Where did the $100k cheques go? Inside the exit drought paralysing early-stage African tech

The number of African startups raising between $100,000 and $1 million has fallen by almost half over the past six months. Husein Merchant, who leads Village Capital’s regional operations , has a straightforward explanation: there have not been enough exits to show investors that those cheques work. Lacking empirical evidence that the previous cycle delivered, investors are holding back and waiting for clearer historical patterns before committing new capital, Merchant said.