We have witnessed many great entrepreneurs in the vast sphere of businesses ranging from IT and healthcare to venture capitalism. These exceptional leaders have contributed immensely to the growth of their respective industries and have driven the evolution of both business and technological sectors. These leaders have acquired a broad range of skills along the way. The most enticing stories, however, are those in which leaders overcome adversity to achieve success. Pauline Koelbl is one such outstanding leader whose pioneering work has won her a high reputation in the corporate world. She became an entrepreneur and founded her firm, ShEquity, to support female innovators who want to have a market presence for their products and services. She believes in implementing fail-proof solutions to provide smart investments for women (particularly African women) in order to challenge traditional business practices. Since the beginning of her business adventure, she has been committed to pursuing a purpose-driven career and making a difference in the lives of others.
Through her venture, as the Founder and Managing Partner of ShEquity, Pauline has been providing smart investment for African female entrepreneurs and innovators, the key drivers of inclusive economic growth. Pauline’s journey is about facing atrocity, keeping hope, building antifragility and gratitude, and paying it forward. She was born and raised in Rwanda, and her life transformed completely when she became a refugee due to the 1994 civil war that led to genocide. As a refugee, she was reduced to a number and nearly lost hope. However, as the saying goes, ‘what does not kill you, makes you stronger’, she managed to survive and continue to hope for a better future. While this journey was difficult, she was among the lucky ones who, in the end, were admitted to immigrate to the USA as documented refugees. Once in the USA (Tucson, Arizona), she started from zero and went back to school. She was determined to do very well, and this was combined with the outstanding support she received from everyone she met, including her professors, who eventually became her mentors and families. She has graduated a Summa cum laude. She has received many outstanding awards, including the Fulbright scholarship to do graduate studies in the UK (Institute of Development Studies, Sussex University). Right after her graduate studies, she received another Fulbright, this time a fellowship to go work for UNESCO in Paris, and this opened up many opportunities for her, including working for WHO in Geneva and an innovation and entrepreneurship-focused foundation in Zurich.
Pauline has thrived beautifully in her journey. She pursued a purpose-driven career so that she could impact other people’s lives positively. Since then, paying it forward has been the thought behind her actions and vision. This is why she created ShEquity—to unlock the potential of African female entrepreneurs. She believes that once they thrive, they will impact many people, starting with their families and communities.
Pauline laid the foundation of ShEquity amidst COVID-19. It was scary, but she decided to move forward because her motivation was stronger than the fear of failing. She was certain that her mission was to serve as a bridge between Africa, Europe, and North America, opening up chances for African female founders and generating triple-bottom-line benefits for all parties involved.
Investing for the greater good
ShEquity is a gender-lens investment firm addressing the US $42 billion gender funding gap in Africa. It is a women-led and owned investment firm offering an investment ecosystem approach designed to respond to the unique challenges African women face. The Fund is domiciled in Mauritius, and invests across the sub-Saharan African markets. It is aligned with 2x Challenge criteria and invests seed-to-series A in impactful, innovative, and scalable women-led and owned businesses operating in sub-Saharan Africa. ShEquity is designed keeping in mind the uniqueness of African female entrepreneurs. Accordingly, ShEquity takes an ecosystem approach to investing, which combines its accelerator, SHEBA (ShEquity Business Accelerator), for pre-investment de-risking, the Fund, as well as access to high-value networks to support the growth of the business. It aims for a triple bottom line return for its investors: profit, a positive impact on people and the planet, and a direct impact correlating to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The company focuses on addressing the gender funding gap in Africa, and its investment strategy is designed intentionally to create wealth for female entrepreneurs. Accordingly, Pauline and her team only back early-stage African women-led and owned businesses with the condition that women in senior positions must have at least 35% ownership in the business.
"ShEquity is a gender-lens investment firm addressing the US $42 billion gender funding gap in Africa."
The Prospect
Pauline’s efforts to bring about change are motivated by her vision and desire to better serve the community and address the difficulties that the organization has identified. The use of technology allows for simplifying processes and adding efficiency to operations. Currently, the company is in the process of assessing the best way to leverage generative AI for its operations.
In partnership with other impact-driven leaders, the company is currently designing an investment vehicle focusing on investing for system change. This will be the first and most important for African markets because many of the issues entrepreneurs face are related to local ecosystems and systemic obstacles. Pauline states, “Stay tuned! Beyond launching the new Fund, I like to stay in close touch with our portfolio companies, always assessing how to add value for them.” It is great to witness how the portfolio companies are addressing key challenges in Africa, including financial inclusion (Owoafara trading as Rouzo), mobility (Shuttlers), circular economy (Ecodudu), food security (Reelfruit), climate/environment (WidEnergy), etc.
Pauline advises every individual to join the gender-lens investing movement and contribute towards creating a sustainable and inclusive world. Being an entrepreneur, she can empathize with aspiring business leaders. To investors, she asks them to back businesses with the purpose of aiming for a triple bottom line return: profit with a positive impact on people and the planet. “This way, we can pave the way to a sustainable world. Reach out to me if you would like to collaborate,” she adds. She hopes that her work will have an impact on a number of people’s lives, both directly and indirectly, and that it will inspire many people to pay it Forward.
Pauline has truly been a trailblazing leader who has helped many women-led businesses grow and attain sustainability in competitive markets. She wants to keep learning and become the leader she wishes she had. She aspires to be a servant leader and wants to create a culture in which her team members are inspired to come to work. She continues to hone her leadership abilities through various trainings, mentorships, and coaching, and she vows to never stop taking leadership training and evaluations for her own development.
