South Africa is firmly on the list when venture capital companies seek investment opportunities, with two “unicorns” worth more than $1 billion calling the country home.
According to Endeavor South Africa, the country is attracting solid international investment, enabling it to produce billion-dollar technology companies across fintech, digital payments, healthtech, gaming, enterprise software and green technologies.
This comes as investors pivot away from a singular focus on traditional tech hubs in the US as they seek the next great opportunity.
A decade ago, most companies valued at more than $1 billion were founded in the US. Today, more than half are built outside it, says Endeavor South Africa, a non-profit that invests in and supports high-growth entrepreneurs.
Endeavor South Africa says capital is diversifying geographically and investors are seeking stronger risk-adjusted returns in markets previously viewed as peripheral. “South Africa has increasingly become part of this momentum,” it says.
Globally relevant
Founders of unicorn companies GoTyme Bank (formerly TymeBank) and digital insurance company Pineapple were among 10 entrepreneurs selected to join Endeavor’s global network of founders, investors and mentors at the organisation’s latest international selection panel held in South Africa, in Stellenbosch, towards the end of last year.
Pineapple’s inclusion “reflects the growing global relevance of South Africa’s scale-up economy and the calibre of businesses emerging from the region,” while GoTyme Bank demonstrates that South African entrepreneurs can successfully scale across continents and compete globally, says Endeavor South Africa.
Endeavor South Africa, which helped create 5 156 new jobs between 2021 and 2025 through its portfolio of companies, recently closed its Harvest Fund III. Investors include Firstrand, Standard Bank and Allan Gray, alongside experienced founders-turned-investors, including Barry Swartzberg, co-founder of Discovery, and Tyme Group co-founders Coenraad Jonker and Tjaart van der Walt.
Counting deals
South Africa secured the second-highest amount in funding across the continent for 2025 at $715 million, trailing Kenya’s $1 037 million, according to Partech Partners’ 2025 Africa Tech Venture Capital report.
South Africa’s overall deal-making rate increased 27% compared with 2024, while total deals and volumes grew 25% year-on-year, to reach $4.1 billion across 570 deals, itself a 7% gain year-on-year, the global venture capital firm’s data shows.
South Africa “regained the top position in equity deal count, making 2025 the first year since 2017 in which South Africa leads the way in terms of both equity funding and equity deal activity in Africa, underscoring a renewed depth and the maturity stage of its equity ecosystem,” says Partech Partners.
In 2025, South Africa secured funding of $643 million (40% up year-on-year) with 85 deals, its data shows. Deals were up 27% year-on-year.
Meanwhile, the ICT sector continued to attract the lion’s share of capital in 2024, accounting for 65.9% of deal value, according to the Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA), with software and online markets the top-performing sub-sectors. SAVCA represents over 170 members who manage over R237 billion in funds.
More momentum
Partech Partners says African tech funding regained momentum in 2025 after declining to $3.5 billion in 2023 and then dropping to $3.3 billion the following year, off a six-year high of $6.5 billion in 2022. Kenya, South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria accounted for 72% of total funding compared to 69% in 2024, confirming the persistence of a hub-driven ecosystem across the continent.
“Capital is increasingly following execution, not geography,” says Endeavor South Africa CEO Alison Collier. “In saturated tech hubs, competition for talent is intense, valuations are stretched, and customer acquisition costs are punishing. Increasingly, investors are finding stronger risk-adjusted outcomes in markets that were previously viewed as peripheral.”
“The evidence is already there,” says Collier. “The question is no longer whether emerging ecosystems can produce world-class companies. The question is how quickly these companies will reshape global markets as investment follows performance.”
* Deal values have been stated in dollars to ensure consistency given the rand’s recent volatility due to the war in the Middle East. The exchange rate as of mid-morning is R16.36.
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