Top 10 African Tech Startups of 2025

OPay (Opera Pay) is a Nigerian mobile financial services platform founded in 2018 that has grown to over 40 million registered users, making it one of the fastest-adopted fintech apps in Africa. Backed by Chinese investors including SoftBank and Sequoia China with over $570 million raised, it offers mobile money, bill payments, ride-hailing, and food delivery through a single super-app. In 2023 OPay's daily transaction volume surpassed that of several Nigerian commercial banks.

M-KOPA is a Nairobi-based asset financing platform founded in 2011 that provides solar energy systems, smartphones, and electric motorcycles to low-income customers across Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, and Nigeria on pay-as-you-go terms. The company has connected over 3 million homes to solar power and in 2022 raised $75 million in a Series G round, valuing it at over $1 billion — making it a "unicorn." Its IoT-enabled credit model has become a global template for last-mile asset financing.

Founded in Lagos in 2014 by Jeremy Johnson and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Andela began by training African software engineers and placing them with global tech companies, later pivoting to a marketplace model connecting 175,000+ vetted African developers with employers worldwide. It reached unicorn status in 2021 with a $1.5 billion valuation after a $200 million Series E round led by SoftBank. Andela has become the largest distributed tech talent network in Africa, with engineers placed at Google, GitHub, and ViacomCBS.

Wave is a Senegal-based mobile money platform founded in 2018 that disrupted the West African mobile money market by offering zero-fee transfers and 1% cash-out — far cheaper than competitors MTN and Orange. By 2022 it had become the largest mobile money operator in Senegal and Ivory Coast, raising $200 million in a Series A round at a $1.7 billion valuation — the largest Series A in African history at the time. Wave serves over 10 million users across Francophone West Africa.

TymeBank is a South African digital bank founded in 2019 that reached 10 million customers faster than any digital bank in history, achieving profitability in 2023 — a milestone rare among challenger banks globally. It offers zero-fee accounts, instant account opening via kiosks in Pick n Pay and Boxer supermarkets, and unsecured personal loans approved in minutes using alternative credit scoring. Backed by Tencent and JG Summit, TymeBank has expanded its model to the Philippines under the GoTyme brand.

Founded in Lagos in 2012, Jumia is Africa's largest e-commerce platform, operating in 11 countries and listing over 9 million products from 100,000+ sellers. It became the first African tech startup to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2019 and has since restructured its business model toward first-party logistics and B2B supply chain services. Jumia's "Black Friday" sale in 2023 attracted over 2.5 million orders in a single day, demonstrating the scale of Africa's growing digital consumer class.

Founded in 2018 by Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled, Chipper Cash is a cross-border payment app enabling fee-free P2P transfers across 8 African countries plus the UK and US. The company raised over $300 million from investors including Jeff Bezos, Bezos Expeditions, and SVB Capital, reaching a valuation of $2 billion in 2021. By 2024 it had processed over $10 billion in cumulative transactions and was among the most downloaded fintech apps in Uganda, Ghana, and Tanzania.

Wasoko is a Nairobi-based B2B e-commerce platform founded in 2016 that delivers fast-moving consumer goods directly to informal retail shops (dukas) across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Ivory Coast, and Senegal. In 2022 it raised $125 million in a Series B round — the largest Series B by an East African startup — and merged with Egyptian platform MaxAB in 2023 to create a pan-African distribution giant. The combined entity serves over 200,000 retailers and processes millions of daily orders.

Zipline is a US-founded autonomous drone delivery company whose African operations — headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda since 2016 — have made Rwanda and Ghana global leaders in drone logistics infrastructure. The company has made over 1 million commercial drone deliveries of blood, vaccines, and medical supplies across sub-Saharan Africa, with a delivery radius of up to 160km per flight. In 2024 Zipline expanded its Africa operations to Nigeria and Ivory Coast, supported by $330 million in cumulative funding.

OPay (Opera Pay) is a Nigerian mobile financial services platform founded in 2018 that has grown to over 40 million registered users, making it one of the fastest-adopted fintech apps in Africa. Backed by Chinese investors including SoftBank and Sequoia China with over $570 million raised, it offers mobile money, bill payments, ride-hailing, and food delivery through a single super-app. In 2023 OPay's daily transaction volume surpassed that of several Nigerian commercial banks.

M-KOPA is a Nairobi-based asset financing platform founded in 2011 that provides solar energy systems, smartphones, and electric motorcycles to low-income customers across Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, and Nigeria on pay-as-you-go terms. The company has connected over 3 million homes to solar power and in 2022 raised $75 million in a Series G round, valuing it at over $1 billion — making it a "unicorn." Its IoT-enabled credit model has become a global template for last-mile asset financing.

Founded in Lagos in 2014 by Jeremy Johnson and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Andela began by training African software engineers and placing them with global tech companies, later pivoting to a marketplace model connecting 175,000+ vetted African developers with employers worldwide. It reached unicorn status in 2021 with a $1.5 billion valuation after a $200 million Series E round led by SoftBank. Andela has become the largest distributed tech talent network in Africa, with engineers placed at Google, GitHub, and ViacomCBS.

Wave is a Senegal-based mobile money platform founded in 2018 that disrupted the West African mobile money market by offering zero-fee transfers and 1% cash-out — far cheaper than competitors MTN and Orange. By 2022 it had become the largest mobile money operator in Senegal and Ivory Coast, raising $200 million in a Series A round at a $1.7 billion valuation — the largest Series A in African history at the time. Wave serves over 10 million users across Francophone West Africa.

TymeBank is a South African digital bank founded in 2019 that reached 10 million customers faster than any digital bank in history, achieving profitability in 2023 — a milestone rare among challenger banks globally. It offers zero-fee accounts, instant account opening via kiosks in Pick n Pay and Boxer supermarkets, and unsecured personal loans approved in minutes using alternative credit scoring. Backed by Tencent and JG Summit, TymeBank has expanded its model to the Philippines under the GoTyme brand.

Founded in Lagos in 2012, Jumia is Africa's largest e-commerce platform, operating in 11 countries and listing over 9 million products from 100,000+ sellers. It became the first African tech startup to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2019 and has since restructured its business model toward first-party logistics and B2B supply chain services. Jumia's "Black Friday" sale in 2023 attracted over 2.5 million orders in a single day, demonstrating the scale of Africa's growing digital consumer class.

Founded in 2018 by Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled, Chipper Cash is a cross-border payment app enabling fee-free P2P transfers across 8 African countries plus the UK and US. The company raised over $300 million from investors including Jeff Bezos, Bezos Expeditions, and SVB Capital, reaching a valuation of $2 billion in 2021. By 2024 it had processed over $10 billion in cumulative transactions and was among the most downloaded fintech apps in Uganda, Ghana, and Tanzania.

Wasoko is a Nairobi-based B2B e-commerce platform founded in 2016 that delivers fast-moving consumer goods directly to informal retail shops (dukas) across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Ivory Coast, and Senegal. In 2022 it raised $125 million in a Series B round — the largest Series B by an East African startup — and merged with Egyptian platform MaxAB in 2023 to create a pan-African distribution giant. The combined entity serves over 200,000 retailers and processes millions of daily orders.

Zipline is a US-founded autonomous drone delivery company whose African operations — headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda since 2016 — have made Rwanda and Ghana global leaders in drone logistics infrastructure. The company has made over 1 million commercial drone deliveries of blood, vaccines, and medical supplies across sub-Saharan Africa, with a delivery radius of up to 160km per flight. In 2024 Zipline expanded its Africa operations to Nigeria and Ivory Coast, supported by $330 million in cumulative funding.