Investor Profile: WIC Capital - Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

WIC Capital is the first investment fund dedicated to women-led businesses in Francophone West Africa, investing in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire and expanding across Francophone Africa. For founders researching WIC Capital funding, the important distinction is that this is not a technology-only venture fund: it backs women-owned and women-led small and growing businesses across sectors, with capital structured to fit companies that banks routinely overlook. This profile explains how to get funding from WIC Capital, its cheque range, and the gender criteria every applicant must meet.

Thesis: closing a credit gap, building national champions

WIC Capital was launched in March 2019 by the Women’s Investment Club (WIC) Senegal, itself founded in 2016 by Senegalese women entrepreneurs. The problem it addresses is stark: on its own account, only 3.5% of Senegalese women entrepreneurs who borrow do so from financial institutions, while 43.9% borrow from relatives. WIC Capital therefore pairs modern financial instruments with business networks and technical support, rather than offering money in isolation.

Sectors and stages

WIC Capital is sector agnostic, investing in small and growing businesses rather than only in startups. Portfolio reporting names companies in agribusiness, cosmetics, education, fashion and the circular economy, and its pandemic-era repayable advances reached similar high-potential sectors. The gender test is explicit: companies founded by women, at least 50% owned by women, or with a predominantly female presence in management or along the value chain.

Fund size and cheque size

WIC Capital states on its own website that it invests between €100,000 and €2,000,000 through a mix of equity and quasi-equity structured as self-liquidating instruments. Earlier programme reporting described smaller tickets of FCFA 25 million to FCFA 125 million, reflecting the fund’s earlier stage and the smaller companies it served at that time; founders should use the current €100,000 to €2,000,000 range as the operative guide and confirm the applicable ticket in conversation. Total fund size is not publicly disclosed in the sources reviewed, and this profile does not invent one. A secondary listing describes a €30 million growth-capital target, but that figure is not confirmed on the fund’s own site and should be treated as unconfirmed.

Notable portfolio

Portfolio names publicly associated with WIC Capital include Kwely, Fuzion, Biobellech and Karaw International. The fund also granted XOF 120 million in repayable advances to 13 Senegalese SMEs, with individual advances of XOF 3 million to XOF 15 million, unsecured and interest-free, repayable if the funded project succeeded.

Partners, team and programmes

WIC Capital is led by Managing Partner Evelyne Dioh Simpa, with Thiaba Camara Sy chairing its investment committee and board. Its backers have included institutional supporters such as the FSDAi Nyala Facility, which extended a $1 million loan to support gender-lens investing, and MASSIF, the Dutch-government financial-inclusion fund managed by FMO. Non-financial support runs through the WIC Académie, which provides business training, mentorship and technical assistance,

How to apply for funding

No public, rolling application form for WIC Capital was located for this profile, so founders should not assume an open online window. The honest route is a direct approach through the fund’s own website and its WIC network, or an introduction via a Francophone Africa ecosystem partner, development-finance institution or technical-assistance programme already working with the fund.