Are Africa's Female Founders Disappearing?

In 2024, Nigeria's Moniepoint raised $110 million in a single funding round which solidified its status as Africa's newest fintech unicorn. That same year, every female-led startup across the entire African continent combined raised just $48 million.

Food for thought: One male-founded company raised more than twice what all female CEOs raised collectively across 54 countries.

According to Africa: The Big Deal, female-led startups secured only 2% of Africa's total $2.2 billion in venture capital in 2024 making it the lowest share recorded since tracking began in 2019. The situation worsened dramatically in 2025, with female CEOs attracting just 0.9% of capital between January and May, approximately $9.5 million out of $1.055 billion raised. More than 700 funding rounds involving female co-founders have closed since 2019, mobilizing $2.4 billion. The issue is what happens after: as women-led startups mature, the funding thins out and by Series B and C, they're nearly invisible.

Data shows Africa's venture capital ecosystem isn't just male-dominated but it's systematically filtering out female founders at every stage with consequences that extend far beyond boardrooms.

How Women Get Filtered Out

At the pre-seed stage, female participation appears relatively healthy. According to the "Disappearing Women" report by Africa: The Big Deal, 28% of pre-seed deals involve female co-founders, attracting 24% of funding at this stage. Startups with female CEOs account for 15% of deals and 10% of funding.

However, what happens as companies scale?

By Series B and C rounds, only 14% of deals involve female co-founded startups, receiving just 11% of funds. For startups with female CEOs, 5% of deals, attracting only 4% of total funding. Women aren't absent from the startup ecosystem, they're being systematically excluded from the capital required to scale. Since 2019, only 13% of tracked deals involved a woman CEO and these secured just over 5% of the $14 billion raised across 2,808 equity deals. When female CEOs do manage to raise capital, they raise 2.5 times less on average than their male counterparts.

For context, male-only founding teams raised 85% of total funding in 2023, while solo female or all-female founding teams received just 2%. Gender-diverse teams fared slightly better at $123 million in 2024 but even that figure is very small against the $1.6 billion raised by male-only teams.

2024: The Worst Year on Record

The year 2024 marked a historic low for female-led ventures in Africa. Female CEOs secured just $48 million in startup funding which was four times less than the $201 million raised in 2023 and the lowest total since 2020.

Putting this into perspective:

• Male-only teams: $1.6 billion (2024)
• Solo male founders: $430 million (2024)
• Gender-diverse teams: $123 million (2024)
• Female-only teams: $21 million (2024) 1% of total funding

According to Briter's Africa Venture Pulse report, male-led startups captured 75% of all funding raised in 2025, leaving approximately 10% for companies with at least one female founder. Over the past five years, male-led teams have averaged nearly 90% of total funding. Only three of the 100 most-funded African startups since 2019 currently have female CEOs.

The Economic Cost of Exclusion

According to a 2019 UNDP report, Africa forfeits an estimated $95 billion in economic potential annually due to gender inequality. If the representation of women-led startups in VC boardrooms continues to decrease, the continent's ability to benefit from grassroots solutions and inclusive innovation will be heavily compromised.

In sub-Saharan Africa, up to 30% of roles in STEM sectors are held by women, marginally ahead of the global average yet this pipeline isn't translating into founder success or investment attraction.

Kenya specifically illustrates the gap: with 343 women-founded companies out of 10,524 total startups (3.3%), the country shows that women are founding businesses, just not securing enough capital to grow them. If we consider Kenya's cooperative sector, which serves 14 million members (with women comprising the majority) and mobilizes Ksh 7.32 billion in savings. This demonstrates women's economic participation and financial capability yet female-led tech startups struggle to access even a fraction of venture capital flowing into the ecosystem.

The Gap Persisting

According to the former CFO at FirstFounders and current CFO at StatSmat, the funding disparity stems from multiple reinforcing factors:

1. Gender Bias in Investment Decisions

Investors being overwhelmingly male tend to fund founders who look like them, attended the same schools or share similar networks. Research consistently shows that preference for similarity drives investment decisions more than founders want to admit.

2. Perceived Market Limitations

"Investors often underestimate the market potential of women-led innovations," Owoyale explained. Products and services targeting women or solving problems disproportionately affecting women are frequently dismissed as "niche" despite representing half the population.

3. Network Access Gaps

Female founders often lack access to the investor networks that fuel big-ticket rounds. Most venture capital deals happen through warm introductions and women are systematically excluded from the informal networks such as golf clubs, alumni associations, private dinners where these connections form.

4. Confidence and Ask Size

June Angelides, founder of Levare Ventures, acknowledges a behavioral component: "Unfortunately, as women, sometimes we sell ourselves short. I'm guilty of it as well. It's something I work on regularly to speak up, to be more confident but the numbers don't lie in that men are asking for more versus women."

This "confidence gap" narrative can obscure the structural barriers women face. When investors consistently undervalue women-led businesses, the rational response is to moderate expectations.

5. Cultural and Structural Barriers

In many African contexts, cultural norms may cast doubt on women managing major capital or leading scaled enterprises, despite clear evidence of women's entrepreneurial capability through informal sector businesses, cooperatives and SMEs.

The Gender-Lens Funding Response

Recognizing the market failure, several Africa-focused funds have emerged with explicit mandates to support female entrepreneurs yet even these efforts struggle to move the needle.

Janngo Capital, led by Senegalese entrepreneur Fatoumata Bâ, recently closed its second fund at €73 million ($78 million), exceeding its target. The firm has invested over $5 million in innovative startups, with 56% of its portfolio companies being women-led. However, recent investments have predominantly favored male-founded ventures, particularly in Francophone Africa, raising questions about whether even gender-lens investors can resist broader market pressures.

Aruwa Capital Management, founded by Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes in Lagos, has raised $35 million toward its $40 million Fund II target (now upsizing to $50-60 million due to strong investor interest). As one of Africa's few female investor-led firms, Aruwa specializes in early-stage growth equity with a gender lens, focusing on SMEs in healthcare, energy access, financial services and consumer goods in Nigeria and Ghana.

Their initial ticket sizes range from $1 million to $3 million, with completed investments including Yikodeen (safety boots manufacturer) and Toasties (fast-casual dining chain) which are both positioned to improve economic opportunities for women.

FirstCheck Africa offers early-stage VC investments in African tech startups with at least one female founder or co-founder while Alitheia IDF and other gender-focused funds are growing portfolios concentrated on female entrepreneurs.

AfriLabs' RevUp Woman program trained 444 female entrepreneurs across Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Cameroon and the DRC in a 12-week hybrid accelerator, awarding $10,000 grants to 10 standout businesses. According to Baby Grubz CEO, whose Nigerian child nutrition startup received funding: "Even though we're a profitable business, taking money from the profits to grow the business can be very challenging. This is the first time I've been part of a program that addressed both the business and the challenges of being a woman."

Despite these dedicated efforts, gender-lens funds remain relatively small ($5-78 million), their average ticket sizes modest ($1-3 million) and their collective impact insufficient to counterbalance the overwhelming capital flowing to male-led ventures.

The Sustainability Myth

A common saying in venture capital circles suggests women simply aren't founding enough startups. The data however suggests different.

Since 2019, more than 700 funding rounds involving women co-founders have closed. That's 25% of all deals tracked yet these deals attracted just 17% of total investment raising on average 1.5 times less than exclusively male counterparts.

At pre-seed, 28% of deals involve female co-founders. By Series B/C, that drops to 14% not due to business failure but systematic exclusion from growth capital.

Female founders aren't disappearing because they're not building viable businesses. They're disappearing because the ecosystem stops funding them once their capital needs exceed $500,000-$1 million.

What This Means for Different Stakeholders

For Investors:

Current patterns suggest venture capital is systematically missing investment opportunities. If women-led businesses are genuinely less viable, failure rates should be higher but data shows women-led startups often achieve better capital efficiency and return metrics. The funding gap represents market inefficiency not market correction.

For Policymakers:

Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and other governments promoting startup ecosystems must recognize that without deliberate intervention, venture capital will continue concentrating in male hands. Policy tools from gender-lens fund-of-funds to tax incentives for diverse portfolio construction can help correct market failures.

The cooperative sector offers a model: Kenya's 14 million cooperative members (majority women) demonstrate women's economic participation at scale. Policies that helped cooperatives mobilize Sh7.32 billion in savings could inform startup capital mobilization strategies.

For DFIs:

DFIs and impact investors often tout gender equality commitments yet if female-led African startups raised only $48 million in 2024 while billions flowed to male founders, development capital isn't reaching its stated priorities. DFIs should publish gender-disaggregated data on portfolio companies and set binding targets for female-founder investment.

For Ecosystem Builders:

Accelerators, incubators and support organizations must acknowledge that training and mentorship alone won't close the funding gap. Without addressing investor bias, network access, and structural barriers, even the best-prepared female founders will struggle to secure growth capital.

Programs like RevUp Woman that combine capacity building with actual capital ($10,000 grants) demonstrate the model: training plus money, not training as a substitute for money.

For Female Founders:

The data is discouraging, but not deterministic. Companies like Aruwa Capital, FirstCheck Africa, and Janngo Capital are actively seeking women-led businesses to fund. Gender-diverse teams raise more than female-only teams ($123 million vs. $21 million in 2024), suggesting strategic co-founder selection may improve funding odds.

However, the burden of solving this problem shouldn't fall on founders alone. Structural change requires ecosystem-wide intervention.

The Success Stories: Proving What's Possible with Less

Before dismissing this as simply a "women can't scale" problem, consider what female founders are achieving despite receiving a fraction of the capital their male counterparts access.

Naked Insurance (South Africa): Co-founded by Sumarié Greybe alongside Alex Thomson and Ernest North, Naked just raised $38 million in January 2025, Africa's largest-ever insurtech investment. Since launching in 2018, the company has raised $69.8 million total and created a fully AI-powered insurance platform that generates quotes in under 90 seconds. Naked's "Naked Difference" model donates unclaimed premiums to customer-selected charities, proving that women-led businesses can innovate on both technology AND social impact.

Andela: Under CEO Carrol Chang (appointed August 2024), Andela has become one of Africa's few tech companies with female leadership among the Top 100 most-funded startups. The company connects African software developers with global opportunities, demonstrating scaled operations under female executive leadership.

Rivy (Nigeria): Founded by Chioma Okotcha and rebranded from Payhippo in March 2025, Rivy raised $4 million ($2M equity, $2M debt) to finance clean energy solutions for SMEs. The company maintains a <1% non-performing loan ratio, better than most traditional banks, while serving Nigeria's underserved business sector.

FARO (Kenya): This retail-tech startup raised funding in 2025 to scale AI-powered inventory management across Africa, Asia, and Latin America with a goal of reaching 1,000 stores over the next decade. Female co-founders are building genuinely Pan-African solutions.

Jem HR (South Africa): Co-founded by Caroline van der Merwe, Jem raised ZAR 60M ($3.3M) in March 2025 for a WhatsApp-first HR platform serving deskless workers, the majority of Africa's workforce who lack email or traditional HR system access.

These companies aren't just "doing okay" they're building category-defining businesses, raising significant capital and proving strong unit economics. Naked's $38M raise alone represents 79% of ALL capital raised by female CEOs in 2024 ($48M total).

The pattern is clear: when female founders DO access capital, they build exceptional companies. The problem isn't female founder capability, it's capital access.

The Bottom Line

In 2024, Africa's venture capital ecosystem raised $2.2 billion for startups. Female-led companies received $48 million, roughly 2%.

One male-founded fintech raised more than all female founders combined across an entire continent.

Yet when women DO access capital like Sumarié Greybe's Naked raising $38M, or Chioma Okotcha's Rivy maintaining <1% NPL ratios, they build exceptional, category-defining companies. The success stories don't suggest women founders need more support to perform, they prove that when given comparable resources, they deliver comparable or better results. It's about a funding ecosystem that systematically filters out women as they scale, leaving incredible talent and economic potential untapped even as individual female founders prove what's possible.

Africa forfeits an estimated $95 billion annually due to gender inequality. The venture capital funding gap is a fraction of that larger economic failure and it's getting worse, not better.

The question isn't whether Africa can afford to close the gender funding gap. It's whether Africa can afford not to.

Every dollar not invested in a viable female-led business is a dollar misallocated. Every promising founder who can't access Series A capital because of her gender is potentially lost. Every year this gap persists. Another year of Africa's economic transformation is delayed.