Meet the Woman Hoping To Change the Tech Landscape for Women in Africa

Andria Moore

Andria is the Social and Engagement Editor for dot.LA. She previously covered internet trends and pop culture for BuzzFeed, and has written for Insider, The Washington Post and the Motion Picture Association. She obtained her bachelor's in journalism from Auburn University and an M.S. in digital audience strategy from Arizona State University. In her free time, Andria can be found roaming LA's incredible food scene or lounging at the beach.

Meet the Woman Hoping To Change the Tech Landscape for Women in Africa
Photo by Andria Moore

Six years ago, Africa didn’t have any unicorns. Today, there are seven.

The arrival of these new creatures — ”unicorns” is a term for private tech companies with a value of over $1 billion — is due in part to the efforts of founders like Gabriella Uwadiegwu.


Uwadiegwu is an investor and co-founding partner at Archangel Fund. She’s made it her life’s mission to fund and support women in the tech space in Africa. Archangel Fund writes check of between $25,000 to $100,000 to early-stage startups created by women.

On Wednesday, Uwadiegwu discussed Archangel Fund’s mission at L.A. Tech Week and offer her thoughts on the evolving tech landscape in Africa.

“Right now, Africa is tracking about five years behind South East Asia in venture funding,” Uwadiegwu said. Last year alone, African tech companies raised over $4 billion.

Uwadiegwu believes now is the most “exciting time” to invest in African startups because of the “potential” and the continent’s emerging dominance in the global tech market.

However, the continent’s tech industry is almost completely dominated by men: Only 3% of all the investments made into African startups between 2013 and 2021 went to startups led by women. Archangel Fund is trying to reduce that inequality, starting at the pre-seed phase.

Because the startup scene in Africa is so male-dominated, Archangel has been able to find a nice niche for itself. Uwadiegwu thinks the lack of competition is because other investors don’t know where to look to find women-led startups, but as a Nigerian woman with a background in software engineering, she feels uniquely qualified in this space.

“We know where to look,” she said.

Archangel Fund invests in everything from logistics to fintech, and everything in between. Jetstream, one of their portfolio companies, is a supply chain platform that helps African businesses to trade for supplies. Uwadiegwu said it’s companies like this that are helping to introduce African startups into global commerce and trade.

Although most of Archangel’s investments range in the $25,000 to $50,000 range, Uwadiegwu said they are currently expanding, working to raise $5 million for funding purposes. In her view, it’s money well spent. Her analysis indicates that women often perform better than their male counterparts despite having less access to funding. She hopes that her work with Archangel will help to reshape the tech landscape in Africa.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Archangel Fund is a nonprofit.

Subscribe to our newsletter to catch every headline.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

***

Read moreShow less

This Week in ‘Raises’: GITAI Lands $30M, Steno Gains $15M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local space robotics startup raised fresh funding to expand the flight model manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and increase employment, while a remote litigation platform raised more funding to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop service channels for its clients and continue expanding its tech team.

***

Read moreShow less

Gitai Secures $30 Million in Funding to Continue Space Robotics Developments

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Gitai Secures $30 Million in Funding to Continue Space Robotics Developments
\u200bPhoto: Gitai

Space robotics company Gitai raised a $30 million Series B extension this week, bringing the total value of the round to roughly $47 million.

The funding will be used to further develop Gitai’s suite of space robots as well as build out its manufacturing footprint in Torrance. Previously Gitai announced it raised a $17.1 million Series B in March 2021; this additional raise is still part of that round.

Read moreShow less
https://twitter.com/samsonamore
samsonamore@dot.la
RELATEDEDITOR'S PICKS
LA TECH JOBS
interchangeLA
Trending