African Collaborative

What African Collaborative does

African Collaborative, formerly the African Visionary Fund, is a US-based 501(c)(3) philanthropic organization founded in 2020 that channels unrestricted, multi-year grants to African-led nonprofit organizations working across health, education, livelihoods, gender equity, human rights, civic technology, and climate sectors in sub-Saharan Africa. The organization connects a diversified network of funders with vetted local partners, using a participatory grantmaking process in which funding decisions are made by a rotating committee of African social impact leaders, board members, and existing grantees. Donations are processed through the Every.org platform and the organization's own Squarespace-hosted website (africancollab.org).

The organization does not sell products or services and has no proprietary technology platform beyond its website, newsletter, and donation infrastructure. As of June 2026, African Collaborative has committed $12.3 million across 45 partner organizations in 15 countries, spanning all four sub-Saharan African regions. Its Cohort 5 (June 2026) committed $1.7 million to ten new partners, and the most recent applicant cycle attracted more than 3,000 organizations from 44 countries. Co-CEOs Atti Worku and Katie Bunten-Wamaru lead the organization, supported by named communications and advocacy staff. Partners reported reaching approximately 13 million people in 2024 and leveraging $10.8 million in additional funding.

The business model is philanthropic: African Collaborative aggregates donations from a diversified network of funders and redistributes them as unrestricted, multi-year grants to African-led organizations, with grant decisions delegated to a rotating committee that includes grantee partners. The model explicitly targets the documented funding gap in which African-led organizations receive only .4% of international humanitarian assistance and 5.2% of US foundation grants to sub-Saharan Africa, with the goal of enabling locally-led, sustainable development solutions.

Name

African Collaborative

Legal name

African Collaborative

Website

https://africancollab.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

African Collaborative is a US-based philanthropic grantmaking organization founded in 2020 that provides unrestricted, multi-year funding to vetted African-led nonprofit organizations across 15 sub-Saharan African countries, having committed $12.3 million across 45 partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grantmaking
• Unrestricted multi-year grants
• African-led nonprofits
• Participatory grantmaking
• Sub-Saharan Africa funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston, MA

HQ country

Morocco

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grantmaking: African Collaborative raises funds from a diverse network of donors and foundations, then provides unrestricted, multi-year grants to African-led organizations. The organization does not generate revenue from products or services.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

African Collaborative is a US-based philanthropic grantmaking organization that raises funds from a diverse network of donors and foundations, then channels those resources as unrestricted, multi-year grants to vetted, high-impact African-led nonprofit organizations operating across sub-Saharan Africa. The organization uses a participatory grantmaking model where funding decisions are made by a rotating committee of African social impact leaders including existing grantee partners, board members, and leadership. It maintains an open application process designed to widen access for African-led organizations often overlooked by international philanthropy, with over 3,000 organizations from 44 countries applying in the most recent cycle.

Product overview

African Collaborative is a philanthropic grantmaking organization, not a technology product company. It does not offer SaaS products, platforms, or software services. Its 'offerings' consist of grant programs, partner networks, sector portfolios, and advocacy initiatives targeting African-led impact organizations. The organization provides funding and strategic support to vetted partners across education, health, livelihoods, gender equity, human rights, climate, and technology sectors. There are no digital products, APIs, or technology modules associated with this entity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Unrestricted Multi-Year Grants Unrestricted, multi-year grants provided to vetted African-led nonprofit organizations working across health, education, livelihoods, gender equity, human rights, technology, and climate sectors. Funding decisions are made by a rotating committee of African social impact leaders.
• Strategic Support and Capacity Building Beyond financial capital, African Collaborative provides strategic support and capacity-building assistance to its partner organizations, including peer learning, collaboration, and convening across the network of 45 partner organizations in 15 countries.
• Open Grant Application Platform An open application platform that allows African-led organizations to apply for grant funding. Upgraded in 2025 to support multiple languages and enable expansion to Francophone contexts, widening access for organizations often overlooked by international philanthropy. Over 3,000 organizations from 44 countries applied in the most recent cycle.

Quantifiable outcome

• 13 million people reached in 2024 by partner organizations
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• TuwindiflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026Part of Cohort 5 (2026). Uses information and communication technology to strengthen democratic participation in Mali, including real-time election monitoring tools, civic engagement platforms, and a corruption-reporting application.
• Fountain of Hope AfricaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026Part of Cohort 5 (2026). First refugee-led organization formally registered in Malawi, operating an integrated model spanning education and livelihoods for conflict-affected and displaced communities in DRC and Malawi.
• Let Us Stay AliveflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026Part of Cohort 5 (2026). Indigenous women-led organization based in North Kivu, DRC, working on rights awareness, economic empowerment, and political participation for indigenous women and girls.
• Nice Place FoundationflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026Part of Cohort 5 (2026). Rescue center and leadership academy in Kajiado County, Kenya, providing safety, education, and economic opportunity for girls fleeing FGM and child marriage.
• Citizens' Gavel Foundation for Social JusticeflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026Part of Cohort 5 (2026). Has facilitated more than 6,500 legal interventions for Nigerians through technology, AI-powered legal tools, and a nationwide network of volunteer lawyers.
• Imagine HerflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026Part of Cohort 5 (2026). Builds rural entrepreneurial infrastructure for young women aged 18-35 in Uganda, providing training, interest-free startup capital, and mentorship with focus on agri-food systems and climate resilience.
• Our Sisters' OpportunityflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026Part of Cohort 5 (2026). Trains approximately 200 young women per year in Rwanda in fashion design, soap-making, and agribusiness, followed by startup capital and two years of mentorship.
• Spark Health AfricaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026Part of Cohort 5 (2026). Partners directly with Ministries of Health in South Africa and across Africa to strengthen leadership, culture, and systems that determine healthcare delivery.
• PenplusbytesflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026Part of Cohort 5 (2026). Ghana-based civic technology institution founded in 2001, working across media, governance, and digital rights. Has monitored 18 elections across the continent.
• Africa Book Development OrganisationflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026Part of Cohort 5 (2026). Has spent three decades facilitating community-led education and livelihoods programming across five provinces of Zimbabwe through a bottom-up participatory model.
• Every.orgcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerEvery.org is integrated into the African Collaborative website as the donation processing platform, enabling donors to contribute to the organization's work. This partnership provides the technical infrastructure for receiving donations.
• FourTwo CreativeminorOthersFourTwo Creative provided website design services for africancollab.org.
• La Playa StudiominorOthersLa Playa Studio provided website development services for the African Collaborative website.
• Petros TekaminorOthersPetros Teka provided photography services for the African Collaborative website.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• New Venture Fund: Public charity that provides fiscal sponsorship and grantmaking services to aligned projects, with comparable intermediary structure serving multiple donor-advised and collaborative funds.
• Tides Foundation: Major philanthropic intermediary and grantmaking platform that shares the public charity/intermediary structure but operates globally rather than Africa-focused.
• Blue Meridian Partners: Venture philanthropy fund making large-scale, multi-year investments in high-impact organizations, often including African-led nonprofits with similar unrestricted funding models.
• The ELMA Foundation: Large private foundation with significant African portfolio funding health, education, and child welfare through local partners across sub-Saharan Africa.
• Co-Impact: Global collaborative philanthropy initiative funding locally-led change with multi-year core support grants, operating at significantly larger scale than African Collaborative.

Direct peers

• Segal Family Foundation: Family foundation that provides multi-year unrestricted grants to African-led social enterprises and nonprofits, sharing African Collaborative's core thesis of locally-led, unrestricted funding.
• Global Fund for Women: International grantmaking organization supporting women's rights organizations globally with a participatory grantmaking model, comparable in approach though broader geographically.
• TrustAfrica: Pan-African foundation that provides grants and capacity-building support to African civil society organizations, directly comparable to African Collaborative's focus on locally-led African impact organizations.
• African Women's Development Fund (AWDF): Pan-African grantmaking fund supporting African women's rights organizations, with a similar participatory grantmaking approach and pan-African mandate.
• Acumen: Patient capital provider to African social enterprises including through grant funding, with overlapping focus on locally-led solutions to poverty across sub-Saharan Africa.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/africancollab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/african-collaborative

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about African Collaborative