VC4A , The Africa platform for startup funding has announced 14 founders selected from the flagship Venture Showcase program dedicated to women-led businesses for 2022.
Each startup from the portfolio is looking to raise their Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A rounds ranging from $250K to $10M.
Ben White co-founder and CEO VC4A ,Speaking to the importance of spotlighting these companies – “Developing tailored financial tools for women business owners should be deliberate. If we treat it as a deliberate action, we recognize and understand the barriers that prevent women from accessing finance. If we don’t treat it as a deliberate action, it will be mere lip service”
Of the $4B invested into startups across Africa in 2021, the Africa: The Big Deal report reveals that “7% of the funding went to start-ups led by female CEOs.” That’s $1 in every $15 raised going to women-led businesses.
Some of the startups selected for the 2022 VC4A Venture Showcase Africa program include Chefaa an Egyptian healthtech, Bankly ,a Fintech from Nigeria and Dabchy, a Peer to peer Marketplace from Tunisia and Buupass a transport company from Kenya.
This is exactly why “beyond understanding the problem and creating awareness, VC4A decided to take action or the problems will never be addressed. The Venture Showcase Africa a Women founder edition was launched in April as a concrete way to engage investors and drive capital support to outstanding women led companies.”
Fadilah Tchoumba Secretary General at ABAN said, Over the next two months, the selected startups will be mentored by top VC investors and receive access to the bespoke VC4A curriculum before delivering their pitch at the 9th edition of the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit .This year the three-day hybrid summit, co-organized with ABAN (African Business Angel Network) will take place from 2-4 November 2022, with a mix of virtual and in-person components including Investor meetups in over 25 cities all over the world.
As an active player dedicated to supporting the development of startup ecosystems in emerging markets, VC4A worked closely with the Africa investment community and Entrepreneur Support Organizations to refer candidates to the Showcase, involving investors in the screening, selection and interview process.