Nairobi — Start-ups in Africa that are led by women continue to face major challenges in raising capital, particularly as they seek later-stage funding, according to new data from Africa: The Big Deal, a U.S.-based newsletter tracking start-up investments across the continent.
In a report titled ‘Disappearing Women’, co-author Max Cuvellier Giacomelli highlights a persistent gender funding gap across 2,808 equity deals worth over $14 billion since 2019.
While 25 percent of the deals involved a start-up with at least one female co-founder, they attracted just 17 percent of the total investment.
“When they managed to raise, they raised on average 1.5 times less than their exclusively male counterparts,” the report notes in part.
Even more stark is the disparity for start-ups with female CEOs.
Only 13% of the tracked deals since 2019 involved a woman CEO, and these secured just over 5% of the capital.
The trend has worsened over time: in 2024, women-led ventures accounted for just 3% of funding. In 2025, the figure has dropped further to a troubling 0.9% despite representing 9% of deals.
“When female CEOs managed to raise, they raised 2.5 times less on average than their male CEO peers.”
The gap widens significantly at later stages of funding. In combined Series B and C rounds, only 14% of deals involved female co-founded start-ups, receiving 11% of the funds.
Start-ups with female CEOs made up a mere 5% of the deals and attracted only 4% of total funding.
In contrast, at the pre-seed level, 28% of deals and 24% of funding involved female co-founders, with 15% of deals and 10% of funding going to female-led start-ups.
Analysts argue this pattern cannot be attributed to a lack of female-led ventures.
In fact, more than 700 rounds involving women co-founders have been funded since 2019, amounting to $2.4 billion (Sh312,000,000).
While early-stage investors have shown some progress, the drop-off at later stages represents a missed opportunity for growth-minded venture capitalists.
