The African Startup space is growing really exponentially and this is owing to the innovative solutions Africans are inventing to make lives easier for themselves and globally. However, while growth is persistent in Africa, female founders in Africa remains part of the most underfunded and over-mentored groups of entrepreneurs.

Though underfunded, women are still leaders in some spaces and driving some of the most exciting and important changes on the continent.

As the world celebrates women this year with #BreakingTheBias, Enrich Africa lists some of the most Female Founders in a list compiled to celebrate women who have changed the narrative that women are primarily concerned about social sectors as opposed to areas that drive economies.

Five Women #BreakingTheBias

Ruth Iselema - Bitmama

Ruth Iselema is the founder and CEO of Bitmama Inc., a fintech company focused on the African Cryptocurrency and Blockchain space.

She is also the founder of a flagship product, Changera, with Bitmama being a highly-secure crypto-fiat exchange platform that allows traders to buy and sell Bitcoin.

Iselema is a trained pharmacist who has always had an interest in owning her own business and not just any kind of business. Growing up as a young girl, Ruth didn't have the cliche interest of many young girls her age as her interest in the financial space started to bud at a very young age.

Although briefly practising pharmacy for a while in Ghana, Ruth found the politics between Doctors and Pharmacists a bit stressful. In 2016, she returned to Nigeria to finally start out her entrepreneurial journey with Bitmama.

Crystal Adesanya - Kiira Health

Crystal's Kiira Health is changing the way Black women receive healthcare.

The Nigerian-American entrepreneur founded Kiira health from a place of personal experience. Having had trouble booking an appointment and self-medicating, which landed her in the emergency room, she realised that a lot of Black Women also undergo these same troubles.

Also learning that a number of Black Women have over the years, developed mistrust for the healthcare system in the U.S., she went on to establish a 24/7 virtual clinic for women.

The company offers gynaecological, primary care and mental health services through its mobile app.

Rebecca Enonchong - AppTech

Rebecca is the founder and CEO of AppTech, a company with over two decades of presence in the African tech space. 

The platform offers implementation, training, and application management services. Enonchong boasts of clients in more than 40 countries across three continents.

When Rebecca founded AppsTech in the US - 20 years ago, the corporate world was still very far from welcoming newcomers, especially if you were a young black woman. However, Rebecca was able to take all that negativities thrown at her because of her gender and her race and turned it to something positive and inspiring to many other women globally.

Rebecca’s work speaks for itself. She has been spotlighted on Forbes’ list of 10 Female Tech Founders to Watch in Africa; Black Enterprise – 2014 Women of Power; New African’s 50 Leading Women in Business in 2013, IT News Africa’s 10 Africans making waves in technology, and many more.

Judith Owigar - JuaKali

Judith has been described as a social entrepreneur. She is the founder of Juakali, a Kenyan-based directory for blue-collar workers.

Judith inspires other women with another organisation, AkiraChix. The organisation nurture women who use technology to develop innovations and solutions for Africa. Judith had established AkiraChix in 2011 before establishing JuaKali in 2015.

Owigar currently serves as a board member in the Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions (SPIDER), the Lumen Labs board, the Africa WeTech (Women Enhancing Technology) Leadership Council and the St. George’s Primary School Alumni Association.

Odunayo Eweniyi - PiggyVest

Co-founder and COO of Piggyvest, Odunayo Eweniyi is not only an entrepreneur but an activist who is also concerned about the growth of women.

Odunayo has been recognised as one of Time Magazine’s 2021 Time 100 Next; In 2020, she was recognised by Bloomberg in Bloomberg’s 50 list - this was after making Forbes Africa’s list of 20 New Wealth Creators in Africa 2019.

Odunayo has been regarded as one of the women behind the tech boom in West Africa.

On inspiring other women, she founded FirstCheck Africa, a female-led, female-focused angel fund and investor community.

In conclusion, there are a number of women who have done remarkable work in #BreakingTheBias when it comes to the African tech space and raising funds.

In 2021, African startups raised approximately $5 billion, however, less than 1% of the money raised went to startups with a female founder or CEO. Also, this is not just an African thing as this trend also plays out globally, where only 2.3% of funding went to women-led startups in 2020.