How South Africa’s ecosystem has stayed resilient during the funding downturn.
Between Q1 2023 and Q1 2024, at least five South Africa startups managed to raise follow-on funding rounds. South Africa was the only ecosystem in sub-Saharan Africa to see an increase in average valuations in 2023.
Here is why SA startups saw an uptick in average valuations in 2023
South African tech startups saw an average increase of 21% in their valuation in 2023. Tougher competition for deal flow at early-stage startup investment drove up valuations in the South African tech ecosystem.
SA startups returned $17 million in exit returns to investors in 2022
Exits in the South African ecosystem returned investors R318 million (~$17 million), representing a 3.8x return multiple on the R83 million (~$4.4 million) invested. The total number of losses incurred on exits was R80 million (~$4.2 million).
