Q4 2025: The Window Reopens
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 strongest equity quarter of the recovery
Q4 2025 delivered $876 million in equity (Partech) — the best quarter since the downturn, with two megadeals providing 30% of it.
2. The IPOs return
Optasia raised $345 million listing on the JSE at a $1.4 billion valuation in November — the continent's first significant tech IPO in over six years — followed by Cash Plus in Casablanca. Exit proof, finally.
3. 2025 closes at $3.2 billion, +40%
The first growth year since 2022, on almost identical deal counts: bigger, better-priced deals, not froth.
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.