First Check Africa is co-founded by two active female operators—one who is simultaneously a partner at pan-African VC firm TLcom Capital and another who is co-founder/COO of leading African fintech PiggyVest—combining institutional VC experience with hands-on, current-founder operating experience in a single pre-seed vehicle. The fund writes comparatively larger first checks ($50k–$250k) to remove the "friends & family" barrier for founders, especially women who often lack wealthy personal networks, positioning itself as a commercial, returns-driven fund that views the gender gap as a mispriced opportunity rather than a CSR theme.