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Nigerian Startup Funding Fell 97%. Read the Fine Print.

$364.1M in August, $11.3M in September. One deal explains most of the gap, and the deal count tells a calmer story.

Founder and Editor
2 min read
The Lagos skyline across the water at Victoria Island
File photo: Lagos skyline. Clara Sanchiz, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

[ The short version ]

  1. 01Nigerian startups raised $11.3M in September, down from $364.1M in August.
  2. 02$250M of August was one deal: Moove's Series C.
  3. 0353% of September's total came from two $3M debt deals, Nomba and Drive45.

Nigerian startups raised $11.3 million in September, down from $364.1 million in August, according to Nairametrics data reported by Brand Spur. That is a drop of 97%.

Why it looks so brutal

  • August included Moove's $250 million Series C.
  • Two $3 million debt deals, Nomba and Drive45, made up 53% of September's total.
  • Nine startups were funded in September, against 20 in August.
$250M
Of August's total was a single dealMoove, Series C

One month is a weather report, not the climate. In a market this size, totals swing on a few big cheques, so the number of deals is worth watching as much as the dollars.

Sources and notes
  • #Funding
  • #Nigeria
  • #Startups

[ Written by ]

Founder and Editor

Victor Oluwaleye founded TheStak to explain what tech, AI and marketing actually change for the people running businesses, in Africa and beyond. A computer scientist by training and a marketer by trade, Victor has spent more than a decade leading marketing teams and building digital systems inside organisations, and runs Induuce Consultants, a growth and digital transformation agency in Lagos. More about Victor

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