African female-led startups raised only 8.2% of $597m funding in Q1

2026 has been an impressive year for startup funding for the African venture space. Notably, African startups raised $597 million in the first three months of the year, surpassing the $469 million raised during the same period in 2025.

However, the percentage raised by women founders and CEOs remains a negligible fraction, with only a total of $49 million. This represents 8.2 per cent of the total raised in the first quarter.

Additionally, this also represents a significant drop from the $111 million raised by women founders and CEOs in the same period last year: a 56 per cent decline.

The drop is not limited to the total funding received by startups with women leaders. The number of deals involving female startup leaders also suffered a significant decline, with only 20. This is less than half of the 46 deals recorded in the first quarter of 2025 and only 21.7 per cent of the total 92 deals recorded during the quarter.

An Africa the Big Deal report blames the drop in both funding and the number of deals on the decline of smaller deals, which used to be where women founders and CEOs used to feature.

“Frustratingly, the funding dynamics in disfavour of smaller deals meant that women missed out on investments,” Africa the Big Deal said in its report.

Photo source PWC, UK  Her Tech Talent

See also: How women in tech found mentors, community, and career clarity at BuildHers Circle

Q1 2026 was not so great for Women founders, everyone

Other than the underperformance of women founders and CEOs, the first quarter of the year also suffered in several other metrics. For one, on a quarter-to-quarter basis, it falls short of the $950 million raised in the fourth quarter of 2025, a 37.1 per cent shortfall.

It also falls short on the number of deals recorded, which was 91, far below the 140 recorded in the same period last year, a 35 per cent drop. There is also the matter of small deals, which usually go to early-stage startups.

These deals are important because they indicate the type of promise investors see in the ecosystem.

But it appears the investors aren’t seeing too much promise, if the first quarter numbers are anything to go by, as only 32 smaller deals valued between $100,000 and $500,000 were recorded during the quarter. This is a vast difference from the 73 recorded in the same period last year, a 56.1 per cent decline.

But perhaps one of the more important metrics was the equity vs debt consideration, as investors appear to favour debt financing over equity funding. Of the total $597 million raised, $304 million came in the form of debt, representing nearly 51 per cent. $291 million came in the form of equity, representing 48.7 per cent of the total.

The balance of $2 million came in the form of grants.

This is vastly different from the first quarter of 2025, when $397 million, representing 89 per cent of the $469 million raised, came in the form of equity. Only $52 million, representing 11 per cent, came in the form of debt.

See also: African startups raised $597m in Q1 2026; but fewer ventures are getting the money