Q1 2023: Winter, Properly
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 reset shows its teeth
African venture entered 2023 in open correction — full-year flows would finish around $2.9 billion, down roughly 35% — and Q1 set that tone with sparse large rounds.
2. MNT-Halan bucks the cold
Egypt's MNT-Halan raised $400 million in February, proof that profitable, credit-led models could still command scale capital in the depths of the winter.
3. Flat is the new up
Down rounds and structured terms became normal; founders who had banked 2021 valuations confronted them for the first time.
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.