According to venture funding tracking platform Africa: The Big Deal, Botswana startups only raised $100,000 in venture funding in 2022.
Although it is not stated which startups attracted the investment, it is most likely Brastorne Enterprises' $100,000 equity free funding they received from Google as part of being accepted into the Google Black Founders Fund Africa program.
For context, South Africa received the most funding on the region at $555 million, followed by Zambia and Namibia at $15 million, Zimbabwe at $2 million, Mozambique at $125,000 and Botswana at $100,000.
Despite this being an improvement from previous years, Botswana's amount of capital raised is a pittance relative to neighbours South Africa, Zambia and Namibia and could be seen as a cause of concern for the country's tech innovation industry.
Venture capital is a vital driver for startups who most often cannot access traditional capital facilities like banks as they are very high risk ventures, something commercial banks are not averse to.
Image source: Africa: The Big Deal