According to Salient Advisory’s most recent Market Intelligence report, 2023 Roundup: Investments in African Healthtech, women-founded companies in African health technology reached new heights last year, raising $52 million in funding, 31% of total investments compared to 1.4% in 2022, representing a more than 2,000% increase.
According to the research, this is an increase above the $2 million in funding provided to women-founded businesses in 2022. In compared to the previous year, women-led enterprises received 26 transactions in 2022 and 33 deals in 2021. Funding for mixed-gender founding teams rose from 10% in 2022 to 21% last year.
Yomi Kazeem, Engagement Manager at Salient Advisory, has shared that the primary reason for the overall increase was the result of several women-founded companies receiving large funding rounds. One of such companies is Kasha, which recently raised $21 million, making it the largest funding round by a woman-founded company in African healthtech, as reported by FORBES AFRICA.
“Alongside Kasha (Kenya), Dawi Clinics (Egypt), Maisha Meds (Kenya) and Chefaa (Egypt), collectively accounted for 75% of the total funding raised by women founders in 2023.”
He considers it great to see such large funding rounds for women, explaining that it aligns with his team’s advocacy to investors and donors for intentional approaches to providing funding to women founders with the aim of bridging long-running gender financing gaps.
For him, if the trend is sustained, the implication is that funding in African healthtech ecosystems will become more inclusive, with more “amazing” women-founded companies getting crucial early and late-stage funding to support their work. “It will also mean that these women founders will also be at the forefront of transforming health systems across the continent.”
The report also highlighted a nuanced perspective on funding dynamics within African healthtech receiving $167 million in equity, grant, and debt funding. While overall investments experienced a marginal 2% decline, the sector demonstrated resilience compared to the broader African tech ecosystem, which saw a substantial 39% drop in funding.
