9 Nigerian Startups That Gained Funding in 2025

Note: This isn't an exhaustive list, but a highlight of significant moves in the ecosystem.

The year 2025 is wrapping up, and every startup is preparing for the 2026 fiscal year. For the majority, one objective is paramount: securing funding.

Funding is like oxygen for startups, especially those pre-revenue. While over 90% of startups fail in their earliest years, a significant number crumble simply because of an inability to raise the capital needed for continued sustenance.

Why do startups fail to raise funding?

The primary barrier to funding is often a lack of investor trust. This usually stems from:

• No Product-Market Fit: Building a solution for a problem that doesn't exist.
• Industry Difficulty: Building in a sector with historically low returns or high regulation.
• Experience Gaps: Lack of exposure or domain expertise in the chosen industry.
• Due Diligence Failures: Founders not meeting the minimum governance requirements for VC-type funding.

Sometimes, these factors are out of the founders’ control. For instance, if an investor has been burned by rogue founders in a specific region, they may develop a blanket mistrust of other founders from that same demographic.

Where to find funding opportunities in Nigeria

For Nigerian startups, there are credible avenues to secure capital beyond friends and family.

1. The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF)

Every year, successful Nigerian banker Tony Elumelu gives out non-refundable seed capital of $5,000 to 5,000 businesses across Africa. It is effectively the "YC of Africa," but purely philanthropic—you don’t forfeit equity to get in.

2. Y Combinator (YC)

This American-based accelerator runs a 3-month program, culminating in significant investment. Successful startups receive $125,000 for 7% equity, plus an additional $375,000 on favorable terms. Six prominent Nigerian startups secured YC backing in the past, and the program remains a major target for local founders.

3. Zenith Bank

Zenith Bank, one of Nigeria’s most tech-forward institutions, sponsors a select number of startups for its annual TechFair. This year, 10 startups won a total of ₦140 million (~$100,000) after pitching before seasoned investors and technologists.

4. Google for Startups

Google offers equity-free support and up to $150,000 for African founders who scale through their accelerator program. This includes access to cloud resources, AI tools, and mentorship.

Meet our funded startups for 2025

Despite global economic headwinds, Nigerian founders continued to build. Here are 10 startups that successfully raised capital this year.

1. Moniepoint

• Sector: Fintech / Business Banking
• 2025 Funding: ~$90 Million (Growth Funding)
• The Scoop: This unicorn startup has continued to prove it is a titan in the African fintech space. In October 2025, they secured a massive strategic raise to deepen their credit offerings.
• Why it matters: This cements their status as a "Unicorn" and shows that investors are still willing to write big checks for proven business models that solve real SME problems.

2. LemFi

• Sector: Cross-border Fintech
• 2025 Funding: $53 Million (Series B)
• The Scoop: Formerly Lemonade Finance, LemFi solves the problem of sending money home by African immigrants. They secured $53 million from Highland Europe, a VC based in London, to expand their reach.
• Why it matters: With over 1 million users and $35 million in previous funding, this raise brings their total funding to $85 million, positioning them to dominate the remittance space.

3. Kredete

• Sector: Lending / SME Credit
• 2025 Funding: ~$22 Million (Series A)
• The Scoop: Kredete is tackling the credit gap for small businesses. Their September raise is geared toward expanding their loan book and improving their credit scoring algorithms.
• Why it matters: Access to credit is one of the biggest pain points for Nigerian startups; Kredete’s funding signals strong investor confidence in automated lending.

4. Raenest

• Sector: HR Tech / Fintech
• 2025 Funding: $11 Million (Series A Extension)
• The Scoop: As remote work normalizes, getting paid in foreign currency remains a hassle for African freelancers. Raenest simplifies this.
• Why it matters: This extension proves that the "future of work" and the gig economy remain hot sectors for investment in Africa.

5. Chowdeck

• Sector: Logistics / Food Delivery
• 2025 Funding: $9 Million (Series A) from Novastar
• The Scoop: First funded by YC in 2022, Chowdeck has defied the odds in a notoriously low-margin industry. They raised $9 million from Novastar this year to improve their delivery infrastructure.
• Why it matters: While competitors have folded or exited, Chowdeck’s operational efficiency has allowed them to thrive and capture market share.

6. SeamlessHR

• Sector: Enterprise HR Software
• 2025 Funding: $9 Million (Series A Extension)
• The Scoop: SeamlessHR is digitizing human resources for large African corporations. This fresh capital is likely aimed at further expansion into East and Southern Africa.
• Why it matters: It highlights the growing demand for B2B SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions in the African enterprise market.

7. Rivy (rebranded from PayHippo)

• Sector: Asset Finance
• 2025 Funding: $4 Million (Pre-Series A)
• The Scoop: After pivoting from PayHippo, Rivy has refocused on asset financing for SMEs. This $4M injection validates their pivot strategy.
• Why it matters: Pivots are sometimes needed, but can be risky. This funding proves that the team successfully convinced investors that their new direction has better unit economics than the old one.

8. Accrue

• Sector: Wealth Management / Crypto
• 2025 Funding: $1.58 Million (Seed)
• The Scoop: Accrue allows users to invest in diverse assets (stocks, crypto) easily.
• Why it matters: As inflation affects the Naira, apps that help Nigerians hedge their wealth and access global markets are seeing increased user adoption and investor interest.

9. Agriarche

• Sector: Agritech
• 2025 Funding: $500,000 (Debt Financing)
• The Scoop: Focusing on logistics and storage, Agriarche helps reduce food waste and connects farmers to markets.
• Why it matters: While smaller than the fintech rounds, this debt financing is crucial. It shows that agriculture is attracting "patient capital" to solve fundamental food security issues in Nigeria.

Ending notes

The majority of startups that got funding did so in the early months of 2025. This indicates that deliberations for these fundings began before 2025, as funding deliberations take time to finalize and formalize.

Again, Fintech startups are still dominating the list of startups getting funding. However, we expect to see more startups in the healthcare and edtech sectors rise to prominence in 2026 and beyond.