10 fast-rising African female founders who are gaining attention

The world is witnessing an unprecedented increase in the number of African women who are picking up the gauntlet in the business world. With adroitness and perseverance, women are strongly stepping foot in once male-controlled business sectors and wealth-creation spaces across Africa; establishing profitable and scalable business ventures in different industries.

Recently, women are gaining attention and raising capital from investors who are tactical enough to sieve through and discover the potential and profitability in many women-owned startups.

Despite their undying passion to create successful businesses, women are still unfortunately below the ladder, experiencing challenges attributable to many barriers in the business space; including but not limited to inadequate funding. Despite the increase in funding rounds ranging from pre-seed to Series E, female-owned startups are attracting less attention compared to their male counterparts.

In the piece, “Africa: The Big Deal,” which surveyed and analyzed the gender disparity in raising funds by startups, in 2021, female-single founders and female-only founding teams raised only 0.7% of all the funding raised by startups in Africa. This resulted in $18 million out of almost $2.7 billion, meaning that female founders and female-only founding teams raised less than 1% of the total funding raised in the continent.

In recognition of the hard work and tenacity of black women in business, we highlight ten indefatigable female founders who are bracing up for the challenges in the business world and creating profitable and scalable successful ventures.