Aruwa IWD showcase

39 Female Led Funds in Africa

For International Women’s Day 2025, Aruwa Capital, proudly highlights for the third year in a row, the achievements of the 58 women across 39 funds who have overcome obstacles to successfully close funds in Africa. These exceptional women serve as sources of inspiration, leading the way for gender equality in venture capital and private equity.

In 2019 when we started this research, we could only see 10 female founded and led funds that had successfully closed their funds since 2008 in Africa. In 2022, this increased to 24 funds, in 2023, to 35 funds and in 2024, this has increased to 39 female led funds. Every year we continue to make incremental progress as more attention is brought to the importance of women in investment roles, however we still have a long way to go to achieve gender equality.

Female fund managers are three times more likely to invest in a female CEO and twice as likely to invest in a female owned business. In 2024 less than 2% of capital went to female led businesses in Africa. Therefore, it is our big belief, that until we address the disparity amongst capital allocators, this gender funding gap will continue to persist. Bridging the gender funding gap is not only a moral imperative but also essential for any diversified investment portfolio and is critical to unleashing the full potential of our economies and societies.

The four new funds that made our list for 2025 include BFA Global – Catalyst Fund,, Beltone Venture Capital, Healthcap and Janngo Capital.

Female founders generate 2.5x more revenue than their male counterparts for every dollar invested according to Boston Consulting Group. In addition, according to Harvard Business Review, the performance gap between male- and female-led startups is not due to capability but rather who is making investment decisions. Research shows that only 17% of female-led startups successfully exit via acquisition or IPO, compared to 27% of male-led startups. However, when female entrepreneurs receive funding from VC firms with female general partners, this gap disappears, showing that women fund managers are not only better at selecting women-led businesses but also at supporting them to scale successfully to exits.

The numbers make it clear: diversity in capital allocation leads to better investment outcomes. If we want to see more successful female-led businesses, we need to ensure that more women are sitting at the table as decision makers in venture capital and private equity.

Embracing the theme of International Women’s Day 2025: Accelerate Action, we reaffirm our dedication to investing in women and we are pleased to spotlight the dynamic track record female fund managers bring to the table, the advantages of gender diversity and also highlight the vast untapped potential that is inherent in investing in women across the value chain of companies, from the board, management, workforce, customer base and supply chain. Aruwa Capital continues to showcase the business through its benchmark beating fund financial returns.

Let’s applaud these remarkable female fund managers and role models, who despite the challenges, demonstrate the essence of women’s economic empowerment.

We respect your tenacity and persistence against all odds.

From all of us at Aruwa Capital, we wish all the women in our ecosystem and network a Happy International Women’s Month!

Warm regards,
Team Aruwa