Opportunities
Grants, VC funds, accelerators, and competitions for African entrepreneurs.
Grants, VC funds, accelerators, and competitions for African entrepreneurs.
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$1K–$20K (Empress Fund angel); $500K–$1M (Enygma Ventures VC)
Africa Trust Group is a Cape Town-based gender-lens investor and ecosystem builder operating two funds: Enygma Ventures (VC fund for women-founded businesses in Southern Africa, $500K–$1M tickets) and the Empress Fund (angel fund offering collateral-free loans, equity, and quasi-equity of $1K–$20K for women entrepreneurs). The group takes a multifaceted approach spanning research and advisory, training and consulting, and direct gender-lens investing.
Equity Investment
Enygma Ventures: $500K–$1M equity checks for women-founded businesses.
Empress Fund Financing
Collateral-free loans, equity, and quasi-equity from $1K–$20K for micro/early-stage women entrepreneurs.
Business Development Support
Post-investment board engagement, strategic guidance, and investor network access.
Access to Shell Foundation Network
Pre-seed cohort companies get access to Shell Foundation's ecosystem of advisors and resources.
Enygma Ventures Fund
First VC fund in Southern Africa focused on women-founded or majority-women-led businesses. Invests $500K–$1M with 11 portfolio companies to date. Fund size $10M targeting seed-stage female entrepreneurs.
Empress Fund
Angel investment fund offering women entrepreneurs collateral-free loans, equity, and quasi-equity from $1,000 to $20,000. Designed for very early-stage and micro-enterprises.
$300K Pre-Seed Fund (Shell Foundation-backed)
Pre-seed fund to build Enygma's pipeline and experiment with different capital types entrepreneurs need at the earliest stages.
Research & Advisory
Producing research on barriers to women's economic participation to inform investment strategy and policy advocacy.
Training & Consulting
Gender-lens training and consulting services for corporates and ecosystem builders.
Women entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses with viable returns and genuine gender equality impact. Africa Trust Group looks for founders building scalable businesses that demonstrate the intersection of economic opportunity and social transformation. Sectors include tech, manufacturing, infrastructure, agribusiness, and media.
Board engagement, investor network access, follow-on funding support, strategic guidance, access to Africa Trust Group ecosystem.
Verify fund is actively deploying — Enygma Ventures has raised $10M but confirm current deployment status. Ask about follow-on reserves. The portfolio of 11 companies suggests early-to-mid deployment phase.
Cape Town-based gender-lens investor with two distinct fund products. If you're pre-seed (under $20K needs), Empress Fund is the entry point. For seed ($500K+), Enygma Ventures is the path. The Shell Foundation pre-seed fund can also be a pipeline entry point.
2018
Active Since
Yes
Deploying
11 portfolio companies across Enygma Ventures Fund (names not publicly listed)