VC4A Honoured for Empowering Women-Led Startups

The coveted IFC ScaleX award was given to VC4A, the famous platform that supports entrepreneurs in emerging countries, for its outstanding dedication to assisting women-led firms in obtaining finance following accelerator programs. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recognized VC4A as one of the top five accelerators out of 170.

Women entrepreneurs in emerging economies have a significant gender financial gap. Companies with a female co-founder receive just 11% of initial funding, with substantially fewer investments at subsequent stages.

This void represents lost possibilities for both companies and investors. To address this gap, IFC and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) created IFC ScaleX, a worldwide initiative targeted at boosting access to early-stage risk financing for women-led enterprises in emerging economies.

In 2022, VC4A, an organization committed to assisting entrepreneurs, established the VC4A Venture Showcase Africa - Women Founder Edition, addressing the issue of gender prejudice. The project aimed to showcase excellent venture capital possibilities and give assistance to women-led businesses. VC4A has been exhibiting developing market entrepreneurs since 2017, with an emphasis on talent from Africa and Latin America, and the Women Founder Edition expands on these efforts.

Loretta Foran, Head of the IFC's ScaleX Program, expressed her excitement, saying, "We are delighted VC4A has been selected to receive an IFC ScaleX award given the organization's successful work to help women-led startups access equity financing."

"VC4A began an annual showcase of emerging market startups, with a focus on top talent in Africa," explained Ben White, creator of VC4A. Women-led firms represented for over 20% of showcase grads and have earned nearly $40 million in venture financing."

The Women Founder Edition of VC4A has enabled female-led enterprises by linking them with investors who are especially looking for such ventures. In this initiative, past showcase alumni served as ambassadors, and women investors were included in the program's delivery.

The close engagement between VC4A and the venture capital ecosystem has aided the creation of firms such as Sayna and Chefaa, both of which have received major investments.

Overall, women-led Venture Showcase alumni have raised approximately $40 million in funding. The next showcase, which will focus on Latin America, is scheduled for 2023, as part of the objective to close the gender finance gap.