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Data Entry Academy, a Lagos-based edtech platform, has won first place in the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Get Ready 4 timbuktoo EdTech accelerator, taking home a $10,000 prize after topping a field of 1,429 applicants from across Africa. The startup, founded by Chioma Ifeanyi-Eze, beat finalists from Egypt and Senegal during a July 1 pitch event in Dakar, Senegal. Another Nigerian startup, Varsity Scape, placed sixth among the top 10 winners. The award underscores the growing prominence of Nigeria’s edtech ecosystem, particularly startups building digital skills and workforce development solutions, at a time when development finance institutions and ecosystem builders are expanding support for education technology across Africa. As venture funding becomes more selective, accelerator programmes such as timbuktoo and the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship are increasingly helping startups refine their products, access mentorship, and build investor readiness. According to UNDP, the 2026 Get Ready 4 timbuktoo EdTech accelerator attracted 1,429 applications from across Africa, with 1,099 startups meeting the eligibility criteria. Fifty startups were selected for the 12-week programme after nearly 2,850 blind evaluations by 19 independent experts. Twenty startups advanced to the final pitch, where 10 emerged as winners. Data Entry Academy took the top prize, followed by startups from Egypt and Senegal in second and third place, respectively. Founded in 2020, Data Entry Academy operates a 30-day online training programme that teaches workplace software skills, including spreadsheets, cloud accounting, invoicing, inventory management and payroll tools. The startup says it has trained more than 17,000 learners across Africa through courses delivered on Telegram and Teachable. Participants require only basic computer literacy to enrol, with learners ranging from job seekers and entrepreneurs to employees being upskilled by their organisations. Data Entry Academy and Varsity Scape previously participated in the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship, which provides selected startups with $100,000 in equity-free funding and advisory support. Data Entry Academy joined the programme’s second cohort in 2024, while Varsity Scape participated in the third cohort. The award caps a 12-week accelerator in which startups received support to strengthen their business models, improve their products, develop market traction, and prepare for investment through the broader timbuktoo pipeline. The accelerator is part of UNDP’s broader timbuktoo initiative, launched at the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos with a goal of mobilising $1 billion over 10 years to support 10,000 startups and generate $10 billion in economic value across Africa. The initiative describes itself as a platform that brings together governments, investors, universities, and private sector organisations. It currently runs six pan-African thematic hubs, has trained 3,480 innovators, and operates 16 University Innovation Pods across the continent, with another 12 in the pipeline. True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks. Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
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This article was originally published on TechCabal Insights and was written by Joseph Oloyede, Analyst at TechCabal Insights. The first half of 2026 is officially over, and the numbers show that African startups had it good funding-wise. Startups across the continent raised a total of $1.44 billion. This is a slight increase from the $1.42 billion raised during the first half of 2025. Even with a tough global economy, this steady growth is a clear sign that investors still believe heavily in African innovation. The H1 race This year is a story of resilience. While the total amount of money raised stayed strong at $1.44 billion, the way deals are happening has completely changed. The biggest story of H1 2026 is that although fewer deals are happening, companies are raising much bigger rounds. We tracked only 146 disclosed deals across the first six months of the year, which is a big drop from the 252 deals we saw in H1 2025. The momentum really picked up at the start of June. Pan-African electric mobility startup Spiro announced a massive $215 million mega deal on the very first day of the month. This single deal pushed the ecosystem’s total funding over the line, helping 2026 finish the half-year ahead of 2025. The quarterly mechanics: Equity vs. debt split A closer look at how startups raised money shows that debt has become a huge tool for survival. Funding was split evenly between the two quarters, with $749 million raised in Q1 and $692 million raised in Q2. Over the full six months, startups raised $818M in Equity, $614 million in Debt, and $9 million in Grants. This balanced mix shows that companies are choosing to take on loans instead of giving up company ownership, focusing more on stable businesses that own physical assets like electric vehicles and solar equipment. June’s top deals: Climatetech and big infrastructure stand out The half-year closed with a massive wave of activity, especially across green infrastructure and AI-backed solutions: Spiro is a pan-African electric motorbike manufacturer and clean energy provider that dominated the month by securing a $215 million equity round from Impact Fund Denmark and Equitane, alongside an additional $55 million equity injection from NewTrails Capital. Blnk is an Egyptian digital lending fintech platform that raised a combined $37.1 million ($12.5 million in Series A equity and $24.6 million in debt) to instantly finance point-of-sale customer purchases. AethexAI is an AI-driven services startup developing localised customer support automation for Africa and the Middle East that secured $3 million in pre-seed funding led by 4DX Ventures and Enza Capital. Zimi Charge is a South Africa-based electric vehicle charging infrastructure platform that raised $2.6 million in equity from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and Keyo Ventures. Agenz is a data-driven property valuation proptech platform in Morocco that secured a $5M seed funding round from Breega and Attijariwafa Ventures. Other notable June activities included major catalytic funding awards from Cascador to green and supply chain platforms, including Agriarche ($1.8 million), solar-freezer provider Koolboks ($1.5 million), and IoT-enabled clean cookstove builder Powerstove ($1.3 million) A record half for mergers & acquisitions (M&A) Because getting fresh equity was harder for early-stage startups, many companies chose to buy or merge with each other instead of shutting down. H1 2026 recorded an incredible 63 M&A deals. This is nearly double the 33 deals we tracked in H1 2025, making it the busiest half-year for mergers and acquisitions in African tech history. This wave of M&A is a major milestone: it creates healthier market leaders through consolidation and opens up vital exit opportunities for investors, proving the ecosystem can self-correct and mature during a funding slowdown. We saw mature market leaders buy smaller startups to quickly get licenses or enter new countries: The payments space: Flutterwave acquired banking platform Mono in an all-stock deal valued between $25 million and $40 million, while Paystack took over Brass and integrated Ladder Microfinance Bank. Going global: African startups are expanding outside the continent. Spiro bought UK engineering firm Coexlion, Nigeria’s Nomba acquired a Canadian payment firm, and Yassir bought French ad-tech company Kawarizmi. Big money deals: Major corporate moves made waves across the market, including nCino’s $75 million acquisition of South Africa’s DocFox and MNDR’s $119 million deal to buy insurtech pioneer Bima. The operational reality: Restructuring, shutdowns, and the AI paradox Behind the big funding numbers, day-to-day operations were all about cutting costs and working smarter. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has moved from a buzzword to a core part of how businesses run. We have tracked over 100 different AI use cases across Africa, mostly helping startups with credit scoring, fraud detection, and automated customer support. While AI helps companies work faster and cheaper, it has come with a high human cost. As these tools mature, they are moving from helper tools to replacing specific roles. This shift is clear in the numbers: so far in 2026, we tracked over 1,000+ layoffs across the continent, up from 698 layoffs during the same period in 2025. Companies are now openly citing AI as a reason for downsizing. For example, Jumia cut 200 jobs to integrate AI into its support team, and Zap Africa reduced its team by 44% through AI restructuring. Along with these layoffs, the tough economy caused 13 disclosed shutdowns, but pushed surviving startups to launch 46 product restructurings, 39 market expansions, and 117 company-to-company partnerships to stay afloat. Join the H1 2026 Report Waitlist here, to see the full list of active investors, average check sizes, regional breakdowns, and where venture capital funds are deploying money next. Join the waitlist for our upcoming State of Tech in Africa H1 2026 Report to get it first.
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Google Play, Google’s digital marketplace for Android apps, has launched a $1 million equity-free fund for independent game studios across 32 African countries to help game developers grow their businesses and reach more players globally. The Indie Games Fund will award between $50,000 and $200,000 in capital to each of the 10 selected studios, alongside technical support and mentorship from industry experts. Applications are open until July 31, and the selected studios will be announced in September. Africa’s gaming industry continues to grow despite limited access to funding. According to the 2025 African Game Industry Report, the continent is home to about 250 game studios. Still, only 3% have ever received government funding, and 33.3% of game developers have participated in accelerators or support programmes. While the African gaming market size is estimated at $2.29 billion, many African studios still struggle to secure the capital needed to scale, highlighting a gap between the market’s commercial potential and the financing available to developers. “Bringing this fund to the continent underscores our commitment to unlocking the immense talent of local studios, providing the resources needed to scale businesses, refine creative visions, and share uniquely African stories with a global audience,” said Ben McOwen Wilson, managing director, Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Google Play. Google said the selected studios will also receive hands-on mentorship from industry experts and technical support to optimise their games, strengthen their development frameworks, and improve discoverability on Google Play. Applications are open on Google’s Indie Games Fund portal to privately owned game studios with 50 or fewer employees registered in one of the 32 eligible African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Studios applying must also have already launched a mobile, PC, or console game, commit to publishing their game on Google Play, and participate in the Google Play Pass programme on a non-exclusive basis for two years. Large funding rounds remain a rarity in Africa’s gaming industry, as evidenced by the $27 million raise by South African gaming company Carry1st in 2023. While Google Play’s fund will support only 10 studios, it could help bridge that gap by providing developers with the capital and credibility needed to secure larger investments. True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks. Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
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