Startup Pulse Africa – June 10, 2025

Another exciting week across ' Africa' vibrant tech ecosystem!

Author

Moses Og
June 10, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

🌟 Editor's Note
Welcome to another exciting week in Africa's Startup ecosystem! We've got a packed newsletter full of insights, events, and inspiring stories from the heart of innovation.

In this edition:

  • Cape Town’s “cluster effect” fueling deep-tech startups

  • Lagos: scale opportunities with talent and infrastructure challenges

  • $235M+ in May funding – growth crossing $1B YTD

  • Emerging AI, clean-energy, and recycling deals

  • Founder spotlight – new AI startup raises $9M

1. Cape Town’s Deep‑Tech Advantage

Cape Town continues to shine as a hotbed for deep‑tech innovation. Universities like UCT and Stellenbosch provide a steady pipeline of science and engineering talent, drawing top-tier investment—such as Patrick Soon‑Shiong’s $250M vaccine facility. Still, funding disparities persist for Black entrepreneurs

2. Lagos: Scale vs Infrastructure

Lagos remains Africa’s startup powerhouse, home to 23 of Nigeria’s 28 fastest-growing firms. While scale and fintech dominance (PiggyVest, Moniepoint, PalmPay, Paystack, Flutterwave) offer strong opportunities, it faces significant infrastructure and talent-retention issues. VC deals dropped 7% in 2024, prompting infrastructure projects like Iyin Aboyeji’s planned 72,000 m² tech park .

3. May Deal Flow

  • May 2025 saw ~$235.6M in disclosed funding — pushing total 2025 funding past $1.1B 

  • Q1 2025 already secured ~$460M, just 5% below Q1 2024 — showing sector resilience .

  • Fintech dominates (>60% of total funding) as global investors chase scalable, cross-border payment solutions launchbaseafrica.com ,14itnewsafrica.com 

  • This week (Week 23): over $60M in deals — including Tunisian AI, Nigerian clean energy, and South African recycling

  • Notable rounds:

    • Cutstruct (Nigeria, construction tech): $1.5M seed

    • Regenize (South African recycling): funding from E² Investments

    • AI Startup by renowned founder raised $9M seed funding

5. Founder Spotlight: New AI Venture-Thunder Code,

Thunder Code, an AI-powered software testing platform, co-founded by Karim Jouini and Jihed Othmani (also co-founders of Expensya), has raised $9 million in seed funding This underscores the rising wave of AI-focused innovation in Africa.

Trend

Insight

Mega vs Mid-sized rounds

Q1 lacked mega deals but many mid-sized rounds (>$1M) persisted

Diversifying beyond fintech

Increasing momentum in clean-tech, recycling, and AI

Local funding uplift

Local and diaspora VCs drive resilience amid global slowdown

🔗 Top Reads This Week

🧭 What’s Next?

  • Watch for infrastructure progress like Lagos’s tech park

  • Track emerging rounds in cleantech, AI, and recycling

  • Keep an eye on diversity efforts for more inclusive funding

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