The hole between female and male entrepreneurs in Africa has reached a startling new low, as contemporary knowledge reveals that women-led start-ups are receiving a smaller slice of the funding pie than they had been 4 years in the past.
In a report titled ‘Crumbs, principally’, analysts at Africa: The Massive Deal have highlighted a “dismal” pattern within the continent’s tech ecosystem.
“Regardless of years of advocacy for variety, the proportion of funding flowing to all-male groups has truly elevated, leaving women-led ventures struggling for survival,” the report said.
In line with the report, again in 2021, the funding cut up already appeared closely skewed, with lower than 1% of capital going to all-female groups, 18% to gender-diverse groups, and 81% to all-male groups.
Nonetheless, 4 years of supposed progress has resulted in a regression.
By 2025, the report highlights that the share for all-male groups surged to 91%, whereas gender-diverse groups noticed their portion plummet to only 8% and all-female founding groups remained stagnant at lower than 1%.
“Whereas these figures signify a marginal technical enchancment over 2024, the place male groups took 93%, trade specialists argue there’s “no actual trigger for celebration.“
There may be, nevertheless, one space the place ladies look like competing on equal footing: the world of non-dilutive grants. In 2025, ladies claimed a major 20% share of all grant funding, whereas gender-diverse groups secured 42%.
However, this “silver lining” is skinny. Grants represented a mere 1.5% of the whole capital invested in African start-ups final 12 months, amounting to solely $46m out of a complete $3.2bn pool.
The battle is especially evident when trying on the “large ticket” rounds. When inspecting the variety of particular person start-ups elevating at the very least $100,000, the cut up is barely much less dramatic: 7% for girls, 17% for various groups, and 75% for males. But, this stays the bottom share recorded for female-involved ventures since 2021.
Moreover, the management statistics are equally “dreadful.” In 2025, solely 2.2% of all funding on the continent was invested in corporations with a girl CEO.
“That is the bottom proportion recorded since monitoring started in 2019, falling even beneath the earlier report low of two.3% in 2024.If debt and grants are faraway from the equation, the share of female-led corporations elevating vital capital falls to only 8%—one other all-time low,” the report highlighted.
Regardless of the “startling new low” in funding statistics, Kenya stays a powerhouse for female-led innovation.
Beneath are a number of distinguished startups based by solo ladies or all-women groups, categorized by their sector.
Well being-Tech & Med-Tech
Lami Applied sciences: Based by Jihan Abass (Solo Founder). Lami is a digital insurance coverage platform that permits companies to supply insurance coverage merchandise by way of API. It has raised over $1.8M in seed funding.
AshaCare: A health-tech startup offering tailor-made group healthcare options. It lately secured KES 1.3M in seed funding from the 2025 Commonplace Chartered Ladies in Tech (WiT) cohort.
UzimaNexus: A digital healthcare working system targeted on affected person transparency and effectivity.
Fintech & Enterprise Companies
Pezesha: Based by Hilda Moraa (Solo Founder). A digital market that connects small companies with working capital by way of a collaborative method.
Juakali Employees: Based by Judith Owigar (Solo Founder). A web based platform that connects expert guide employees within the casual sector with purchasers.
MAMA Social Ventures: Based by Kitawa Wemo. A enterprise builder and assist community particularly for female-led social enterprises.
Sustainability & Agritech
Kavalian Restricted: Based by Anna Chari. This startup manufactures eco-friendly building tiles from recycled plastic and agricultural waste.
Pollen Patrollers: An agritech startup constructing IoT and AI hive-monitoring expertise to cut back bee colony loss.
Grounded: A women-run producer of non-toxic, eco-friendly cleansing merchandise created from native Kenyan substances.
Shopper & Inventive Industries
Busu Skincare: A magnificence model growing pure skincare merchandise utilizing regionally sourced African substances.
Tuwe Bora: A sustainable textile model producing handcrafted trend and recycling textile waste.
Whereas the general “funding pie” for girls has shrunk, specialised accelerators proceed to bridge the hole. In November 2025, the Commonplace Chartered Ladies in Tech program awarded KES 9.1 million ($70,000 approx.) particularly to seven female-founded Kenyan startups to assist them scale.
Studying This Now 3
