A monthly digest of African tech news, with a healthtech lens.
H1 2026 funding in African tech was flat but really bad for healthtech
African startups raised $1.44 billion in the first half of 2026 (up 1.4% YoY), but the number of companies securing funding fell sharply, with a ~31% decline in deal count over the same period, according to TC Insights. Spiro, an electric bike startup, accounted for nearly 20% of all funding raised after securing $270 million in June.
Investors appear to be backing fewer companies while writing bigger cheques, likely doubling down on those with stronger traction and clearer paths to scale. That also tracks given the increased consolidation in the ecosystem: H1 2026 recorded 62 mergers and acquisitions, nearly matching the 68 M&A deals recorded in all of 2025.
Healthtech startups accounted for just 1.3% ($18 million) of H1 2026 funding across 31 disclosed deals. AI Diagnostics recorded the largest round at $5.2 million, and only four other companies raised more than $1 million. At current pace, 2026 is on track to be the weakest funding year the sector has seen.
African tech is getting more gender diverse, but there’s a catch
African tech is making slow but measurable progress on gender diversity. Women now co-founded 19.2% of startups, up from 14.6% in 2023, while the share of startups led by female CEOs has risen from 9.6% to 12.1% over the same period, according to Disrupt Africa’s latest gender diversity research.
Unfortunately, the gender funding gap remains well documented, and funding is not keeping pace with the growth in female founders. The share of funded startups with a female co-founder fell from 26.3% in 2023 to 16.9% in 2025. In other words, Africa’s startup ecosystem is becoming more diverse, but not yet more equitable.
Healthtech is actually one of the more gender-diverse parts of African tech. “E-health” ranks second among all sectors for female co-founders: 28.6% of e-health startups have at least one female co-founder, compared with 19.2% across African tech overall. 18.3% also have a female CEO, making e-health the third best-performing sector on that measure.
Uber is pulling out of Nigeria and Uganda
Uber has ended operations in Nigeria and Uganda after more than a decade in both markets. The exits come as part of a wider global restructuring that will cut around 3,300 jobs, with Uber simplifying its operations and redirecting investment towards… driverless cars.
Nigeria in particular should theoretically be one of Africa’s most attractive consumer tech markets because of its sheer population, yet Uber has essentially decided its resources can generate better returns elsewhere. It’s another reminder that these markets are incredibly difficult to crack, even for companies, models and products that seem pretty straightforward. NotaDeepDive published some rapid analysis on the macro trends in Nigeria that may have driven this decision.
What are our take-aways?
The investment news is depressing, but it’s important to remember that venture funds have never been the dominant source of financing for scaling innovations in health. Healthtech innovations usually reach scale in partnership with major healthcare organizations like insurers, government purchasers, manufacturers, distributors, provider groups, and more.
Thus, amidst the downturn in investment, we’re encouraged by the unprecedented progress we’re seeing in our i3 Africa program; over the past 18 months 7 startups in our Future of Pharmacy cohort have signed partnerships with major organizations, worth >$8M.
Crafting new kinds of partnerships is not easy: major healthcare organizations have long sales cycles, novel partnerships with tech startups require creativity, persistence, trust and vision on all sides. But against the odds, several startups, governments, manufacturers and banks in Africa are now showing it can be done. Their progress is lighting the way.
