The Africa Business Index published on 23 October 2026 its selection of 15 African startups to watch before 2027. From mobility to fintech, health and real estate, the list reflects the growing diversity and maturity of the African ecosystem, which had raised over $2.1 billion in nine months in 2026.
Mobility and fintech dominate
Moove (Nigeria) leads the list with a $250 million Series C led by Mubadala. The vehicle financing platform for professional drivers targets African markets with high mobility demand. Spiro, the pan-African electric motorcycle startup, accumulated two rounds in Q2 2026 for a combined $270 million — a rare performance in a still-undercapitalised sector.
In fintech, Yellow Card — a stablecoin payment infrastructure — raised $40 million in August 2026, consolidating its presence across eighteen African countries. PawaPay, operating in mobile money infrastructure, and HUB2 (Côte d'Ivoire) complete a pan-African fintech landscape in rapid consolidation.
Health, HR and AI: the emerging sectors
Waspito (Cameroon), a telemedicine platform, raised 1.5 billion CFA francs to expand services across Francophone Africa. Turaco (Kenya) continues developing its micro-monthly insurance offering, while WorkPay (Kenya) and Jem (South Africa) are establishing themselves in HR with raises of over $10 million and $8.4 million respectively.
Omnisient (South Africa), using AI for credit scoring, and WideBot (Egypt), specialising in Arabic conversational AI, illustrate the rise of artificial intelligence tailored to African realities.
Outsiders to watch
Gozem (Togo-Benin), a super-app combining transport, delivery and finance, secured an additional $15.2 million in April 2026, following a $24.5 million IFC debt facility. Yakeey (Morocco) — a proptech with $37 million raised cumulatively — shows that African digital real estate is finally attracting significant capital. Terra Industries (Nigeria) surprises with $52 million raised at seed stage in the defence sector.
Why this matters
With $2.1 billion raised by African startups in nine months of 2026, the continental ecosystem confirms its resilience despite a more selective global venture capital environment. Fintech, logistics and climate absorb nearly 80% of capital — a concentration that signals where Africa can position itself as a global reference market in the coming decade.