Egypt is no longer reliant on the equity-only venture model that defines much of the African tech landscape. While regional peers continue to navigate a volatile global VC environment, Egypt’s ecosystem in 2025 remained stable, thanks to a robust mid-market of resilient Series A and B companies supported by a top-tier that has moved almost entirely into sophisticated institutional debt, according to emerging market-focused business intelligence firm Briter’s Africa Investment Report 2025.

By the numbers: Egypt secured over USD 595 mn in venture funding last year, ranking third on the continent with a 15% share of total funding in Africa. Leading the pack was South Africa with USD 1.2 bn (32%), followed by Kenya with USD 1.1 bn (29%).

But looking into the numbers, it becomes clear that “Egypt’s funding stack is becoming one of the most complex in Africa,” Briter tells EnterpriseAM. While early-stage startups still rely on traditional equity (accounting for 70% of funding volume), mature players are scaling through debt mechanisms largely absent elsewhere in Africa.

Bonds alone accounted for nearly 30% of total funding volume in 2025, pioneered by institutional-grade players like MNT-Halan and Bokra, we were told. “This points to a ‘twin track’ funding environment, where new startups are launched through equity, while more mature companies increasingly scale using sophisticated debt instruments,” the firm explained.

Why this matters: While others in the region are still very much tied to the shifting sentiments of VCs, Egypt’s shift toward securitized debt shows that some local players have established the consistent cashflow and transparency needed to service institutional debt, opening up much more reliable and mood swing-proof pools of liquidity when needed.

Egypt has a “uniquely thick middle that distinguishes itself from the top heavy-models of its peers” in Africa, Briter tells us. Some 55% of disclosed transactions in the country now fall in the USD 1-20 mn range, which indicates a healthy pipeline of companies that have moved past what the industry refers to as the “valley of death” and are now entering growth phases.

The country also “emerged as the continent’s frontrunner for strategic exits in 2025, accounting for nearly a third of all African acquisition activity,” we were told. The 63 announced M&As in 2025 were also more diversified [than elsewhere in the region], spanning fintech, e-commerce, healthtech, and software.”

But exits weren’t only diverse, they were notably domestic. Briter described to us a “healthy mix” of fintech, software, and real estate companies that buy “local assets, creating a self-sustaining liquidity cycle that relies less on foreign exits.”

2025 — and most likely 2026 too — was marked by “Cairo-based ventures […] scaling across other markets by exporting proprietary technical infrastructure and asset-light software models,” Briter tells us. Last year saw the MaxAB and Wasoko merger create a “unified retail network serving 450k merchants across Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania,” Meanwhile, Money Fellows looked to expand its digital savings model in Morocco, Swvl looked for higher margin enterprise mobility contracts in places like Kuwait, and MNT-Halan looked to expand its financial inclusion model across the region. And in 2026? We expect to see much of the same — if not more.

Tags: