The levels of gender diversity among funded African tech startups since Disrupt Africa started collecting data on the subject in 2021 have peaked and troughed, but numbers from 2024, 2025 and 2026 point to a worrying trend.
That is according to the third edition of “Diversity Dividend: Exploring Gender Equality in the African Tech Ecosystem”, the regular deep-dive into the state of gender diversity in the African startup and VC ecosystems released by Disrupt Africa in partnership with Madica, Thinkroom and Jumpstarter Crowdfunding.
The report contains both quantitative and qualitative data – quantifying female founders in the ecosystem, as well as their access to funding and opportunities, and speaking to them – and investors – directly about their experiences within the ecosystem. It also features personalised case studies, and is free to download here.
In 2021, of the 564 startups that raised funding, 121 (21.5%) had a female co-founder, and 66 (11.7%) a female CEO. In 2022, when 633 startups raised, the representation of women slightly declined, to 128 (20.2%) with a female co-founder, and 69 (10.9%) with a female CEO.
2023 gave a boost to gender diversity from a funding perspective, even as fewer African tech startups actually raised. Of the 406 ventures that secured investment that year, 107 (26.3%) had a woman on their founding team, and 62 (15.3%) were led by a female CEO.
However, there was a setback in 2024, when the number of funded startups on the continent continued to fall, to 200 startups, and
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