ABAN Says Agritech Leads 2025 African Angel Networks as Funding Falls to $168.1 Million
Updated
Updated · TechCabal · May 11
ABAN Says Agritech Leads 2025 African Angel Networks as Funding Falls to $168.1 Million
1 articles · Updated · TechCabal · May 11
$168.1 million in 2025 agritech funding still coincided with agriculture and agtech becoming the top sector for African angel networks, ABAN said, signaling early-stage conviction despite a broader capital slowdown.
More than 60 investors and network managers surveyed across Africa showed a cautious market: over 35% preferred revenue-generating startups, and more than 90% of individual angels wrote checks below $25,000, up from 76% in 2024.
Angel networks showed somewhat deeper capacity, with 8% reporting tickets above $100,000, while the continent counted more than 75 active networks and over 5,000 individual angels across 37 countries.
Nearly 29% of respondents had paused or reduced investing, with limited exits, weak liquidity, thin deal flow, investor knowledge gaps, and regulatory and economic constraints still holding back the ecosystem.
The shift also marks changing priorities from 2024, when logistics and supply chain drew the strongest participation, as tighter venture funding and DFI pullbacks leave angels more influential in deciding which startups get early backing.
As big money flees agritech, can small checks from angel investors truly save the sector?
With few IPOs or buyouts, are secondary sales the only real exit for Africa’s angels?
As development banks retreat, can local corporate investors fill the venture funding gap for startups?
2025 African Agritech Funding: Angel Investors Step Up as Total Investment Falls 20%
Overview
In 2025, African agritech faced a paradox: overall investment dropped sharply, with funding falling nearly 20% to under $170 million and deal numbers also declining. Despite this, the sector became a top priority for angel investors, especially among individual angels and networks. Most individual angels wrote smaller cheques under $25,000, showing strong early-stage support even as larger institutional funding slowed. This shift highlights a changing funding landscape, where angel investors are stepping in to back agritech innovation, but a gap remains in scaling startups due to reduced later-stage capital.