Q3 2022: Gravity Arrives
The African growth capital quarter in review — funding flows, instruments, and what it meant for founders and investors, from the Caban research desk.
1. The slowdown reaches Africa
Two quarters behind the global correction, African deal values began compressing in earnest — later-stage rounds thinned first, as crossover investors withdrew.
2. Deal count holds, cheque size falls
Founders were still raising; they were raising less, at flatter prices, with tighter terms — the classic mid-correction pattern.
3. Runway becomes the metric
Growth-at-all-costs died quietly this quarter. Months-of-runway replaced ARR multiples as the number boards asked for first.
Reading this as a founder? The through-line of every quarter since 2022 is that preparation, not timing, decides who raises. See how investors would read your business today. As an investor? Our pipeline is built on exactly these dynamics.