VC4A is pleased to put the spotlight on 14 amazing founders selected from our flagship Venture Showcase program dedicated to women-led businesses this year.
Each founder is building innovative solutions, bringing disruptive business models that seek to change access to vital services across critical industries – from healthcare to education, from peer-to-peer marketplace to transportation and financial services, these companies are transforming our society.
Each startup from the portfolio is looking to raise their Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A rounds ranging from $250K to $10M. Learn more about the businesses they are building and the impact they can have for your country or region.
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.
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.”
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”
Fadilah Tchoumba Secretary General at ABAN
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 (#AESIS2022). 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.
We take this opportunity to recognise our collaborators, Business Angels, VCs, Family Office and Corporate funds across the continent and beyond such as American University Cairo BA, Aquarius Africa, Bond’innov, Katapult VC, NedBank Ventures, Compass Venture Capital, EAVCA, Enygma Ventures, Factor(e), FINCA Ventures, Five35 Ventures, 500 Startups, Flat6Labs, GSMA, Gray Matters Capital, HIMangel, HPE Growth, Impact DRC Angel, Kalon Venture Partners, Knife Capital, Launch Africa Ventures, Leapfrog Investment, Mercy Corps, Newtown Partners, Norrsken, Orange Ventures, Outlierz, Persistent Energy, Proparco, Rising Tide Africa, ShEquity, Shell Foundation, Seedstars, Total Energies, Ubomi and the Zambia Business Angels.
About the VC4A Venture Showcase:
VC4A’s (VC4A.com) mission is to connect entrepreneurs with the knowledge, support programs, mentors and investors they need to thrive and grow their business.
The 2022 Africa Showcase received 800+ applications from women entrepreneurs. Together with investors, nearly 500 were jointly assessed.
In the past years, VC4A has selected 95 scale-ups from across the African continent as part of seven Showcase programs, resulting in a number of investment deals totalling over $479M. Today, VC4A is also present in Latin America having launched the first Venture Showcase Latam this year.
For more information on the Venture Showcase, the alumni and partner organizations, visit VentureShowcase.VC4A.com
Should you have any queries and/or wish to be involved in future editions of the Venture Showcase in Africa or Latam, please contact Frederique Bisserier at [email protected].
About VC4A:
VC4A is the number one ecosystem builder in emerging markets that leverages its infrastructure, network and expertise for opportunities that contribute to the startup movement. Since 2008, the organization designs, structures and implements successful entrepreneurship programs across the continent.
VC4A runs an online platform featuring the world’s largest database of emerging market startups. We connect entrepreneurs to the network, tools and resources they need to succeed. Visit VC4A.com to learn more.
