VC investors poured $1.1 billion into Kenyan private venture-backed companies last year, a windfall for the East African nation during a year of soaring inflation and a rapidly depreciating local currency. The investment was over double the funding Kenya raised in 2021, TechCrunch reports.
The increased investor interest resulted in the strongest VC funding growth on the continent. Nigeria raised the most VC money on the continent at $1.2 billion, with Kenya coming in second, according to The Big Deal.
Most investor interest focused on clean technology, e-commerce, fintech and the food and agriculture sectors; the cleantech sector raised nearly $550 million. Most of that investment was in Sun King, a manufacturer of solar-powered home electricity systems that raised $330 million in its series D funding round.
Dan Keeler is founder and editor-in-chief at Frontier Markets News and the founder and host of FMN’s podcast.
Prior to founding FMN, Dan was Editor, Frontier Markets at the Wall Street Journal.
