- Wetech hosted its first female founders conference on 9th December, aiming to lower the entry barrier into tech and increase the number of women in the industry in Africa.
- The conference sought to address the fact that less than 15% of tech start-ups have at least one female co-founder and only 10% have a woman CEO.
- Panels and sessions discussed topics such as how nonprofits support social entrepreneurship, strategies for growth, and the art of VC funding.
- The conference ended with the PitchHer competition, with the successful pitch from Morayo Ojikutu, CEO of Flow, a learning platform for children.
Wetech, a community striving to empower women and provide access to opportunities in technology, hosted its inaugural female founders conference in December. Since its inception in 2018, Wetech has made considerable strides in challenging gender barriers in the tech industry across Africa, where women comprise less than 15% of tech start-ups founders.
The conference entitled “Women Defining Tech Entrepreneurship” saw a gathering of female founders, venture investors, and tech leaders. Notable discussions ranged from the role of nonprofits in fostering social entrepreneurship, how tech can drive societal impacts, to deliberating upon the startup evaluation from an investor’s perspective. Additionally, dominated themes included the role of female-led innovation in Edtech, the mental wellbeing of founders, and strategies for scaling up female-led tech startups.
The conference featured heavyweights from the tech industry who shared their experiences and advice. Gabriella Uwadiegwu, Co-founder of Wetech and a founding partner at the Archangel Fund, emphasized the need for investors to seek out expertise in areas of uncertainty. Oluwadunni Fanibe, Program Manager at Techstars, highlighted her criteria for evaluating startups, which include in-depth knowledge of the market/industry and great team synergy.
Kate Victory-Oedema, a growth marketer at Founders Factory Africa, advised founders to think about partnerships from the onset and focus on value creation. Drawing from her experience, she spoke about identifying core channels to gain traction with users for startups. Dolapo Morgan from Ventures Platform Fund, gave pitching tips and discussed the metrics they consider during an evaluation.
The conference concluded with the PitchHer competition, a platform for startup founders to present their ideas to a panel of judges. The winning pitch was from Morayo Ojikutu, who introduced Flow, a learning platform for children, and won ₦1.5 million for her organization.
Looking ahead, Wetech plans to celebrate “5 Years of Women Redefining Technology and Entrepreneurship” on September 20–21, 2024. The vision encompasses expanding the conference with interactive workshops and career fairs.
