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

WomHub is a South African ecosystem builder for women in STEM — science, technology, engineering and manufacturing — that helps female founders turn technical skill into investable businesses. For founders researching WomHub funding, the first thing to understand is that WomHub itself is not a venture fund: it is an incubator, accelerator, innovation hub and co-working community, whose capital arm is the separate fund Five35 Ventures. This profile explains how to get funding from WomHub through its programmes, what support looks like, and how its work connects to venture capital.

Thesis: fix the pipeline, not just the pitch

WomHub was founded by engineers turned entrepreneurs and investors Naadiya Moosajee and Hema Vallabh, who had earlier built WomEng to grow the number of women engineers in Africa. Their insight was that many women in STEM are brilliant engineers but lack the business frameworks to commercialise their ideas. WomHub therefore describes itself as an ecosystem builder, working with girls from school age through to seasoned entrepreneurs, because the funding gap for women starts long before a fundraising round.

Sectors and stages

WomHub works with women-led businesses in STEM fields, from early idea and prototype through to revenue-generating companies preparing for investment. Its flagship programmes target South African women entrepreneurs building innovative, tech-based businesses, and its investment-readiness work extends across Southern Africa.

Fund size and cheque size

WomHub does not publish a venture fund size, because it does not itself operate as a venture fund: that figure is not publicly disclosed, and this profile does not assign Five35 Ventures’ fund size to WomHub. What WomHub does publish is programme-linked funding. In the Standard Chartered Women in Tech Incubator South Africa, the top 5 winners are awarded $10,000 each, alongside individual mentoring and financial coaching for 3 months. Separately, companies graduating from WomHub programmes can be introduced to Five35 Ventures, whose seed cheques reach up to $500,000 — a distinct investment decision by a distinct fund.

Notable portfolio and alumni

WomHub does not publish a venture portfolio in the way a fund does, so this profile does not invent one. Its visible outcomes are programme cohorts and alumni: the Standard Chartered Women in Tech Incubator selects 15 participants per cohort for a 4-month programme, and its founder showcases have brought together investors including Five35 Ventures, angels and corporate partners.

Partners, team and programmes

WomHub’s partners include Standard Chartered, for the Women in Tech Incubator; Cisco, for Cisco EDGE Centres and incubation hubs in Johannesburg and Cape Town; and Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore business, for a Digital Skills Programme in the Northern Cape covering networking, AI, data science and cyber security. Its investment-readiness work also includes the Accelerating African Female Founders to Capital Programme, delivered with the AfricaGrow Technical Assistance Facility, KfW DEG Impact and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), moving 45 businesses through pipeline development and 20 into intensive investor readiness.

How to apply for funding

WomHub funding arrives through its programmes, not through an open venture application: founders should apply to a live programme on WomHub’s own website, such as a Women in Tech Incubator cohort or an investment-readiness programme, when applications are open.