African women entrepreneurs have traditionally found raising money for their ventures difficult. A study by Better Bridges, a publication that tracks VC investments in Africa, has found that only 3% of all-women-led startups have been able to raise money since 2013.
In 2021, only 17% of total funding in Africa went to companies that had both women and men as founders. Though the budget reached $834 million last year, it was still minuscule compared to the money raised by companies run by men. But the tides are finally changing! Here are some of the women entrepreneurs who achieved success with their leadership.
Jessica Anuna is the CEO of Klasha, a technology company that allows international players to receive money in local African currency. According to Klasha’s Linkedin account, it has been funded by Greycroft, Seedcamp, Techstars, and Plug and Play. While the payment is made in any of the five African currencies, the money is credited to the clients in G20 currencies.
Tebogo Mokwena runs Akiba Digital, a South African-based fintech company building an alternative credit scoring infrastructure for small businesses and individuals whom traditional banking systems have excluded. Her company had its first series of funding last year.
Fara Ashiru Jituboh is the CEO of Okra which enables people and businesses to have personalized digital financial service products. Her company’s mission is to digitize financial services in Africa.
Jihan Abbas is the CEO of Lami. Her company is a business-to-business and business-to-customer insurance platform. Lami has digitized the entire insurance procedure, from KYC to pricing to claims. It has an application programming interface (API) that allows the distribution of insurance products at any point of sale.
Honey Ogundeyi is the CEO of Edukoya, which is an education technology company. Honey aims to make high-quality education more engaging, accessible and personalized for the next generation of Africans. With certified tutors, the company offers an online mobile learning platform for primary and secondary school students.
Nelly Chatue-Diop is the CEO of Ejara – a crypto-led financial institution. The company claims to build a bridge between the traditional finance system and cryptos by allowing access to various investment and savings offerings.
Miishe Addy is the co-founder & CEO of Jetstream Africa, which is a technology-enabled logistics company that focuses on cross-border trade. The company raised $3 million in a seed round in June last year.
Tomilola Majekodunmi is the founder and CEO of Bankly, which aims to digitize cash and provide avenues for savings to micro-businesses and individuals working in the informal sector. The company raised $2 million in seed round funding in March 2021.
Tarneem Saeed is the founder-CEO of Alsoug, which is the largest tech startup in Sudan. Alsoug is a classified platform that allows people to check the prices of items and connect with sellers. In October last year, the company received $5million in investment.
Yanmo Omorogbe is the co-founder and COO of Bamboo, allowing Nigerians to become shareholders of big international firms like Google, Amazon, Twitter, etc. It will enable people to buy, sell or hold stocks of companies listed in the US. The company raised $15 million in series A funding in January 2022. The funds will be used to penetrate newer markets in Africa.
