LendHer Capital – A venture debt fund by women, for women

LendHer Capital is built by women, for women.

LendHer Capital is a venture debt fund that aims to close the financing gap for African women-led businesses that can’t access traditional capital. We believe that investing in women running dynamic businesses yields both financial returns and economic growth impact. We also believe that for women entrepreneurs to succeed, there can and should be a dual prioritization of business growth and life balance. When we scanned the market, we could not find funds run by women and with these values. So we started our own.

Our mission is to provide catalytic growth to African women-led businesses.

As female entrepreneurs and operators, we understand these businesses and know too well that women entrepreneurs are often under-represented, under-funded, and under-supported. A lack of investor diversity leads to a lack of investment in women.

Debt is a more suitable instrument than
equity.

Entrepreneurs running small and growing business better understand debt, and debt offers investors liquidity for reinvestment in the short-term, while the exit pathways for equity are still unclear in many emerging markets.

Team

LendHer Capital’s dynamic team combines experience founding, operating, and advising businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Startup operator and leader with 10 years’ experience, passionate about creating sustainable impact and financial inclusion.

Ann-Elise Francis
Co-Founder & Partner

Entrepreneur with 9+ years of experience building solutions in education and passionate about local solutions.

Audrey Cheng
Co-Founder & Partner

Financial advisor & management consultant with 10+ years of experience supporting entrepreneurs, investors, and development partners to grow African economies.

Irene Hu
Co-Founder & Partner

Entrepreneur, doer with 10 years’ experience creating sustainable impact. Passionate about African youth and locally led solutions.

Wawira Njiru
Co-Founder & Partner

Advisory Board Members

Serial Entrepreneur | Investor | Gender and Financial Inclusion Champion | People & Operations Expert

Asha Mweru Mbowa
Advisory Board Member

Economist with a public sector heart, a private sector mind, and a passion for getting things done. 10+yrs management consulting experience in 20+ countries, with focus on agriculture and food.

Amandla Ooko-Ombaka
Advisory Board Member

Our Approach

Building strong female-led businesses doesn’t only require access to capital, but also access to hands-on support.
We focus on the following key areas to help our entrepreneurs reach catalytic growth.

Portfolio

LendHer Capital finds and supports the best African, female entrepreneurs (with >50% businesses ownership) building dynamic, small- and medium-size businesses that are the backbone of African economies and that need debt capital for growth. Here’s our ideal business profile:

Priority sectors:
Retail, personal care, food & beverage, clothing & textiles, furniture & home decor

Business stage:
At least 1-2 years operational, with 5-20 employees, with $10,000 – $50,000 annual turnover

Growth profile:
Moderate-growth businesses that usually can’t attract traditional venture capital or access commercial bank loans

Existing financing options:
Self-financed, loan from family, friends, or cooperative group

Portfolio Highlight:
Linda’s Natural Foods

LendHer Capital invested in Linda’s Natural Foods in August 2021. In the due diligence process, the LendHer team worked with Linda to identify four main areas of support:

1. Professionalizing financial management: clarity on accounts and scaling record management
2. Operations: inventory tracking, scaling production processes
3. HR and talent: staff contracts and benefits, growing the team
4. Coaching: critical to support Linda’s journey as an entrepreneur more holistically

Before LendHer’s investment, Linda said she felt nervous about taking on external capital and being indebted to other people. Through the diligence process, Linda was able to understand the benefits of external capital to accelerate her business and saw value in the hands-on support the LendHer team was able to provide to her post-investment.

Closing the financing gap for
African women entrepreneurs.

LendHer Capital is built by women, for women.

Our mission is to provide catalytic growth to African women-led businesses.

Debt is a more suitable instrument than
equity.