•Disparity blamed on cultural, structural obstacles

By Juliet Umeh

Despite the global clamour for gender diversity in the technology and investment landscape, Africa’s tech ecosystem still sees less of women-led ventures in the tons of funding that comes into the continent. Their male counterparts still dominate the log.

A recent report from Briter Bridges shows that only 10 per cent of funded Nigerian startups from 2019 to 2023 were female-founded, securing just 0.7 per cent of the country’s $600 million total deal volume.

This imbalance highlights both gender-related funding barriers and the broader structural challenges female entrepreneurs face in Africa.

Also, a report from Africa: The Big Deal, a platform tracking investments across Africa’s startups, from 2019, said only three female-led startups—Nigeria’s Kobo360 and Sabi, and South Africa’s Cape Bio Pharms—made it into Africa’s top 100 fundraisers.

Kobo360, a logistics company headed by CEO Cikü Mugambi, ranked 33rd, while Sabi, also in logistics, co-founded and led by Anu Adasolum, ranked 40th. Cape Bio Pharms, a biotech firm led by Belinda Shaw, ranked 44th.

These ventures highlight the narrow path that female-led startups tread to gain a foothold in high-growth funding landscapes. Yet, while these companies raised millions, their successes contrast sharply with the continent’s top 10 fundraisers, all led by men, each securing over $100 million in recent years.

The disparity points to deep-rooted gender biases and industry practices that continue to sideline female entrepreneurs. Notably, Gro Intelligence, a prominent female-led deep-tech startup co-founded by Sara Menker, raised an impressive $85 million in 2021.

However, Menker’s departure in early 2024, followed by financial difficulties for the company, underscores the volatility and limited support for female-led tech ventures at high levels of growth.

The Beyond the Noise report from Briter Bridges, which analyzed 176 startups in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, underlines the regional gaps in funding for women-led ventures. While Nigeria hosts the continent’s largest startup ecosystem, only 10 per cent of its funded startups were female-founded, lagging behind Kenya’s 19 per cent and South Africa’s 12 per cent. This pattern reflects both cultural and structural obstacles, including limited access to capital, traditional gender expectations, and limited representation in high-growth sectors such as fintech and climate tech.

“Nigeria has a large market,” the report noted, “but women founders remain a small proportion, concentrated in sectors like health and biotech.”

It added that, unlike male-led or mixed-gender teams that advance to later funding rounds, women-led startups often plateau at pre-seed stages, struggling to access follow-on capital.

These disparities are felt across sectors. Female entrepreneurs are notably more prevalent in agtech, healthtech, and edtech, fields with slower growth and limited venture capital interest. The result is that female founders face significant challenges, even in sectors critical for social impact. The Disrupt Africa report, Diversity Dividend, found that only five per cent of venture funding on the continent since 2014 has gone to female-founded startups. In interviews, 55 percent of female founders identified access to capital as their greatest challenge.

Advocates for change: Empowering women entrepreneurs

Advocates like Freda Anyanwu and Damilola Ojo, both champions for women in technology, have highlighted these obstacles and pushed for industry-wide change. Anyanwu, a prominent voice for gender equity in tech, argues that women often face additional scrutiny in a male-dominated industry.

She explained: “Women don’t receive enough votes of confidence. Women are frequently questioned about balancing personal and professional life and face greater hurdles in getting second chances, while men are often encouraged to bounce back from failure.

Ojo, founder of Tckzone, has worked to empower female entrepreneurs through targeted skills programs, training over 500 women in digital marketing, financial management, and e-commerce. “It’s not just about skills; it’s about building resilience and the kind of tech-enabled businesses that can stand the test of time,” Ojo remarked.

She has organised digital learning festivals, collaborating with schools to inspire the next generation of tech-savvy women. Both Anyanwu and Ojo view networking and mentorship as vital to closing the gender gap, encouraging women to cultivate meaningful, value-driven connections.

Shifting the industry’s lens on female-led ventures

July 2024 marked a record for African startup funding, with $420 million raised, yet 90 per cent of this total came from just three male-led companies. The dominance of male-led ventures even in a year of funding drought signals the urgent need for a systemic shift in how female-led startups are perceived and supported. Advocates stress that increasing mentorship, diversifying investor networks, and fostering gender-inclusive policies are vital to bridging this gap.

Investors and accelerators must reconsider how they evaluate female-led ventures, particularly as research shows that women-founded startups drive higher revenue growth and employ more women. These firms frequently operate in high-impact fields such as health and education, benefiting both communities and economies. The rise of companies like Sabi, Kobo360, and Cape Bio Pharms shows that female-led ventures can achieve substantial fundraising success, despite limited industry support.

Toward a more inclusive ecosystem

In a landscape where gender diversity is an ongoing struggle, female founders like Mugambi, Adasolum, Anyanwu, and Ojo represent a growing force in reshaping African tech. They illustrate that African women are not only ready to lead but are determined to rewrite the rules, pushing the industry toward gender equity.

However, this journey requires a commitment from the broader tech ecosystem to break down institutional barriers and create more inclusive funding avenues.

Africa’s tech industry, with its vast potential and influence, can thrive only when it fully embraces the contributions of women. As Anyanwu aptly stated, “Your environment doesn’t define you; your dreams are valid.” Each female-led success story is a step closer to equity, symbolizing the possibilities when Africa’s women in tech are empowered to lead, innovate, and transform the continent’s startup ecosystem.