Triple F is just a term with no meaning except when you are referring to something more powerful like “Funding FemaFounders”! We also believe that when you fund a woman, you find a village.
This was the topic on our most recent livestream with powerhouse guests Hema Vallabh, WomHub Co-Founder and Founding Partner at Five35 Ventures and Maya Burney, Founding partner at WomVest and Associate partner at Caleo Capital.

Statistics show that 49 billion dollars was invested into African businesses in 2019 but less than 1% of that went to female founders. Crazy! Hema and Maya explore ways to solve for this. Maya Burney, shares that as she started out in the male dominated field of finance, she realized very early on that men although amazing, were the most common demographic in the investment space and end up investing in people that look and sound like them, and she felt that she had a role to play in doing something to change that.

Recap the fireside style chat below to gain more insight on the importance and value of funding female founders:

Maya was challenged to not only engage women as receivers of capital, but to encourage and include them in becoming allocators of capital too. Hema shares her sentiments and call to action to provide a platform for funding of female entrepreneurs in STEM. Through WomHub, she has seen great female owned businesses doing incredible things, but not having access to enough capital. Five35 Ventures is a venture capital fund which invests in seed and series A female focused, tech-enabled startups. Maya and Hema agree that female founders need more conscious thought and support in the type of capital they require and speak more in the conversation about “alternative investment” options that are now becoming available to entrepreneurs. Womvest as a network of investors & entrepreneurs provide a platform for shared insights, collaboration and mentorship ensures that these conversations continue to be had.

We are making the circle bigger!  So go ahead, listen and discover what this means for you!
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Do make a note to join us for our next valuable livestream session from 19h00 – 19h30, Tuesday 27 September, when we’ll discuss the topic of "The power of the collective" and what it means to our community. Simply hop onto our WomHub Facebook page, LinkedIn profile or YouTube channel and feel free to participate and engage, see you then!

​How big is your dream to grow your business, and how can you achieve this? Watch the replay of our latest livestream where WomHub COO Anjani Harjeven explores ideas with Sharne Bloem, founder of the social enterprise Team Mahali, and shares an exciting announcement for female founders!
 
Sharne speaks passionately about Team Mahali’s sustainable building projects, as they strive to build socially inclusive communities that generate biodiversity and support meaningful jobs and livelihoods. This includes choosing locally manufactured materials and implementing upcycling. For example, the team has used plastic bags that are crocheted by local ladies for cladding, flooring made from shipping palettes that are stripped, sanded down and varnished, and a container as a house-in-a-box concept. They also consider social impact, such as using local communities to help with the building process.
 
The heart of the vision behind Team Mahali is to bring change to the building industry from the net zero and carbon neutrality point of view, which is key for how the future looks for us and future generations. This is aligned with the objectives of WomHub’s Circular Economy Incubator in partnership with South African Future Trust 2021, which Sharne participated in. She shares how the programme helped her travel this journey with fellow female founders who participated in the incubator, to see the struggles and breakthroughs that they go through, to connect with mentors and learn how to pitch her business effectively in a short and pressurized amount of time, which is essential when pitching to potential investors for funding.
 
Take a look for more insight and inspiration from Sharne, and to catch Anjani’s announcement: