After raising $75 million in 2019, Alitheia IDF is on track to ensure more financial support for women entrepreneurs. AIF describes itself as a pioneering gender-lens fund investing in scalable businesses to leverage the power of gender diversity as a factor for superior performance. 

Alitheia’s principal partners Tokunboh Ishmael and Polo Leteka are leading by example after closing the final stage of its $100 million fund to invest in gender-inclusive businesses across the continent. The investors for this round include the African Development Bank, Bank of Industry Nigeria, FinDev Canada, Dutch Good Growth Fund and the European Investment Bank (EIB,) who joined the round as a closing investor and committed $24.6 million. This funding will primarily benefit companies across Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Zambia.

Historically, women-led businesses have been underfunded despite the continued efforts to bridge the funding gap. An estimated $5billion was raised this year across the African continent by startups. However, less than 1% fraction of that was allocated to startups owned by women. Reports show that Africa’s economic growth is greatly impacted by the exclusion of women as the largest untapped group. Altheia believes this investment will empower women business leaders to play a more transformative role in Africa’s economy and help reposition them at all levels in the business ecosystem.