23 Oct 2026
Tech FoundHER Africa: Backing the women building Africa's technology future
A new report from Naspers and Prosus, in partnership with Lionesses of Africa, draws on applications from 1,163 women founders across 43 countries to show where capital can make the biggest difference.
On 6 October 2026, we launched the Tech FoundHER Africa Challenge Insight Report 2026 at a roundtable hosted at Bloomberg in Johannesburg. Investors, policymakers and ecosystem leaders came together to discuss how to channel capital to African women-led tech companies.
We produced the report because the Tech FoundHER Africa Challenge gave us something rare. In one month, 1,163 women founders from 43 countries applied, giving us first-hand insight into a group that is too often overlooked in funding conversations. What they told us about capital, AI and jobs makes a clear case for investing in African women-led tech companies. This is not a pipeline problem: these founders are building, earning and creating jobs, and what they lack is capital. The report sets out where that capital can have the greatest impact and closes with five practical recommendations for scaling what works.
What the founders told us
Early, earning and under-funded. The typical founder is 32, and 53% are building in sectors such as agritech, health and education. Eighty percent are at seed stage or earlier, yet 47% have already earned $10K or more in revenue. Capital is what is missing: 72% raised no equity in the last 12 months. Most are looking for $50K to $1M, which is too large for micro-grants and too small for most venture funds.
AI is already part of how they build. Forty-three percent of applicants reference AI in their business, and all five winners use it. Their barriers are practical: access to clean, local data, the cost of building AI safely, unreliable power and connectivity, and hiring specialist talent.
A women-led jobs engine. The cohort reports 12,366 jobs, about 7,300 of them held by women. There is no sign of AI displacing workers among these founders: AI-using ventures employ at the same median rate as everyone else. Our overall winner, Farmer Lifeline, shows what this looks like in practice. Its AI-driven pest detection has created 121 field-agent jobs for rural women.
About the challenge
In September 2025, Naspers and Prosus, in partnership with Lionesses of Africa, opened the Tech FoundHER Africa Challenge and received 1,163 completed applications from female founders building technology businesses. Ten finalists pitched live at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange finale on 16 November 2025, and $140,000 in equity-free grants was awarded.
Read the full report to see the five recommendations and how investors, policymakers and ecosystem partners can help scale what works.
Download the full insight report
Based on the Tech FoundHER Africa Challenge Insight Report 2026, produced by Naspers and Prosus in partnership with Lionesses of Africa.
About Naspers:
Established in 1915, Naspers has transformed itself to become a global consumer internet company and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Through Prosus, the group operates and invests globally in markets with long-term growth potential, building leading consumer internet companies that empower people and enrich communities. Prosus has its primary listing on Euronext Amsterdam, and a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Naspers is the majority owner of Prosus.
In South Africa, Naspers is one of the foremost investors in the technology sector and is committed to building its internet and ecommerce companies. These include Takealot, Mr D Food, Autotrader, Property24 and PayU, in addition to Media24, South Africa’s leading print and digital media business.
Naspers has a primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (NPN.SJ) and a secondary listing on the A2X Exchange (NPN.AJ) in South Africa and a level 1 American Depository Receipt (ADR) programme which trades on an over-the-counter basis in the US.
For more information, please visit www.naspers.com.
Naspers Labs
In 2019, Naspers Labs, a youth development programme designed to transform and launch South Africa’s unemployed youth into economic activity, was launched. Naspers Labs focuses on digital skills and training, enabling young people to pursue tech careers.