TLcom Announces Africa Tech Female Founder Summit 2024, Opens Call for Applications

TLcom Capital, one of Africa’s leading venture capital firms, has announced the 6th edition of the Africa Tech Female Founder Summit, set to take place on Tuesday, 15th October 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya. As Africa’s largest gathering of women tech entrepreneurs, the event has officially opened applications for participants, inviting female founders across the continent to join this prestigious summit.

This year’s summit is themed “Transformative Leadership: Redefining Success in Tech,” and will unite, inspire, and empower female tech founders from across Africa. The event will offer a unique platform for women entrepreneurs to learn from one another and create supportive networks. A central focus of the summit will be the critical role that transformative leadership and strategic partnerships play in scaling tech businesses.

The 2024 Africa Tech Female Founder Summit will feature a stellar lineup of prominent female founders who have successfully navigated the tech space in Africa. Among the notable speakers are Nelly Chatue-Diop of Ejara, Nneile Nkholise of Thola, Rasha Rady of Chefaa, and Sneha Mehta of Uncover. These industry leaders will participate in a panel discussion titled “Scaling and Sustaining Growth,” offering their insights and experiences in expanding and maintaining thriving tech businesses.

Workshops and mentoring sessions will be a key part of the event, with sessions like “Budgeting and KPI Design” by Daisy Liech from TLcom and “Growth Strategies and Scaling Successfully” by Wandia Gichuru, CEO of Vivo. Additionally, pre-selected startups will have a unique opportunity to pitch their companies to some of Africa’s top investors, including Yemi Keri of Rising Tide Africa and Joyce-Anne Wainai of Chui Ventures, gaining valuable feedback from industry leaders.

The Africa Tech Female Founder Summit Focus on Success in a Challenging Landscape

Omobola Johnson, Senior Partner at TLcom Capital, spoke about the importance of this year’s Africa Tech Female Founder Summit, particularly in light of the challenges currently facing the African tech ecosystem. She emphasized the difficult financial landscape that entrepreneurs are navigating, with limited access to capital and increased pressure from investors to scale rapidly and achieve profitability.

Johnson stated, “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.”

Continuing the Legacy of Empowering Women Entrepreneurs

Since its inception, the Africa Tech Female Founder Summit has seen over 500 female tech entrepreneurs attend, with each edition spotlighting influential women in the industry. The 2023 Africa Tech Female Founder Summit in Lagos featured Julia Collins, the first black woman to build a unicorn with Planet FWD, as a keynote speaker. Past editions have also featured Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Australia and Chair of Andela, and Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay and Hewlett-Packard, and the current U.S. Ambassador to Kenya.

Andreata Muforo, Partner at TLcom Capital, echoed the significance of this year’s theme, stating, “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.”

Muforo added that the 2024 Africa Tech Female Founder Summit is aimed at helping women reframe leadership on their terms, with the broader goal of inspiring future generations of female tech entrepreneurs to envision themselves in leadership roles.

TLcom’s Commitment to Female-Led Startups

TLcom has consistently demonstrated its commitment to bridging the gender gap in Africa’s tech ecosystem. As one of Africa’s largest early-stage investors, the firm has a leadership team that is 60% female and has supported some of the continent’s most notable female-led startups, including Okra, Andela, Kobo360, and Pula.

In 2022, TLcom expanded its efforts to address the severe funding gap for Africa’s female tech entrepreneurs by co-investing in the launch of FirstCheck Africa’s debut fund, further reinforcing its mission to support female founders across the continent.

With approximately $300 million in assets under management, TLcom Capital’s portfolio spans a wide range of tech-enabled startups, including Ajua, Autochek, Fairmoney, Seamless HR, uLesson, and Vendease. With an exclusive focus on Africa, TLcom invests across all stages of the venture capital cycle, primarily focusing on Seed and Series A funding. The firm’s investments cover industries such as fintech, education, agriculture, data analytics, and logistics, with a presence in Kenya, Nigeria, and the UK.