Jo Opot, the founding director of Gather Ventures, an African-led, women-founded fund backed by pop icon and philanthropist Rihanna through her Clara Lionel Foundation is set to invest in African-led businesses building climate resilience.
Gather Ventures is rewriting the rules of climate finance by prioritizing impact over uniformity, and investing where traditional capital often hesitates to go.
Flexible Capital for Complex Problems
Gather Ventures operates with an unusually adaptable approach. Unlike traditional VC funds locked into equity-only models, Gather deploys grants, loans, equity, and working capital—tailoring support to the realities faced by early-stage African entrepreneurs. The fund is particularly focused on ventures that build economic assets for women and girls, viewing gender equity as a powerful lever for climate action.
“We’re not just investing in businesses. We’re investing in systems change,” says Opot. “Asset ownership by women is one of the most overlooked and powerful forms of climate resilience.”
As of mid-2025, Gather’s portfolio is 86% women-led, 86% African-led, and 100% climate-aligned.
Why Women + Climate = Scale
The fund’s thesis is rooted in data: empowering women is one of the most effective ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Studies from organizations like Project Drawdown highlight that educating girls and increasing women’s access to economic assets can reduce emissions more effectively than many technological interventions.
“Adaptation matters just as much as mitigation,” Opot explains. “Rural communities in Africa didn’t cause climate change—but they’re on the front lines of it. And women in those communities are too often invisible to investors.”
Investments Making a Difference
Gather’s early investments offer a glimpse into its high-impact approach:
- Giraffe Bioenergy, a Nairobi-based company, is producing ethanol cooking fuel from cassava—a drought-tolerant crop grown by smallholder women. The startup aims to reach 45 million liters of fuel by 2028, while significantly increasing women farmers’ incomes.
- Mobility for Africa designs electric tricycles tailored for female users in off-grid communities. The company deployed 400 vehicles in 2024, with plans to scale to 4,000 by 2028, creating hundreds of income-generating opportunities for rural women.
Other ventures include decentralized food processors and sustainable ag-tech tools designed to reduce post-harvest loss and improve climate adaptation—owned and operated by women.
Rihanna’s Role and the Capital Shift
Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation, known for backing bold climate initiatives in underserved regions, is one of Gather’s early supporters. But Opot emphasizes the fund’s broader mission: “This isn’t about celebrity. This is about creating a financial system that sees African women as builders—not just beneficiaries—of climate solutions.”
The timing couldn’t be more critical. According to Africa: The Big Deal, climate-tech investment in Africa surpassed $1.1 billion in 2023, up from just $340 million in 2019. Yet, analysts estimate the continent will need $277 billion annually by 2030 to meet climate resilience goals. That gap remains vast—especially for businesses led by women.
Building a New Investment Blueprint
With plans to invest in 25 climate-aligned African startups by 2026, Gather Ventures aims to prove that flexible, community-rooted capital can scale faster and more equitably than traditional VC. The fund is also exploring partnerships with other gender lens investors and local DFIs to further catalyze impact.
“Resilience isn’t just about surviving climate shocks—it’s about ownership, agency, and dignity,” says Opot. “We’re betting on the women who are building that future.”
As the climate crisis deepens, and global capital begins to search for smarter, fairer solutions, Gather Ventures stands out not just for who it funds—but how.