Five35 Ventures, the pan-African seed-stage fund that invests in female-focused technology companies, has added five companies to its portfolio across Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria. The investments span logistics, mobility, health, food systems and e-commerce, and come at a time when the share of venture capital flowing to female founders in Africa has fallen to its lowest level in years.
The fund said it made two new investments and three follow-on investments. The new positions are Fincart, an Egyptian e-commerce operations and logistics platform, and Malaica, a Kenyan maternal health company. The follow-on investments went to BuuPass, a Kenyan mobility ticketing platform; Daleela, an Egyptian women’s health business; and Pricepally, a Nigerian food-tech and digital grocery company.
Fincart, founded in 2023 by Mostafa Masry and Nihal Ali, unifies multiple couriers to help e-commerce merchants optimise shipping, reduce returns, speed up cash settlements and access flexible financing. Malaica was co-founded by Dr Lorraine Muluka, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, and serial entrepreneur Pascal Koenig, with early contributor Victor Ndegwa. It provides hybrid maternity care combining clinical services, digital health and community support.
BuuPass was co-founded by Wyclife Omondi and Sonia Kabra after winning the $1m Hult Prize in 2016. The company digitises intercity transport by connecting travellers with bus, train and flight operators through a single booking platform. Daleela, owned by parent platform Motherbeing, was co-founded by Nour Emam, Yousef ElSammaa and Ahmad Abou Hashem, and offers AI-powered health support, cycle tracking, access to specialist doctors and educational content. Pricepally, founded in 2019 by Luther Lawoyin, Jumai Abalaka, Deepak Bansal and Mosunmola Kola Adefemi, connects consumers with farmers, wholesalers and food suppliers.
Five35 did not disclose deal sizes. “These investments reflect our continued commitment to backing ambitious African founders building innovative solutions to some of the continent’s most pressing challenges,” the fund said in a statement.
Five35 is led by founding partner Hema Vallabh, an engineer, entrepreneur and investor. The fund is the capital arm of WomHub, a pan-African incubator and co-working network for female founders in STEM, and is targeting a $30m fund, with a first close completed. Its existing portfolio includes Kasha, Shuttlers, Zindi, BuuPass and RxAll. Vallabh is also an angel investor with Dazzle Angels.
The fund’s latest positions do not all have women as chief executives, reflecting Five35’s broader mandate to back female-focused technology companies rather than exclusively female-led teams. Several of the companies have women in founding or senior executive roles.
The investments come against a difficult backdrop for female-founded African start-ups. According to the third edition of the Diversity Dividend report by Disrupt Africa, only 2.8 per cent of the $499.6m raised by African technology start-ups between January and May this year went to companies with a female chief executive, the lowest share recorded in the six-year dataset. Companies with at least one female co-founder received 7.1 per cent.
The share of start-ups with a female co-founder rose to a record 19.2 per cent, up from 14.6 per cent in 2023, the report found. Female chief executives now lead 12.1 per cent of tracked companies, compared with 9.6 per cent three years earlier. The data suggest the funding gap is not explained by a shortage of female founders.
Emmanuel Adegboye, head of Africa-focused pre-seed investment programme Madica, said: “The conversation should not be about whether exceptional women founders exist in Africa. We see them every day. The real challenge is ensuring they have the same access to capital, networks, and opportunities as their peers.”
Five35’s portfolio sits largely outside fintech, the sector with the weakest gender balance among Africa’s largest technology verticals. Only 8.9 per cent of fintech ventures have a female chief executive, according to the report.
Catherine Young, founder of entrepreneurship firm Thinkroom, said the pattern was “economically irrational. When we miss strong founders, we miss companies, jobs, innovation, returns and national growth.” Her Grindstone Ventures portfolio has allocated 52 per cent of its funding to female founders.