Proven technology, unproven distribution.
Solar, telehealth, and digital credit already work. The gap is getting them into communities that markets skip.
About Luma Circle
We build what the world overlooks.
A social impact organization backing women entrepreneurs across Africa with capital, mentorship, and market access.
Who we are
African insight. Silicon Valley access.
Luma Circle is a social impact organization that backs women entrepreneurs across Africa. We bring together decades of experience in underserved communities and the innovation and investment community of Silicon Valley. Through our partnership with Silicon Valley Advantage, we give women founders funding, mentorship, and market access they have rarely had.
Our mission
To fund, train, and connect women-led businesses that solve Africa's most stubborn problems: access to affordable energy, healthcare, and finance.
The problem
560 million
people in sub-Saharan Africa live without electricity.
5.85 million
health workers are projected to be missing in Africa by 2030.
$1.7 trillion
is the global financing gap for women-owned small and medium businesses.
These problems persist not because solutions don't exist, but because they are under-financed and under-connected.
Our approach
Women are the highest-return channel.
Women run the savings groups, clinic front lines, and market stalls. Capital routed through women reaches households faster and is repaid more reliably.
Blended capital fits best.
Patient, layered funding—grants, catalytic capital, and commercial investment—gives early businesses room to grow.
Our 100% commitment
Designed for women. Measured with rigor.
Fragile contexts first
At least a third of our accelerator places and fund capital go to women building in fragile and conflict-affected settings, where capital is scarcest.
Measured impact
We track sex-disaggregated data aligned to global standards, including IRIS+ and the 2X Challenge, and publish results annually.
Every founder we accelerate, every company we finance, and every product we support is designed for women as customers, builders, or owners. This commitment is measured, reported, and independently verified every year.