Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and UNICEF Announce Fem Tech Partnership

"We are enthused and encouraged by this new partnership with Sida. Their support is truly catalytic. It comes at a crucial time for girls and women around the world, when tech solutions can significantly enable and equip their health, wellness and socio-economic potential in ways that not only transform communities, but economies.  

 “Under 1 per cent of venture capital funding goes to Africa and only USD $10M tracked went to fem tech companies on the continent in 2023.  Our partnerships with Sida will ensure our work with social entrepreneurs and wider ecosystem actors particularly in Africa will unlock the transformative potential of innovation for inclusive social impact,” says Thomas Davin, Global Director, UNICEF Office of Innovation.

With support from Sida, the Venture Fund, led by UNICEF’s Office of Innovation with headquarters in Stockholm, will source solutions from fem tech startups - especially female founded or led. The Fund will invest in groundbreaking tech solutions that improve the socio-economic participation as well as availability and quality of sexual, reproductive health and rights (SRHR) products and services for girls and women in lower- and middle-income countries globally.

"Investments in fem tech solutions developed in Africa will value localized expertise for developing the tailored solutions needed to meet the health and wellbeing needs and preferences of girls and women with special emphasis on SRHR.

“Leveraging UNICEF’s reach and decade-long experience in social venture investment will help create an impactful pipeline of solutions for SRHR products and services that deliver locally but also have the potential to make significant global impact in a growing investment industry,” says Elisabeth Hårleman, Head of SRHR Team at Swedish Embassy in Pretoria.