Pauline Koelbl drives gender-smart climate investing in Africa through ShEquity, empowering women-led businesses and narrowing the $42 billion funding gap.
In Africa’s investment sector, Pauline Koelbl has become a notable advocate for the inclusion of women in business and finance. The Rwandan-born entrepreneur and gender-lens investor founded and leads ShEquity, a private equity firm that backs gender-smart businesses solving climate challenges in Africa.
The private equity firm is committed to accelerating Africa’s green transition through gender-smart investing. It backs early-growth businesses driving environmental impact, prioritising those that meet the 2X Challenge criteria with strong leadership teams, three years of steady operations, and a well-defined path to profitability.
Its current vehicle, the ShEquity Climate Fund L.P., is a US$30 million fund paired with a Technical Assistance Facility that helps SMEs access and benefit from carbon markets. The fund invests at the intersection of gender and climate, prioritising scalable, women-led ventures with the potential to secure environmental certifications (such as carbon credits) while delivering measurable climate impact. Its geographic focus spans East and West Africa, with Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria as priority markets.
Career background
Pauline Koelbl studied International Studies at the University of Arizona, where she graduated with honours, before pursuing a master’s in Poverty and Development at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. Her studies were supported by two Fulbright Scholarships, which provided her with valuable exposure to international development networks and perspectives.
Before launching ShEquity, she worked with several international organisations, including the UNESCO, the World Health Organisation, and a Swiss-based Private Foundation focused on catalysing entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa. These roles provided her firsthand insight into development challenges and demonstrated to her how entrepreneurship could drive locally rooted solutions.
Africa has a gender-funding gap estimated to be $42 billion. Thus, Koelbl has recognised that women founders often struggle to secure both financing and mentorship, especially during the crucial early and growth phases of their start-ups.
Consequently, her company addresses this gap by combining financial investment with practical business support, including mentorship, technical assistance, and connections to partner networks.
The firm backs scalable enterprises that are either founded or co-founded by women or whose products are tailored towards women across various sectors. Its model follows a “triple bottom line” approach, weighing financial returns alongside social and environmental outcomes aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Impact
Since its launch, ShEquity has supported various initiatives aimed at strengthening the capabilities of women entrepreneurs. Through its partnership with USAID’s West Africa Trade & Investment Hub, the firm secured a $1.2 million co-investment grant to back women-led businesses in West Africa. The partnership enabled ShEquity to scale its SHEBA (ShEquity Business Accelerator) program, supporting 150 women-led and women-controlled businesses in the ECOWAS region to become investment-ready.
ShEquity’s portfolio companies include Shuttlers, a tech-enabled shared-mobility platform transforming urban commuting in Nigeria through safe, affordable, and efficient bus-sharing for professionals, as well as Ecodudu, ReelFruit, Owoafara, and WidEnergy Africa.
Through ShEquity, Pauline Koelbl is working to build a gender-inclusive, climate-resilient Africa where women-led and gender-smart businesses drive sustainable growth and innovation. She advances this mission by funding and supporting climate-focused enterprises to unlock new revenue opportunities (such as carbon and environmental certifications) while promoting inclusive prosperity across the continent.
