KPMG is calling on female entrepreneurs across Africa to apply for its 2026 Female Founders in Africa Competition — a continent-wide initiative designed to identify, support and elevate women-led businesses operating across technology, health, agriculture, financial services and other high-growth sectors.
The competition, run by KPMG Advisory Services Limited and registered in Kenya, arrives at a moment when the funding gap facing female founders on the continent is widening rather than narrowing. Only 16.9% of funded African tech startups in 2025 had a woman on their founding team — down from 18.5% in 2024 and 26.3% in 2023. The decline comes despite a 46.2% increase in total African tech funding to $1.64 billion, meaning a rising tide of capital is reaching fewer women. Startups founded solely by women accounted for less than 1% of total funding on the continent last year.
The structural nature of the problem is well-documented. Male-led startups captured approximately 75% of all venture capital raised in Africa in 2025, with women-led and mixed-gender teams sharing the remainder. In 2024, women-led startups raised only $48 million in total — representing a 2% share of overall VC funding. Africa simultaneously holds the distinction of having the highest number of women entrepreneurs of any region globally, making the funding disparity particularly pronounced.
It is within that context that the KPMG competition positions itself. The programme targets women operating tech-enabled, tech-driven or tech-led businesses that have been active for at least a year, are registered in an African country, and are not majority-owned by a large corporate. Applications are assessed across four criteria — inclusivity, innovation and disruption, market potential, and financial success — each weighted equally. Entrants progress through a regional pitching process before a panel of investors, with finalists competing at a continental final for recognition as the best female founder across early, growth and mature venture categories.
Benefits for selected participants include access to KPMG’s mentorship programme, introductions to investor deal flow, branding and media visibility, and community engagement opportunities. The competition does not guarantee funding, but finalists gain direct exposure to investor networks and the right to identify their business as the KPMG Private Enterprise Africa Female Founder of the Year in their respective category — a credential with growing commercial weight as institutional investors increasingly apply diversity metrics to their due diligence processes.
As noted by Tekedia, total funding for startups with at least one woman founder nearly doubled year-on-year in 2025 to $275 million — a sign that targeted support programmes and gender-lens investors are beginning to move the needle, even if systemic parity remains distant.
All pitches must be conducted in English. KPMG employees, their families, contractors and audit clients are not eligible to enter. There is no application fee.
Apply here