UNICEF Femtech Ventures: $100,000 and you keep your company
UNICEF Femtech Ventures offers up to US$100,000 in equity free funding, plus a year of technical mentoring, for technology serving women and girls.
Most funding asks for a piece of your company. UNICEF Femtech Ventures does not. If you have built technology that improves the health of women and girls, and your company is registered in a UNICEF programme country, you can receive up to US$100,000 and still own everything you owned yesterday.
Nigeria is a UNICEF programme country. Therefore this one is genuinely open to founders here.
At a glance
- What you get: up to US$100,000, twelve months of technical mentorship, and access to UNICEF’s global network, including its relationships with governments.
- Who qualifies: early and growth stage for profit companies registered in a UNICEF programme country, Nigeria included.
- Deadline: 4 November 2026. UNICEF’s page gives no closing time, and the form has been reported as closing at 11:59pm CET, which is the same clock time in Nigeria.
- Duration: twelve months of mentorship.
- Fee: none.
Who can apply to UNICEF Femtech Ventures?
UNICEF Femtech Ventures looks for frontier technology. That means AI, machine learning, blockchain or data science. In addition, it must be building open source solutions for girls’ and women’s health. A working prototype is preferred. So this is not for an idea still sitting in a notebook.
You must already use open source licensing, or be willing to make the funded solution open source. Women led startups and founders under 35 are encouraged, although neither is stated as a hard requirement.
What you could gain
UNICEF describes the Venture Fund’s model as equity free funding with technical mentoring, so the money does not buy a stake in your business. Meanwhile the mentorship runs a full year. For many founders, though, the network is the sweetest part, because it opens doors to government partners that normally take years to reach.
How to apply
- First, read the UNICEF Femtech Ventures call page carefully.
- Complete the online application form.
- Then be ready to describe your prototype, the benefit to women or girls, and how you handle privacy and safeguarding.
Before you apply
The open source condition is the one that catches founders out. If your product depends on code you intend to keep closed, settle that question with your co-founders before you apply, not after an offer arrives. Also confirm that your country of registration is on UNICEF’s programme list. Then check the closing time on the form itself, because the public page does not give one.
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Sources: UNICEF Femtech call and the application form. Last checked: 26 October 2026.