TLcom Capital, one of Africa’s largest venture capital firms, has officially announced its 6th edition of the Africa Tech Female Founder Summit, which will be held on Tuesday 15th October 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya. The Summit — Africa’s largest event for women tech entrepreneurs — has now opened applications for participants.
Themed “Transformative Leadership: Redefining Success in Tech”, the 2024 Africa Tech Female Founder Summit is designed to unite, inspire, and empower female founders across Africa, offering a platform to learn from each other and establish supportive networks. The theme will also emphasise the importance of transformative leadership and strategic partnerships in scaling businesses within the tech industry.
For this year’s event, TLcom Capital boasts of an exciting lineup of speakers including female founders Nelly Chatue-Diop [Ejara], Nneile Nkholise [Thola], Rasha Rady [Chefaa] and Sneha Mehta [Uncover], who will hold a panel on “Scaling and Sustaining Growth”. The Summit will also hold a series of workshops and mentoring sessions on topics including “Budgeting and KPI Design” by Daisy Liech, [TLcom], and “Growth Strategies and Scaling Successfully” by Wandia Gichuru [Vivo]. Additionally, pre-selected startups will have the unique opportunity to pitch their companies and gather feedback from Africa’s leading investors such as Yemi Keri [Rising Tide Africa] and Joyce-Anne Wainai [Chui Ventures].
Speaking on the upcoming event, Omobola Johnson, Senior Partner at TLcom Capital, says, “After navigating one of the toughest years for the tech ecosystem, founders now face a completely new landscape. Capital is still scarce and investors are increasingly pushing entrepreneurs to build, move to profitability faster and scale. But amidst all these demands, we’re missing a crucial discussion — what does it take to succeed in this context, especially as a woman? This Summit will highlight the high-performance qualities that will empower female founders to rise to the forefront as industry leaders in this demanding environment.”
Over 500 African female tech entrepreneurs have attended previous editions of TLcom Capital ‘s Summit with last year’s event in Lagos spotlighting Planet FWD’s Julia Collins, the first black woman to build a unicorn, as a headline speaker. Previous speakers have also featured Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Australia and Chair of Andela, as well as Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, Hewlett-Packard and current US Ambassador to Kenya and Funke Opeke, Founder and CEO of MainOne, a technology infrastructure company in Nigeria that successfully exited to one of the largest tech infrastructure companies on the continent.
Andreata Muforo, Partner at TLcom Capital, adds, “As women leaders, we often find ourselves navigating uncharted territories where traditional models of success don’t always resonate with our values. This year’s Summit is about exploring what it truly means to lead from within. We’re focusing on the skills that shape our influence — how we hire, how we cultivate culture, and how we make decisions that are authentically our own. The event will go far beyond business performance metrics; it’s about reconstructing leadership on our terms and inspiring the next generation to see themselves in these roles.”
TLcom is one of Africa’s largest early-stage investors and boasts of a leadership team which is 60% female. The firm has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to female founders, supporting them through its annual summit and backing some of Africa’s most prominent female-led startups such as Okra, Andela, Kobo360 and Pula. In 2022, TLcom reinforced its efforts to tackle the severe funding gap for Africa’s female tech entrepreneurs with a co-investment commitment to support the launch of FirstCheck Africa’s debut fund.
Currently, TLcom has approximately $300mn in assets under management invested across Africa, holding several startups in its portfolio including Andela, Ajua, Autochek, Educatly, Fairmoney, Ilara Health, ILLA, Kobo360, Littlefish, Okra, Pastel, Pula, Seamless HR, Shara, Talstack, Terragon Group, uLesson, Vendease and Zone. With an exclusive focus on Africa, the firm invests across all stages of the venture capital cycle with a focus on Seed and Series A. With an on-the-ground presence in Kenya and Nigeria as well as offices in the UK, TLcom also invests across a wide range of industries including agriculture, education, fintech, data analytics and logistics targeting high-growth, tech-enabled startups across Africa.
With teams on the ground in Lagos and Nairobi, TLcom Capital is an Africa-focused venture capital investor managing over $300 million in AUM. The firm invests in critical sectors in Africa. Across two Africa-focused funds, TIDE Africa I and TIDE Africa II, TLcom’s portfolio companies include Andela, Autochek, Fairmoney, Illa, LittleFish, Pula, Shara, uLesson and Zone.