Kenyan startups received Sh524.5 billion ($4.2 billion) in private funding in the five years to 2025, highlighting the appeal of the country’s emerging firms to largely foreign capital inflows.
The funding represents about 84 percent of private capital deals in East Africa, underlining Kenya’s status as the largest regional economy, according to data from the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA).
The recipients of the private capital have overwhelmingly been in the clean technologies sector, with firms like d.light and M-Kopa consistently accounting for the top publicly disclosed deals in the period.
Solar energy-focused d.light was, for instance, Kenya’s largest private capital recipient in 2025, having raised Sh38.7 billion ($300 million) during the period.
“Kenya remains the centre of gravity for private capital in East Africa, shaping both the scale and direction of investment across the region,” AVCA said in its Private Capital Activity in East Africa report published last week.
Kenyan startups have led the region in both private capital deal volumes and values at 65 percent and 84 percent respectively.
Deal share
This implies that at least six out of every 10 publicly disclosed funding deals in the region have been in Kenya, while $8 out of every $10 of private capital to East Africa has gone to firms in the country.
About 70 percent of the funding deals have been venture capital (VC), which represents funding directed to early-stage companies with strong growth upside.
The concentration of funding in energy and climate-centred firms is attributed to the sector’s prominence at the intersection of structural demand and scalable investment opportunities for private capital.
“The sector’s evolution has been marked by a shift from traditional solar and wind infrastructure financing towards distributed and off-grid models such as pay-as-you-go solar, mini-grids and independent power producers (IPPs) that directly address persistent power deficits while accelerating the region’s clean energy transition,” the AVCA report adds.
