Survey reveals 86% of African founders face mental health challenges, highlighting stress, isolation, resilience, and gaps in investor support. — Flourish Founders at an annual retreat (1)

Flourish Ventures, a purpose-driven early-stage venture capital firm, has unveiled a groundbreaking survey that shines a light on the wellbeing of African tech founders. Titled “Passion and Perseverance: Voices from the African Founder Journey,” the report offers an unprecedented glimpse into the experiences, challenges, and coping mechanisms of early-stage entrepreneurs across 13 African countries.

This first-of-its-kind research, conducted in partnership with Endeavor, Launch Africa, Madica, Econa, and Startup Snapshot, surveyed over 160 founders. Its findings underscore both the passion driving Africa’s startup ecosystem and the significant toll that building a startup can take on entrepreneurs.

The Founder Journey: Balancing Passion and Challenges

The survey revealed a duality in the entrepreneurial experience: while 81% of respondents reported enjoying their journey as founders, the vast majority—86%—noted that their work had negatively impacted their wellbeing. This dichotomy is emblematic of the high-stakes, high-reward nature of entrepreneurship.

Notably, nearly two-thirds of founders stated they would rather start a new company than take a conventional job, even if their current business were to fail. This underscores the entrepreneurial spirit of resilience and drive to create meaningful impact. However, as the survey makes clear, this passion often comes at a cost.

The Emotional Toll of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs across Africa are ambitious, creative, and deeply motivated to bring about positive change. Yet, their work exposes them to immense pressure and stress. Key findings from the survey include:

Mental Health Impacts: 60% of founders reported experiencing anxiety, 58% high stress, 52% burnout, and 20% depression.
Universal Struggles: Even thriving founders are not immune, with over 70% of those leading high-performing startups reporting significant impacts on their wellbeing.
Top Stressors: Fundraising emerged as the leading source of stress (59%), followed by inflation (44%) and other macroeconomic challenges (40%).

The survey highlights the harsh realities of navigating Africa’s often volatile economic environment, where external factors like global economic shifts and local market instability compound the inherent challenges of entrepreneurship.

Loneliness at the Top

The survey sheds light on the isolating nature of leadership within startups. A staggering 78% of founders described their role as lonely, yet few felt comfortable sharing their struggles. Only:

14% were fully open with others about their stress.
42% reported talking to other founders for support.

This reluctance to show vulnerability points to a cultural and professional stigma around acknowledging challenges. While therapy and coaching are recognized as valuable, barriers to accessing these resources prevent many founders from seeking help.

Resilience and Coping Mechanisms

Despite the challenges, African entrepreneurs have developed various strategies to sustain their resilience. Among the most commonly cited coping mechanisms were:

Exercise (59%),
Personal relationships (49%),
Sleep (45%), and
Healthy eating (42%).

Founders who leaned on personal relationships for support showed 13% higher levels of wellbeing, emphasizing the importance of community and connection. However, the competitive startup environment often discourages openness, further isolating founders and potentially hindering their resilience.

The Founder-Funder Relationship: A Crucial Gap

The survey also explored the dynamics between founders and their investors, revealing a significant disconnect. While funding is a critical lifeline for startups, the relationship with funders often adds to the pressure founders face.

Key findings include:

Only 17% of founders felt completely comfortable discussing stress with their investors.
A mere 11% believed their investors genuinely cared about their wellbeing.

Founders expressed a need for more holistic relationships with investors—ones built on mutual respect and understanding beyond financial returns. When asked how investors could build trust, founders highlighted three main areas:

Reducing unrealistic demands (nearly 50% of respondents).
Increasing transparency around decision-making and timelines (33%).
Building personal connections and showing empathy for founders’ challenges (40%).

Why Founder Wellbeing Matters

The survey underscores an urgent call to action: addressing founder wellbeing is not just a moral imperative but a strategic one. Flourish Ventures emphasizes that supporting entrepreneurs’ mental and emotional health directly correlates with the success and sustainability of their businesses.

African founders face unique challenges, including limited access to resources, economic volatility, and cultural stigmas around discussing mental health. However, their experiences echo global trends, highlighting the universal nature of the startup grind.

The report calls for a deeper, more systemic approach to founder support, including:

Access to individual and co-founder coaching.
Resources for mental health and wellbeing.
Leadership and management training to navigate the complexities of scaling a business.

A Vision for the Future

As Africa’s venture capital ecosystem matures, the need for sustained dialogue and action around founder wellbeing becomes more pressing. Flourish Ventures envisions an entrepreneurial landscape where authentic relationships and robust support systems foster innovation, resilience, and long-term success.

“While data is powerful, it is ultimately just a starting point for ongoing and open dialogue,” said Efayomi Carr, Principal at Flourish Ventures. “Our hope is that this research helps start a conversation, among both founders and funders, about how to build a stronger ecosystem where everyone is set up for success now and in the future.”

Building a Healthier Ecosystem

This research marks an important step in acknowledging the human aspect of entrepreneurship. By prioritizing founder wellbeing, stakeholders—including investors, mentors, and ecosystem builders—can create an environment where entrepreneurs thrive personally and professionally.

To explore the findings in full and hear directly from founders of companies like FairMoney, Flutterwave, MaxAB, Paga, and Pula, visit Flourish Ventures’ portfolio page at flourishventures.com/portfolio.