borrowing costs. For now, startups are adapting by structuring innovative local-currency and securitized deals, such as Sun King's record-breaking example, that align with Africa’s economic realities.