UNICEF selects first cohort of women's health startups from Africa and Asia, offering $100,000 in equity-free funding each

The Femtech Ventures programme, backed by Sweden and Temasek Foundation, chose founders from over 1,100 applications across 85 countries to work on maternal care, safe mobility, gender-based violence response and financial inclusion

UNICEF's Office of Innovation has launched the first cohort of UNICEF Femtech Ventures, a five-year investment programme that provides equity-free capital and technical support to early-stage technology companies addressing gaps in women's health, safety and economic access across Africa and Asia. The programme is funded by the Government of Sweden and Temasek Foundation, a Singapore-based philanthropic organisation.

The cohort was selected from more than 1,100 applications submitted from 85 countries, with more than half originating from Africa. Each selected startup will receive up to US$100,000 in equity-free capital alongside one year of business mentorship and technical assistance focused on testing, strengthening and scaling their products.

The programme convened in Pretoria last week, chosen as the launch location because of South Africa's established ecosystem for sexual and reproductive health technology. The startups in the first cohort apply AI, data science and blockchain to specific problems: maternal and reproductive care, safe transport for women, gender-based violence response and financial inclusion for women and girls in markets where access to these services remains limited or inconsistent.

The African startups selected include Dotoh, a Beninese e-health platform; SafeRide by Esheria, a Kenyan safe mobility service; HLlama by Umbaji, a Togolese maternal health chatbot; Feel by Luna, a Tunisian e-health service; DawaMom by Dawa Health, a maternal health chatbot; and YouthShield by Kairos, a social media monitoring tool from Burkina Faso.

"The most important innovation for women and girls is already being built, by the entrepreneurs closest to the challenge. UNICEF Femtech Ventures backs them with the capital, technical support and partnerships to turn what works locally into access at scale," said Thomas Davin, global director at the UNICEF Office of Innovation.

UNICEF plans to open applications for a second cohort in the fourth quarter of 2026 and is seeking additional partners to co-invest in the programme.