KUBATANA MAGAZINE | OCTOBER 2022
AFR I LABS
FEMALE-FOUNDED STARTUP FUNDING AND SUPPORT IN AFRICA
With a 22% year-on-year growth in ecosystem support organizations, the disproportionate distribution of funding can be mitigated through organizations and programs intentionally setting aside capital for female-founded enterprises. Gender-focused programs such as the Kumasi Hives’ Ladies in Tech, co-working spaces such as Kayana, Villgro Africa, and Ghana Tech Lab’s female-led Health Tech Startup Call are examples of programs and support structures available for female entrepreneurs. The female founders who participated in the series also shared their key driving force for success, with mentorship emerging front and centre. Gone are the days when the phrase “women are their own worst enemies” stood. So what does this mean for women looking for mentorship and support? It brings hope that female founders should be brave and willing to reach out to potential mentors, coaches and programs. Remembering that “you lose 100% of the shots you do not take” and seeing the success of other female-led/founded enterprises should act as a motivator for all aspiring female leaders and entrepreneurs.
BY FRANCISCAH NZANGA, COO at Villgro Africa
panels, where they will be asked questions like “what happens to your business when you start a family?” versus the male founders who were asked more technical questions. These founders had to walk away from potential funding due to cases of bias and/or solicitation. In general, access to funding remains a huge challenge for female-founded and female-led enterprises. While we are slowly seeing a shift with some female-led companies such as Zuri Health and Pezesha raising $1.2 million and $11 million respectively, there is still a long way to go. According to Quartz Africa for every $15 raised in Africa, only $1 goes to female-owned tech startups. This is just 6.5%.
In Season 2 of Villgro Africa’s podcast “Investments for Impact” we spoke to innovators, board members, investors, female founders and even leaders in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics); to help gain an ecosystem-wide perspective of the best way to support female-led enterprises and what can be done better. We recognise the fact that the push for gender equity has gone a long way and we are seeing more and more women in leadership positions, and more female-founded companies emerging. We’ve also noted that the majority of female-founded enterprises are deeply rooted in impact.
There is, however, an unequal aggressive focus on the financial aspect of running their business. That is, financial modelling and preparation of Profit & Loss projections may not always take centre stage, and that is where ecosystem support organizations can play a major role in directing business sustainability. In episode two of the series, we spoke to two female founders who took us through their entrepreneurship journey and some of the challenges they’ve faced along the way, with access to financing being one of them. The ladies mentioned having to deal with bias from investment
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