GreenHouse Capital was founded in 2016 and swiftly became an active investor in the African tech ecosystem, but its team soon noticed there was an underrepresentation of female founders within its portfolio. Research revealed that women were missing out on opportunities due to lack of resources, mentorship and investment. To address this gender gap, the company launched GreenHouse Lab, Nigeria’s first female-focused accelerator, in 2018. The accelerator’s flagship program runs once a year and offers multiple industry-specific programs with various corporate partners. “GreenHouse Lab targets tech startups operating anywhere on the continent that are led by women or address challenges or sectors that predominantly affect women,” says Ruby Nimkar, principal at GreenHouse Capital.

Entrepreneurs selected for the accelerator program spend three months at GreenHouse’s Vibranium Valley tech hub, where they learn what it takes to scale a startup in Africa and connect with a community of startups, corporate partners, investors and public sector players. The program features a combination of workshops, ecosystem-building and networking events, and personalized one-on-one mentorship sessions. Ruby says that GreenHouse’s mentors and partners are the foundation of the program. “GreenHouse Lab is run in partnership with Google for Startups, and we have collaborated with passionate mentors from leading African and global institutions including Paystack, Andela, Village Capital, BCG, Chicago Booth, Cambridge University, Rensource and many others,” she says.

The program concludes with a demo day, at which participants have the opportunity to receive up to $100,000 in investment from GreenHouse Capital. But Ruby says the journey doesn’t end there. “We truly believe this is just the beginning of a long and meaningful relationship with our cohort members, and continue to support them post-program,” she says. To date, GreenHouse Lab has accelerated fifteen women-led, early-stage startups across seven African countries, with half of these companies collectively raising over $1 million in funding within one year of completing the accelerator program.

Have a strong team.
We look for driven, dedicated, multidisciplinary teams with strong business experience and a vision for growth and evolution.

Build a desirable product.
Your product should so perfectly solve a critical problem for target users that they are willing to pay for it

Identify a market.
You need a large market both in terms of size and value.

Show traction.
We want evidence that the company has put some version of the product to market and received positive indicators that it is a viable solution.

greenhouse.capital