Southern Nigeria startups raise $10.23 million as ecosystem hits 304 companies

Startups across Nigeria’s South-South and South-East regions raised $10.23 million in disclosed funding between 2023 and 2025, a 29.6% increase from $7.89 million recorded in the previous period.

The figures come from the 2025 South-South & South-East Startup Ecosystem & State of Digital Jobs Report, published by #StartupSouth, which tracked startup activity, funding flows, digital jobs, and talent distribution across 11 states in both regions over the two-year period.

Startup count across the ecosystem rose by 54.3% to 304 companies during the same period, with the report also mapping 98 Enterprise Support Organisations, 234 digital talents, and 29 employers operating across the region.

Despite the headline growth, the funding picture is heavily distorted as only six startups account for 86.6% of all disclosed capital raised in the region, while the median raise across the broader ecosystem sits at just $500.

This means that most founders are technically funded but remain severely undercapitalised in practice.

For the first time in the report’s dataset, the South-East overtook the South-South in overall startup share. Port Harcourt retains its position as the region’s largest hub by company count, while Enugu has emerged as the leader in disclosed capital raised.

What the data is saying

Abia recorded the strongest startup share growth across the entire South-South and South-East, climbing 4.1 percentage points between 2023 and 2025, driven by improving governance sentiment, infrastructure developments, and renewed commercial momentum in Aba. Delta also emerged as a rising frontier ecosystem alongside Abia.

• More than half of startups in the region now report some form of external funding, but the concentration of capital at the top means the majority of the ecosystem is growing in headcount without a matching increase in financial firepower.
• Nearly 70% of digital talents surveyed across the region are either unemployed or freelancing, and of those working remotely, roughly two-thirds are employed by companies outside the region, primarily in Lagos and international markets.
• The region is, in effect, producing talent it cannot absorb. Sustained investment in digital skills development has not been matched by a corresponding growth in local employer density or hiring capacity.

More insights 

Uche Aniche, Convener of #StartupSouth, said the data confirms that frontier innovation ecosystems in Southern Nigeria are no longer theoretical, but also warned that the structural gaps holding them back remain largely unaddressed.

• “The founders are here. The talent is here. What remains insufficient is the infrastructure that allows ecosystems to compound, capital, employer density, institutional coordination, and continuous ecosystem intelligence,” he said.

The report positions Southern Nigeria as one of Africa’s emerging frontier innovation corridors, arguing that the next wave of continental startup growth is more likely to come from distributed ecosystems outside the traditional megacity hubs of Lagos, Nairobi, Cape Town, and Cairo.

What you should know

Nigeria’s startup ecosystem recorded a slight rebound in April 2026, with disclosed investments totalling approximately $4 million across six major deals tracked during the period, a sharp slowdown compared to both the previous month and the same period the year before.

Fintech startups attracted the largest share of capital during the month, with Bfree accounting for the single biggest deal after closing a $3.1 million venture round, even as investor caution across the global venture capital market continued to weigh on deal sizes and volumes.