A review of Africa’s 2025 startup funding data through a gender lens once again exposes deep and persistent inequalities. Despite an already weak baseline, the situation has deteriorated further.
According to a report by Africa: The Big Deal, in 2025, startups founded solely by women accounted for less than 1% of total funding, mixed-gender founding teams received 8%, while male-only teams captured a dominant 91%. Although this represents a marginal improvement from 2024 when women-only teams received 1%, mixed teams 6%, and male-only teams 93% the overall picture offers little reason for optimism.
A more positive distribution appears only when grants are isolated from the broader funding pool. In grant funding, women-only teams secured 20% of the total amount, mixed-gender teams 42%, and male-only teams 38%. However, grants made up just 1.5% of all startup funding in 2025, amounting to $46 million out of a total $3.2 billion invested across the continent, limiting their broader impact.
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One modest bright spot is the growth in absolute funding volumes. The total amount invested in startups with at least one woman founder nearly doubled year-on-year, rising from $152 million in 2024 to $275 million in 2025, an 81% increase. Even so, a key structural challenge remains: ventures with women co-founders continue to struggle to raise larger funding rounds.
When examining the number of individual startups that raised at least $100,000 in 2025, the gender split is still uneven but less extreme. Women-only teams represented 7% of such startups, mixed-gender teams 17%, and male-only teams 75%. Despite this relative improvement, this marks the lowest share of startups with at least one woman co-founder recorded since 2021.
The situation is equally concerning when funding is analyzed by the gender of the CEO, who is most often a co-founder. In 2025, only 2.2% of total startup funding went to ventures led by women CEOs, with 98% flowing to those led by men. This is the lowest proportion recorded since 2019, following an already historic low of 2.3% in 2024. Looking again at startups that raised at least $100,000, 14% had a woman CEO down from 17% in 2024 and consistent with 2023 levels. When ventures that raised only debt or grants are excluded, this figure falls further to 8%, another all-time low.
Despite these sobering trends, some founders and startups did manage to defy the odds in 2025. Among women CEOs leading women-founded or all-women teams were;
- Petro Terblanche of Afrigen Biologics ($6.2m grant)
As CEO of Afrigen Biologics, Petro Terblanche led one of the most significant funding wins for a women-led company in 2025. The $6.2 million grant supported Afrigen’s work at the forefront of vaccine research and manufacturing, reinforcing the company’s role in strengthening regional biopharmaceutical capabilities. Beyond the size of the grant, the raise underscored the strategic importance of Afrigen’s mission and the credibility of its leadership in a highly technical, capital-intensive sector that has historically seen limited representation of women founders.
- Joanna Bichsel of Kasha ($4m equity)
Joanna Bichsel secured $4 million in equity funding for Kasha, a company focused on improving access to health and personal care products. The raise reflected growing investor confidence in Kasha’s business model, traction, and impact, particularly in addressing underserved markets. In a year when women-only founding teams captured less than 1% of total funding, Kasha’s equity round stood out as a rare example of a women-led venture attracting growth capital rather than relying primarily on grants or debt.
- Ines Serra Baucells of Biosorra ($3.5m pre-Series A)
Biosorra, led by Ines Serra Baucells, raised a $3.5 million pre-Series A round in 2025, marking an important milestone for the company’s progression from early research to commercial validation. Securing a pre-Series A round is especially challenging for women-led deep-tech and life sciences start-ups, where capital requirements are high and timelines are long. This raise signaled strong confidence in both the science underpinning Biosorra and the team’s ability to execute.
- Claire van Enk of Farm to Feed ($1.5m seed)
Claire van Enk raised a $1.5 million seed round for Farm to Feed, supporting the company’s efforts to address inefficiencies and waste in food systems. At the seed stage—where access to early institutional capital is often a major hurdle for women founders—this round provided critical runway for scaling operations and refining the business model. The raise positioned Farm to Feed for its next phase of growth while highlighting investor belief in both the market opportunity and the founding team.
Women CEOs leading gender-diverse founding teams also secured notable funding, including; Nour Taher of Intella, Emily McAteer of Odyssey Energy Solutions, Miishe Addy of Jetstream, Aune Aunapuu of Yaga, and Rocio Perez Ochoa of Bidhaa Sasa.
While these successes deserve recognition, they remain exceptions in a funding landscape where gender inequality not only persists but, in several key indicators, continues to deepen. Investing in women is not just about gender equity, it is an economic imperative. Research consistently shows that women-led startups generate strong financial returns. A 2018 report by BCG found that for every dollar invested, women-founded businesses return 78 cents, compared to just 31 cents from male-founded startups.
Despite this clear economic opportunity, biases against women-led businesses persist. While it is unrealistic to claim that women founders are inherently safer bets, data consistently shows that when given the right resources and opportunities, women are equally bold disruptors.
Outlook
Looking ahead to 2026, the trajectory of gender inequality in Africa’s startup ecosystem raises urgent questions rather than quiet optimism. If current patterns persist, the continent risks entrenching a funding structure where women founders remain systematically locked out of growth-stage capital, regardless of performance, impact, or capital efficiency.