There have been ups and downs in the funding environment for startups around the world and in Africa over the past few years, but one figure has remained stubbornly fixed in place. According to Africa: The Big Deal newsletter which has been tracking startup deals worth more than $100k on the continent since 2019, the percent of funding that goes to all female founding teams in Africa has stayed between 0.5% to 2.4%. Gender-diverse founding teams fare a little better, raising a low of 8% of equity funding in the first half of this year and a high of 36% in the first half of 2019.

Much has been written on what needs to be done to close this funding gap, but especially at the early stages, building the right narrative is just as important as strong metrics for attracting the resources needed to get a fast-growing business off the ground. This is where the “The Future is Female” Mentorship Program comes in.

It’s the “first and only public relations and communications mentorship program dedicated exclusively to African female tech founders.” During the course of the three-month program mentees will participate in one-on-one sessions with mentors from Allison+Partners, a global PR firm. They will also attend masterclasses hosted… Read more

PR is crucial to the overall growth and development of any startup, and no one understands this better than Claudine Moore. Moore is a PR and communications expert with over 13 years of experience helping startups navigate media relations and shape public perceptions. In Africa, female entrepreneurs receive less funding and visibility than their male counterparts which has affected their ability to scale. This spurred Moore to create a mentorship program, The Future is Female Mentorship Program, that showed women how to gain visibility for their startups and position themselves for funding opportunities.

For the fourth edition of the program this year, 20 African female-led tech startups listed below have been selected out of 490 applicants from 37 countries across Africa. During the selection process led by judges; Enki Toto, Femi Agboola, and Michelle Agbodohu, special consideration was given to startups focusing on areas like health, education, finance, agriculture, and sustainability. Startups that provide solutions and/or address African women’s and girls’ needs also received special consideration. The  2023 edition has been supported by Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders Africa Program, Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund and F6S expanding the scale and reach of the initiative.

Here’s the complete list of all founders selected from across the continent. Read More

This edition of the program has been supported by Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders Africa Program
and Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund 

Twenty African female-founded tech startups have been selected for the fourth edition of The Future is Female Mentorship Program, a PR and communications mentorship program dedicated exclusively to African female tech founders. Launched on Africa Day in 2020, by the Africa tech focused PR agency C. Moore Media International PR, which was acquired by global agency Allison+Partners, The Future is Female Mentorship Program is the first and only PR and communications program dedicated exclusively to African women in tech. The 2023 edition has been supported by Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders Africa Program, Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund and F6S expanding the scale and reach of the initiative.

In this fourth edition, 490 applications were received from 37 countries across Africa, a 42% increase in applications from the 2022 edition. The mentorship program is complementary and supports the underserved market of African women and is one of the Continent’s fastest growing community of African female tech founders.  Read More

Six female-founded Kenyan start-ups are among 20 finalists selected for the Future is Female Mentorship Program.

The Future is Female Mentorship Program is a communications mentorship program by the American communications firm C. Moore Media, which was acquired by Allison+Partners.

The program, now in its fourth edition, was launched on Africa Day in 2020 and is dedicated exclusively to African female tech founders.

This year’s program is supported by the Google for Start-ups Accelerator: Women Founders Africa Program, Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund and F6S.

The six Kenyan ventures picked from the 490 applications are e-Waka Mobility, an electric bike provider, Mosmos Africa, a save-now-buy-later (SNBL) platform, Paydel, a platform that integrates logistics services on demand and payments, and Hela Money, a trading platform bridging traditional and digital finance. Read More