2020 was a record year for investment into the African tech start-up ecosystem, with more start-ups raising more money, from more investors, than ever before.

This is according to the sixth edition of the annual African Tech Startups Funding Report 2020 released by start-up news and research portal Disrupt Africa, in partnership with Catalyst Fund, RTB House, Quona Capital, 4Di Capital, Villgro Africa, Lateral Capital, and Otundi Ventures.

The report finds that new funding records were set over the course of 2020, as 397 start-ups raised an impressive US$701.5-million in total funding. Both these figures are up substantially on the previous year, with the number of funded start-ups increasing 27.7% on 2019, and the funding total growing by 42.7%.

Though growth has slowed a little, the numbers represent impressive growth on 2019 in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, and mean the African tech start-up ecosystem continues on its positive trajectory from a funding perspective.

This year’s edition of the report also counts at least 370 active investors, marking 42.8% growth on the previous year, when the data tracked 261 investors. This figure was in itself a 68.4% rise on the 155 investors found in 2018.

“Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt remain emphatically Africa’s “big four” from a funding perspective, accounting for 77 per cent of funded start-ups and 89.2 per cent of total investment. Nigeria (85), Egypt (82) and South Africa (81) lead the way from a ventures perspective, but when it comes to total combined raised capital it is Kenya that is Africa’s leader, with start-ups from the East African country raising over US$190 million in funding in 2020,” according to Disrupt Africa.

Though these markets remain clear leaders, there are signs of growing activity elsewhere on the continent, with start-ups backed in 24 African countries, up from 19 in 2019, 20 in 2018, and 18 in 2017.

The financial technology sector was, yet again, the most attractive to investors in 2020, with more start-ups securing funding than any other sector and a combined total that dwarfed all others, research shows.

“In all, 99 Fintech start-ups raised investment over the course of the year, representing 24.9 percent of the overall total, while the combined amount raised by Fintech companies over the course of the year jumped 49.3 percent to US$160,319,065,” Disrupt Africa continues.

However, growth in Fintech investment is slowing to some extent, and other sectors also had impressive years - notably e-commerce and retail-tech, e-health, logistics, energy, recruitment and HR, transport, and agri-tech.

“The growth in funding seen across the continent’s tech ecosystems in 2020 is extremely strong, and all the more impressive given the circumstances of the year given COVID-19 and its many implications. As African startup funding passes the $700 million mark for the first time, and more investors pump more money into more markets than ever before, there are no signs of the sector slowing down,” said Gabriella Mulligan, co-founder of Disrupt Africa.