The second half of 2026 has started, bringing the total funding raised by African startups to $1.66 billion so far this year. Between January and June, startups raised $1.44 billion. Adding July’s $224M brings us to the $1.66B milestone.
While July’s $224 million dropped from June’s high of $334 million, the biggest story of the month is not the monthly dip; it is where the capital went. Clean energy, electric vehicles (EV), and physical infrastructure dominated July’s funding, pulling in the majority of capital across the continent. Out of 37 deals tracked in July, 28 were disclosed, while 9 startups kept their funding numbers hidden.
Top deals in July 2026
The money raised in July went into a healthy mix of clean energy, fintech expansion, and AI platforms:
- Gotion Power Morocco secured a massive $114 million loan from the African Development Bank to build Africa’s first electric vehicle battery factory in Morocco.
- M-Kopa is a Kenya-based asset finance company that secured $30 million in debt from Dutch development bank FMO to offer more loan options for electric bikes and smartphones.
- Bridgement is a South African AI-powered business lender that raised $20.3 million in a funding round backed by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and Standard Bank.
- BioLite is a Kenya-based clean energy company that secured $10.7 million in debt from the Africa Go Green Fund (AGG) to sell clean cookstoves in Zambia.
- CrossBoundary Energy is a Kenya-based solar and renewable energy company that got a $10 million equity investment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
- Cue is a South African customer service platform that uses AI on WhatsApp and webchat; it raised $5 million from Knife Capital and FAM Investments.
- Peach Cars is a Kenya-based online car marketplace that raised $4 million in debt from Japan Finance Corporation (JFC) and Shoko Chukin Bank.
- Fuzu is a Kenya-based job and hiring platform that raised $3.86 million in Series A funding from Sparkmind.vc, Finnfund, and Seedstars International.
The EV infrastructure race
Gotion Power Morocco’s $114 million gigafactory deal and M-Kopa’s $30 million debt facility are not isolated wins; they reflect a massive shift toward commercial EV adoption. TechCabal recently reported on Swap, a Nigerian startup converting petrol-powered commercial tricycles (kekes) into electric vehicles running on swappable lithium batteries. While drivers save heavily on fuel and repairs, startups like Swap face a major hurdle: the high cost of charging infrastructure in areas with weak power grids.