Nairobi Leads: Discover Sub-Saharan Africa’s Top Startup Ecosystems
Kenya
Nairobi
"Ever evolving and growing, Nairobi is an African entrepreneurship and innovation powerhouse. It thrives on innovation, collaboration, and resilience, fuelling an insightful space for others to learn with and from".
Highlights
Nairobi dominates Kenya’s startup ecosystem and is one of the leading tech cities in Africa. The capital city is home to 97% of the country’s startups, as well as regional offices of many multinational companies including research and innovation hubs from Google, Microsoft, and Visa.
In November 2023, U.S. Special Representative for Global Partnerships Dorothy McAuliffe launched a Coalition for Climate Entrepreneurship Hub in Nairobi with partners the Chandaria Business Innovation & Incubation Centre at Kenyatta University, SNDBX International, and Halcyon House. Halcyon House will lead sustainability-focused programming to support local entrepreneurs in scaling climate solutions to market.
In January 2023, VC fund and accelerator Catalyst Fund announced a $2 million investment into 10 startups working on improving the resilience of climate-vulnerable communities in Africa. The Nairobi County Government will issue a green bond of $1.2 billion to finance environmental infrastructure and accelerate the green transition. Under the UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership, the UK Government will commit KES 2 billion ($16.4 million) to lower investment risk and unlock KES 12 billion ($98.6 million) of financing for Kenyan climate-focused projects. Clean energy company Sun King has raised $707 million over 10 rounds. Building materials company Savannah Cement raised $500 million in an April 2023 round.
The third annual Kenya Innovation Week was held in Nairobi in December 2023, gathering thousands of startups, policymakers, investors, and other key players. The Kauffman Fellows Africa VC Summit brought more than 300 investors from over 35 countries to Nairobi in September 2023.
Ecosystem by the Numbers
NUMBER OF UNICORNS
(H2 2021 - 2023)
Sub-Sector Strengths
Fintech
Nairobi is Kenya’s Fintech hub. The Nairobi International Financial Centre (NIFC) makes it easier and more attractive to invest and innovate in financial services. NIFC aims to raise over $2 billion by 2030. Connected asset financing platform M-KOPA has raised $529 million over 21 rounds. Fintech company Kotani Pay raised $2 million in a September 2023 pre-seed round. Fintech company Zanifu raised $10.2 million in an August 2023 seed round. B2B app MarketForce raised $40 million in a February 2023 Series A round.
Agtech & New Food
In Kenya, Agtech ranks second behind only Fintech in job creation and is responsible for creating 18% of startup jobs. The World Bank with Korea World Bank Partnership Facility, the Korean Green Growth Trust Fund, and Plug and Play Tech Center, launched the Africa-Korea Agtech Innovation Challenge to identify disruptive Agtech innovators in Kenya and Uganda. Agtech marketplace Twiga Foods raised $35 million in a December 2023 round. Agtech company Apollo Agriculture has raised $68.6 million over 11 rounds.
E-commerce
Kenya boasts 29 active ecommerce startups, all of which are based in Nairobi. Consumer-facing, multi-product ecommerce platforms and B2B retail-tech solutions are particularly active sub-categories. Ecommerce startup Copia Capital has raised $123 million over eight rounds, most recently in a December 2023 Series C round. Health Ecommerce company Mydawa raised $20 million in a July 2023 private equity round. eCommerce Day Africa, an event dedicated to advancing digital commerce across Africa, took place in Nairobi in September 2023.
Reasons to Move Your Startup to Nairobi
Market Opportunity
With 4.4 million residents, Nairobi is a vibrant commercial hub that is home to the regional headquarters of many global companies. Kenya’s membership in regional economic blocs and its strategic geographic location makes it an ideal gateway to eastern and southern Africa. Kenya benefits from several preferential trade arrangements, including the African Growth and Opportunities Act, which allows duty-free access to the U.S. market for over 6,000 items, as well as the Africa Caribbean and Pacific-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement, which provides duty-free access to the EU.
Growing Tech Community
Kenya’s Vision 2030 economic blueprint established the Konza Technopolis City project, aimed at creating a hub of technology innovation in Africa. The initiative has propelled the growth of tech hubs and coworking spaces in Nairobi. Tech giants Microsoft and Visa have set up innovation hubs in Kenya, and Google launched its first African product development center here. AmazonWeb Services announced AWS local zone cloud infrastructure in Kenya in 2022.
International Environment
In the 2023 Expat City Ranking, Nairobi placed #4 in the Ease of Settling in Index, #10 for the ability to get started with obtaining a visa, learning the local language, and finding housing. Nairobi was ranked #8 among the world's prime cities by real estate giant Knight Frank in its Prime Global Cities Index 2023.
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