Women are making steady gains in Africa’s technology startup ecosystem, but they continue to face significant challenges accessing venture capital, underscoring a persistent funding gap that threatens to slow progress toward a more inclusive innovation economy.
That is according to the third edition of “Diversity Dividend: Exploring Gender Equality in the African Tech Ecosystem“, the regular deep-dive into the state of gender diversity in the African startup and VC ecosystems released by Disrupt Africa in partnership with Madica, Thinkroom and Jumpstarter Crowdfunding. The report finds that while female representation among startup founders and chief executives has improved over the past two years, investment into women-led ventures has declined since 2023.
The study analyzed more than 3,000 African startups and combined ecosystem data with interviews of founders and investors to assess gender diversity, funding trends and opportunities across the continent.
Women co-founded 641 startups in the survey, accounting for 19.2% of the ecosystem in 2026, up from 17.3% in 2024 and 14.6% in 2023. Female leadership also improved, with women serving as chief executive officers at 12.1% of startups, compared with 11.1% two years ago and 9.6% in 2023.
Those gains, however, have not translated into better access to capital.
The report shows that only 18.5% of startups that secured funding in 2024 had at least one female founder, down sharply from 26.3% in 2023. The proportion of funded startups led by female chief executives also declined to 12.5% from 15.3% over the same period.
The trend continued in 2025, when just 16.9% of funded startups had a female co-founder and only 9.6% were led by women. Early figures for 2026 present a mixed picture. Of the 60 startups that raised funding during the first five months of the year, 11, or 18.3%, had a female co-founder, while only five, or 8.3%, were led by a woman chief executive.
The findings highlight a growing disconnect between improving representation and access to investment, suggesting that women entrepreneurs continue to encounter structural barriers even as the broader ecosystem becomes more diverse.
“This third edition of our pioneering research publication, Diversity Dividend, tracks small, yet significant, steps towards a more gender diverse African tech startup ecosystem,” said Gabriella Mulligan, co-founder of Disrupt Africa. “But much more needs to be done to ensure the sector moves more quickly towards the gender parity it needs to really scale and succeed, and the funding figures are certainly a concern. Diversity is not going to increase if diverse startups can’t access the funding they need to grow.”
Madica, an Africa-focused pre-seed investment program dedicated to supporting underrepresented founders, said improving gender equality requires more than increasing the number of women receiving investment.
“We’ve heard it before, and we’ll continue to hear it. Getting past representation and specifically gender equality requires much more than ‘choosing diversity’,” said Akinyi W. Ooko Ombaka, Head of Portfolio Success at Madica. “It necessitates creating a real environment for equitable opportunities to thrive.”
Ombaka said founders need sustained mentorship, strategic advisory support, access to global entrepreneurial networks and practical operational assistance alongside funding, adding that listening directly to women founders is essential to designing effective interventions.
Jumpstarter Crowdfunding, another partner in the report, said expanding access to community-based financing could help narrow the capital gap faced by women entrepreneurs.
“Data consistently proves that diversity is a powerful catalyst for economic resilience, yet female and underrepresented founders still face significant capital allocation gaps,” said Derek Whitehead, Chief Operations Director at Jumpstarter Crowdfunding. “Providing transparent, community-driven funding infrastructure and greater visibility is essential to turning Africa’s most impactful ideas into thriving businesses.”
The report concludes that although female participation in Africa’s startup ecosystem continues to improve, progress remains incremental. Without broader and more equitable access to venture capital, the continent risks slowing the growth of women-led businesses and limiting the innovation and economic benefits that greater diversity can deliver.