Where Did Africa's Unicorns Go?
Global Invest Her
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Issue # 364?- 17th January?2023
This week many of us remembered and celebrated?#MLKDAY2023, we are very inspired by the fact that?Women CEOs run more than 10% of Fortune 500 Companies for the first time in history?and the?World Economic Forum?in Davos?is underway, this year?under the theme "cooperation in a fragmented world".
We also have exciting Partner News,?Dell WE Cities?Power Places Panel is taking place on?Thursday, January 26, 2023 at 12 – 1 PM US CST / 7 - 8 PM CET,?read more below and?sign up today!?, where our CEO Anne Ravanona will be a guest panelist!
Also this week, we encourage you to take a sip of cold-brew in our Founder Spotlight, in London a digital health startup just closed a Series B round and a Black female Fintech founder in the US recently received a $6.2 million raise led by Forerunner Ventures.
In other news we take a look at the 10 Most Active Investors at Series A in Europe in 2022, investments into?‘Unsexy Businesses’ by?Solo GP Nichole Wischoff, why there were no Unicorns in Africa during 2022 and the debut fund from Cake Ventures.?
? InvestHer Founder Directory Spotlight
Meet?Jenny Verrochi, Founder at Cold Brew Coffee,?the woman brewing up a storm, a cold one, in Colorado! As with most inventions, the great ones in particular, they are born out of necessity. Such is the story behind?Wild Barn Coffee. “This Colorado-based, women-owned, coffee-slinging operation was inspired by need, but fuelled by passion (and caffeine)” It’s made with love, organic ingredients but with no dairy and sugar to make it accessible to all and a perfect addition to your wellness routine!
Want to join Jenny on the InvestHer Founder Directory?
Apply to the InvestHer Founder Directory?today?and/or forward this?link?if you have a woman entrepreneur in your network?that you think would be a great fit!?
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?? Partner News
?? Dell WE Cities?Power Places Panel ??
Calling all Movers, Doers, and Stop-at-Nothing Changemakers!
Date:?Thursday, January 26, 2023
Time: 12 – 1 PM US CST / 7 - 8 PM CET
Is your city working for you? It’s time to find out. The WE Cities Index reveals the top cities for women founders worldwide.
Access the Dell Women Entrepreneurs (WE) Cities Index, Technology Deep Dive research, and attend the Power Places Panel to reveal the Top cities that support women founders.?
The research is being released on?Jan 26th, and Dell Technologies and DWEN will be hosting a virtual “Power Places Panel” to discuss the findings.?
Our very own Global Invest Her CEO, Anne Ravanona,?will be a guest expert on the panel, sharing insights on funding from the report so don't miss it!
Don’t miss out,?register for the event?or?sign-up to receive the research and access to the event on-demand?if you cannot attend!
Find out where women founders thrive!
Women Founder?News
Peppy, the London-based digital health startup focused on women’s health has raised $45M in Series B funding led by Albion VC according to the article cited here.?This recent raise will be used to fund?the companies expansion to the US market.
领英推荐
Amazing news from Ami Kumordzie, MD/MBA and founder/CEO of?Sika Health, announcing a $6.2 million raise led by Forerunner Ventures. Sika Health?helps employees maximize their FSA/HSA healthcare benefits according to the article cited here.?
Ghanaian e-logistics startup?Jetstream Africa?is tapping into the?market for cross-border logistics services that is said to?hit revenues of $32 billion by 2025.?
With this?$13 million in equity and debt pre-Series A financing announcement things are definitely moving in the right direction.
Global?Funding News
According to Sifted data, referenced in this article,?Series A startups brought in around €12.2bn across the entire year, compared to 2021’s €12.9bn. But which investors signed the most cheques? Here are the 10 most active investors at Series A in Europe, according to?Sifted Intelligence’s 2022 tech review report.
Despite investments lessening?across the board in 2022, VC funds of different sizes were still raised. Not a lot of them were raised by?solo general partners (GPs) though.?This makes?Nichole Wischoff somewhat of an outliner as?Wischoff Ventures?closed a second fund of $20, targeting?25 to 30 U.S. startups at the pre-seed or seed stage.
Emerging managers in PE might be in for a difficult year. It doesn't seem as if LP's are jumping ship completely though, according to the article cited here.? Even though LP's are becoming?increasingly selective about the managers they invest with, the?thing to note here is that they are in fact still investing.?In 2023, LPs are expected to be more careful about their allocations and only deploy capital with GPs they know and trust, according to Silicon Valley Bank's Global Fund Banking Outlook Report Q4 2022.
Investor Insights
Things were going well for the African Tech Scene in 2021.?With a total of almost?$5 billion in VC investments in the region, 5 Unicorns were produced. Why then did this trajectory come to a halt in 2022??According to the article cited here, the answer may be found in the analysis of market maturity.
This week it's all about Unicorns in this section of the Newsletter as we head to Europe next! 2022 was the second-biggest year for newly minted unicorns in Europe according to the article cited here. Despite this positive data, things are not looking as bright for 2023. Even though a total of 46 European and Israeli companies crossed the €1 billion threshold last year, according to PitchBook data, investors are predicting that conditions will remain harsh for the foreseeable future.?Yet there are some that might prove these predictions wrong.?
Show Me the Money?
Cake Ventures,?founded by venture and?angel investor Monique Woodard just announced its debut fund of $17 million, backed by among others Pivotal Ventures, Cendana Ventures and Plexo Capital.?Cake Ventures is a pre-seed and seed VC firm and one of the few ones?with an investment thesis focused on demographic change for customers, including published research according to the article cited here.