Africa’s startups pulled in $1.36 billion in the first half of 2026, excluding exits, but the money was heavily clustered around a handful of sectors — a pattern that mirrors the geographic concentration already seen at the market level, according to new data from Africa: The Big Deal.
Two sectors, Fintech and Logistics & Transport, accounted for more than three-quarters of everything raised on the continent during the period.
Fintech held onto its position as the top-funded sector, pulling in $556 million, or 41% of total capital. Logistics & Transport wasn’t far behind at $472 million (35%), though its strong showing was largely down to one company: Kenyan electric-vehicle player Spiro, whose $327 million raise made up 24% of all funding raised across Africa in H1 alone, and 70% of everything raised in the logistics and transport space. Agri & Food ($93 million, 7%), Waste Management ($60 million, 4%) and Energy & Water ($50 million, 4%) rounded out the top five.
Because headline totals can be skewed by one or two mega-deals, sector-level trends are harder to read cleanly — but the scale of Logistics & Transport’s showing this half stands out regardless: its 35% share of funding is well above anything the sector has posted before, having never exceeded 13% even at its previous peak in 2024. Energy told the opposite story, with its 4% share marking a sharp drop from the 20–27% range it typically held between 2023 and 2025.
Given that Spiro’s raise — and most of the broader Logistics & Transport total — was EV-related, and that climate-adjacent sectors like Waste Management also performed well, Climate Tech’s overall share of funding rose to 39% in H1 2026. That’s up from 34% in 2024 and roughly in line with 2025’s 38%.
The picture looks different when startups are counted by number of deals rather than dollars raised. Fintech still led on volume, with 48 companies (25% of all funded startups) closing rounds. But the fight for second place was close among HealthTech (29), Logistics & Transport (27), and Agri & Food (26) — evidence that funding activity across the ecosystem is broader than the dollar figures alone suggest, even if larger check sizes remain concentrated in a few areas.
Climate Tech’s share of startup count (30%) came in below its share of funding (39%), but that gap is consistent with prior periods — the sector represented 28% of funded startups in 2024 and 29% in 2025.
