VC4A is proud to announce the 14 women founders selected for the 2022 VC4A Venture Showcase Africa.
Since 2007, VC4A has worked tirelessly to build the support entrepreneurs need to start and grow the most meaningful enterprises in too often the most difficult circumstances. Where talent is equally distributed across the globe, the access to resources, knowledge and network is most certainly not. That’s precisely our mission. Everyday, thanks to the VC4A platform and partners, we are proud to provide ALL entrepreneurs with free access to the resources and support they need to grow a thriving business.
Out of the $4 billion invested in 2021 into startups across the African continent, 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: 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, founder, VC4A.
While one can only applaud the growing number of businesses led by women across the globe, it is still in the minority. The challenges they face compared to their male counterparts are plentiful and for many different reasons. That’s why VC4A is very proud to put the spotlight on these 14 amazing women founders selected from our flagship Venture Showcase program entirely dedicated to female-led businesses this year. They are all building innovative solutions, bringing disruptive business models that are changing 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.
We invite you to meet these companies which are 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.
Series A companies
Chefaa is a GPS-enabled platform to help chronic patients order, schedule and refill their prescriptions as well as all their pharmacy needs, improving compliance and eventually outcome through a comprehensive and patient-centric approach.
Bankly launched in 2019 with a vision to enable financial inclusion and build the digital guardrails to provide affordable financial products and services to the informal sector using a (hybrid) physical and digital model.
Dabchy is a peer-to-peer online marketplace for second-hand fashion where women can buy and sell clothing.
Seed companies
BuuPass is a B2B2C full-stack marketplace for transport that is fixing the 60B USD broken value chain in the domestic transport (domestic bus, shuttle and train booking) sector in Sub Saharan Africa.
GATE Academy is a leading ed-tech company that provides educational solutions to learners and educators. We are a social impact driven company aimed at promoting developmental change in the educational ecosystem.
HOJA is a digital services provider focusing on solutions aimed at improving management, safety and inclusiveness of urban mobility; This requires the identification, training and empowerment of key actors in the Sector (Regulator, Drivers & Passengers).
The rate of financial embezzlement in Africa is the root cause for low level of education in Africa. To solve this alarming problem, we have developed an offline(using USSD) and online payment platform enabling schools to receive payments using all local means of mobile payments while ensuring financial transparency and traceability of funds.
Pivo is a credit focused digital bank for SMEs in the supply chain and trade sector. We are simplifying access to credit, payments, insurance and bank accounts through an easy-to-use dashboard. Starting with credit.
Taimba is a B2B mobile-based cashless platform offering fair prices and a guaranteeing formal market to small holder farmers, with lower prices and a reliable supply to urban vendors.
Zuri Health is a virtual hospital providing affordable and accessible healthcare services to patients across Sub-saharan Africa via a Mobile App, website, Whatsapp bot and SMS service.
PremierCredit is a financial technology company that operates an online microlending and Investment platform in emerging markets in Southern Africa.
Rahet Bally is an all inclusive support platform for moms, offering them financial, physical, emotional, social & intellectual support through a wide range of online & on ground services.
Pre-Seed companies
Emergency Response Africa saves lives by connecting anyone experiencing a medical emergency to help in minutes through the largest technology-enabled network of first responders, emergency vehicles and hospitals.
HerVest is a social enterprise platform for financial inclusion for women across varying social classes. The mission of HerVest is to improve women’s lives through greater access to and use of financial services and technology.
Over the next two months, the selected start-ups will be linked to the top VC investors as mentors and receive access to the bespoke curriculum before delivering their pitch at the 9th edition of the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit. This year the three-day summit, co-organized with ABAN (African Business Angel Network) takes 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. Reserve your seats on www.africainvestorsummit.com.
As an active player dedicated to supporting the development of startup ecosystems in emerging markets, VC4A worked closely with the Africa investment community and Entrepreneurs Support Organizations to refer candidates to the showcase, involving investors in the screening, selection and interview process. The selection of these 14 high-growth high-impact ventures is made in collaboration with our investors network from Business Angels, VCs, Family Office and Corporate funds across the continent and beyond.
We’d like to thank partners such as American University Cairo BA, Aquarius Africa, Bond’innov, Katapult VC, NedBank VC, 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 Ventures, Newtown Partners, Norrsken Foundation, Orange Ventures, Outlierz, Persistent Energy, Proparco, Rising Tide Africa, ShEquity, Shell Foundation, Seedstars, Total Energies, Ubomi, Zambia Business Angel to mention a few.
About the VC4A Venture Showcase
VC4A’s mission is to connect entrepreneurs with the knowledge, support programs, mentors and investors they need to thrive and grow their business.
Over 850 entrepreneurs answered our call for applications and together with investors, we reviewed almost 500 candidates. The four criteria we have set for the selection are: Innovation and scalability, Growth strategy, Management team, Market traction and financials.
In the past years, VC4A selected 90 scale-ups from across the African continent as part of 7 showcase programs, resulting in a number of investment deals totalling over $468M. Today, VC4A is also present in Latin America having launched its first edition of the Venture Showcase this year.
For more information on the Venture Showcase, the alumni and partner organizations, visit https://ventureshowcase.vc4a.com/. Should you have any queries and/or wish to be involved in future editions of Venture Showcase Africa and/or Venture Showcase Latam, please feel free to contact Frederique Bisserier at frederique@vc4a.com
About the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit (#AESIS2022):
#AESIS2022 is an annual meeting point for Africa’s early-stage investor community organized by VC4A and African Business Angel Network (ABAN). With over 2000 attendees expected and 80+ speakers from diverse verticals, the stage for #AESIS2022 is the premier meeting place for facilitating rich dialogue with stakeholders and a burst of power-packed networking opportunities throughout.