This Worldwide Ladies’s Day (IWD) 2025, on March eighth, the worldwide theme is ‘Speed up Motion‘, emphasising the urgency in advancing gender equality. On the present charge of progress, it’s projected that full gender parity won’t be achieved till 2158, roughly 5 generations from now.
This theme requires swift and decisive steps to handle systemic boundaries and biases that ladies face in each private {and professional} spheres.
Within the European deeptech sector, gender disparities in funding have led to a major financial shortfall. A latest examine estimates that €198.8 billion in potential development is misplaced as a result of these disparities. The underfunding of female-led deeptech startups not solely represents a gender subject but additionally a considerable missed financial alternative.
In alignment with the ‘Speed up Motion’ theme, we current our annual listing of 100 outstanding girls shaping the European startup and enterprise capital panorama. These leaders are founders, traders, and trade pioneers who’re actively working to shut the gender hole in expertise and funding. Their achievements strengthen the innovation ecosystem and encourage future generations to pursue management roles in STEM, entrepreneurship, and enterprise capital..
Listed below are Europe’s 100 most influential girls in startups and enterprise capital in 2025—trailblazers who’re accelerating progress, investing in change, and redefining the way forward for innovation.
Agate Freimane: Basic Associate of Norrsken VC the primary affect VC within the Nordics, and among the many first in Europe. Agate is a trailblazing girl within the VC house and is enthusiastic about impact-focused startups. She began her profession working in finance in London and New York, earlier than co-founding the edtech charity Brilliant Mentors.
Alice Albizzati: Founding companion of Revaia, a Paris-based agency centered on European sustainable development funding, partnering with mission-driven entrepreneurs. Alice has participated within the financing, structuring and oversight of greater than 35 development firms all through her profession. She additionally sits on the boards of Deepki and Hublo.
Alice Pelton: CEO and Co-Founding father of The Lowdown, the world’s first overview platform for contraception. It’s now the UK’s main contraception and sexual and reproductive well being platform, utilized by hundreds of girls day-after-day to make knowledgeable choices about their on a regular basis well being. The corporate helps lead a brand new era of interval empowerment.
Aline Vedder: With a PhD in Neuroaesthetics, Aline is an investor with a formidable monitor document. She is Principal at LakeStar and beforehand labored with Munich-based Acton Capital Companions and Ananda Impression Ventures. She is enthusiastic about affect funding, leveraging her data of psychology and neuroscience to determine robust leaders and groups.
Alisée de Tonnac: Swiss entrepreneur who co-founded Seedstars World, a worldwide startup competitors masking 85+ rising and growing markets. Alisée now serves as Seedstars World’s CEO, having been featured in Forbes, Le Monde and Wired.
Alix de Sagazan: Co-founder and CEO of AB Tasty, a worldwide chief in function administration, experimentation and personalization options that permits firms to validate concepts, whereas maximizing affect, minimizing danger and accelerating time to market. She can be a board member of The Galion Venture and an investor with Galion.exe and Aspect Capital.
Ana Barjasic: Entrepreneur, angel investor, and coverage adviser. She established Connectology, a boutique company specialising in finance entry, funding readiness, and behavioural science. Amongst her important roles, she serves as a Board Member of the European Innovation Council, advocating for entrepreneurs from Horizon Europe’s widening nations.
Angelica Kohlmann: She based Bloom Diagnostics in 2018 to allow individuals to take management of their well being by means of tech. After learning for her PhD in medication, Angelica labored in most cancers analysis earlier than shifting into the pharmaceutical trade and eventually the VC house.
Ann Mettler: As Vice President at Breakthrough Power, the climate-focused funding fund based by Invoice Gates, she is driving vital funding into transformative applied sciences. Ann beforehand served as Director-Basic of the European Fee’s in-house suppose tank. Her work continues to create pathways for girls in tech and enterprise capital.
Anna Brailsford: Co-founder and CEO of Code First Ladies a social enterprise devoted to reworking tech by offering the abilities, house and inspiration for girls to change into profitable builders and future tech leaders. It’s made up of over 20k girls, representing 58 nationalities.
Aude Guo: Co-founder of Innovafeed, a startup that picked up one of many largest funding rounds in 2022 with a feminine chief. Primarily based in Paris, the corporate is reinventing how we strategy vitamin by constructing a round and zero-waste agri-food chain that displays bugs’ position in true, creating a brand new way of life with increased high quality, sustainability and resilience.
Audrey Tsang: Non-Govt Director of femtech famous person, Clue, Audrey was the CPO earlier than taking up the shared duty of main the corporate. Beforehand, Audrey led merchandise and groups at Pinterest, HotelTonight, and Yelp. Based in Berlin in 2013, Clue is taking the world by storm because the science-backed chief in FemTech, serving to over 12 million individuals.
BaoY Van Cong: Associate at Goal International, a global funding agency primarily based in Berlin investing in European & Israeli tech firms. She is without doubt one of the leaders of the agency’s development stage funding apply and focuses significantly on the edtech, client and software program industries. She has participated in key offers equivalent to Lepaya, Crisp and Elopage.
Briehan Burke: Briehan Burke is a Basic Associate at Eager Enterprise Companions, the place she performs a vital position in figuring out and supporting high-growth startups throughout deeptech, AI, and enterprise software program. With a eager give attention to fostering numerous management, she actively champions entrepreneurs and underrepresented founders.
Carlota Pi Amoros: Co-founder and Govt President of cleantech Holaluz, voted probably the most valued vitality firm in Spain. Carlota has grown a various staff of 700+ individuals over the past 12 years, with a 50/50 gender divide.
Caroline Noublanche: Founding father of Apricity, the world’s first digital fertility startup. The app matches sufferers to world-class fertility consultants and permits them to do as a lot of the IVF therapy from their houses as doable. Caroline works intently with a few of the main fertility researchers to raised perceive the components affecting fertility.
Caroline Plumb: Group CEO of Gravita a full-service accounting agency providing skilled monetary recommendation to rising companies throughout all sectors. Caroline has a monitor document of constructing and promoting profitable companies having co-founded and bought the recruitment consultancy FreshMinds after which constructed the fintech enterprise Fluidly, which was bought in 2021.
Charlotte Baumhauer: In her position as Funding Supervisor with SquareOne, Charlotte is actively backing European tech firms which are positively influencing the world by means of local weather tech innovation. Previous to this position, she labored with McKinsey, the place she was a part of the operations apply.
Chelsea Slater: CEO of InnovateHer a faculty programme for 13-17-year-olds and consults with tech companies on inclusivity. The imaginative and prescient is to equip younger women with the self-belief, confidence and expertise to pursue a profession in tech, while making the trade able to take them on. Previous to this, she was the co-founder of Liverpool Lady Geeks.
Cindi Lindsborg: Head of Enterprise Help and Enterprise Improvement at Tyréns AB and former Head of Scania Ventures. She is an skilled chief and administration advisor, with a give attention to technique, digitization and innovation. She is very skilled in approaching digital transformation and constructing robust, international groups.
Claire Novorol: Educated physician, paediatrician and now co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Ada Well being, a Berlin-based international well being firm constructed by medical doctors to enhance human well being by remodeling data into higher outcomes. It’s now counting over 13 million customers and is out there to 60 million customers in complete, and carried out over 31 million assessments.
Claudia de la Riva: Serial entrepreneur, and enthusiastic about discovering and constructing options that enhance welfare, high quality of life and the event of individuals. She is the present CEO of Apolo Children which is an thrilling edtech startup primarily based in Barcelona. Launched in 2020, the corporate motivates youngsters by means of internet-based autonomous and on-the-go studying.
Cristina Bentue: Co-founder and COO of IriusRisk, taking a small startup to a 150-strong staff throughout three continents. She is also behind completely different initiatives and programmes to encourage extra women in STEM. An more and more highly effective voice within the cybersecurity house as each an entrepreneur and tech chief in addition to a mentor.
Cristina Fonseca: A Basic Associate at Indico Capital Companions, she leverages her background because the Co-founder of Talkdesk—considered one of Portugal’s most profitable tech unicorns—to assist high-potential startups in AI, SaaS, and DeepTech. Cristina’s dedication to empowering entrepreneurs and fostering innovation in Europe’s startup ecosystem has made her an influential determine in each the funding and expertise sectors.
Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill: Olympian become an entrepreneur. In 2019, she based Jennis, a femtech startup aiming to enhance data round girls’s well being and coaching, drawing on her personal experiences on the ability of hormones and simply how little girls perceive about their cycles.
Danila De Stefano: Founder and CEO of Unobravo, an organization that’s constructing an empathetic, clinically backed and accessible end-to-end platform for psychological well being. Based in 2019, They’re already market leaders in Italy with over 1 million classes accomplished, over 2500 psychologists at work, greater than 80K sufferers and over 120 workers.
Deepali Nangia: A part of the UK Authorities Taskforce for feminine entrepreneurs engaged on related modifications to make it simpler for feminine founders to get funding. She’s a companion at Speedinvest, with a give attention to investing in underrepresented and underfunded founders. She additionally co-founded Alma Angels.
Diliara Lupenko: In 2019, Diliara co-founded Impress, the Nº1 chain of orthodontic clinics in Europe with the purpose of digitalising scientific work and creating nice orthodontic therapies with the affected person on the core. It raised the most important Sequence B in Southern Europe of €123 million in 2022.
Ekaterina Almasque: Basic Associate of OpenOccean VC, and a number one voice inside European enterprise capital. She is on the board of IQM, the European chief for superconducting quantum computer systems, in addition to a number of different firms. ‘Spend money on Ladies NOW’ report calling for motion from the European Fee.
Eleanor Kaye: Board Member of Newton Enterprise Program, Eleanor is on a mission to degree the taking part in subject for individuals from usually ignored backgrounds – guaranteeing that the following era of enterprise traders represents the world we reside in.
Erika de Santi: Co-founder & Worldwide Growth Director of WeRoad, a Milan-based startup specialising in group journey journey for millennials. It’s offering a service tailor-made to a era that’s typically discovering themselves travelling solo – however searching for hyper-connected, personalised and enjoyable experiences. It’s considered one of Europe’s fastest-growing journey operators.
Eva-Valerie Gfrerer: Based in 2020, Morphais is a agency primarily based in Berlin and invests in distinctive founders, impartial of their background. Morphais was launched by Eva to place the give attention to the founder to construct world-class firms. A behavioural scientist and entrepreneur at coronary heart, fascinated by predicting human behaviour with information.
Fariha Shah: An angel and VC companion investor, a startup mentor, and variety & inclusion ambassador (speaker and media contributor). At present, Fariha is the Founder and CEO at SHAH Make investments and Associate and investor with 50 Companions Impression. She was additionally the co-founder of Golden Bees.
Dr Fiona Pathiraja: Associate at Crista Galli Ventures, a fund that invests in Seed and Sequence A phases in European well being tech, has labored within the NHS for over 15 years. She has firsthand seen the necessity for innovation and tech-driven options to handle mounting healthcare challenges. She is dedicated to selling healthcare innovation.
Francesca James: Francesca is the founding father of the Nice British Entrepreneur Awards and group. With a background in publishing and occasions, Francesca is enthusiastic about telling the tales of entrepreneurs to assist and champion their endeavours. Based in 2013, they acknowledge the onerous work and provoking tales of entrepreneurs.
Gina Domanig: As CEO and Managing Associate of Emerald, a number one VC companies centered on CleanTech, she has been instrumental in funding breakthrough options in vitality, mobility, and round economic system. Gina’s management has helped numerous startups scale whereas selling gender inclusivity in funding.
Grace Beverley: CEO and Founding father of TALA and SHREDDY, and a famend podcast host. At 23, she topped Forbes’ 30 underneath 30 in retail and e-commerce, ranked twenty sixth amongst influential on-line creators by The Sunday Instances, and was featured in Glamour with Emma Watson and Rihanna as considered one of ‘the ten wonderful multi-hyphenates to be impressed by’
Hélène Falchier: Associate at Portage Ventures, Hélène is an early-stage investor devoted to backing the following era of revolutionary, impact-driven firms, significantly within the monetary sector. Hélène has been influencing the fintech house throughout her distinguished profession, serving to empower extra feminine illustration on this house.
Hélène Huby: Founding father of The Exploration Firm, considered one of Europe’s fastest-growing house tech firms, and former Head of Innovation at Airbus Defence and House. Based in 2021 her startup has already secured €47.3 million aiming to form sustainable, scalable, and reasonably priced house journeys made in Europe.
Inka Mero: Inka is the founder and managing companion at Voima Ventures, a Finnish deep tech fund that’s on a mission to resolve the large international challenges humankind is dealing with by means of science, entrepreneurship and capital. Inka is enthusiastic about purpose-driven startups and the way they’re utilizing digital tech to form a greater future.
Itxaso del Palacio: Basic Associate at Notion, a high European B2B SaaS VC, beforehand served as an Funding Associate for M12 in Europe. Her notable investments embody Yulife (life insurance coverage), Orus (SMB insurance coverage), Certain.co (forex danger administration), Onfido (id verification) and Beamery (recruitment CRM).
Jacqueline Ruedin Rüsch: Founder and CEO of Privilège Administration SA, a wealth administration agency, additionally initiated Privilège Ventures SA to again entrepreneurs. She then began the Privilège Scholar Ventures Initiative, an instructional yr program educating college students to change into enterprise capital traders or entrepreneurs.
Jacqueline van den Ende: Entrepreneur and investor. She based Carbon Fairness in 2021, a fintech platform that lately raised over €100 million searching for to energy the world’s most impactful local weather expertise options with retail capital. Beforehand she was a companion at Peak Capital and an investor at HAL Investments.
Jane Reddin: Associate, Platform and Expertise director at AlbionVC. Primarily based in London, AlbionVC helps to construct the way forward for enterprise and healthcare. Jane helps spend money on the very best founders by assessing their management potential and advises the management groups to assist and speed up the fast organisational scaling of firms.
Janneke Niessen: Founding Associate at CapitalT, serial entrepreneur, angel investor, board member and variety advocate. Her experience lies on the crossroads of expertise, expertise, investing and variety. She is a distinguished board member for a number of organisations and is commonly referred to as upon by the federal government for recommendation.
Jenny Saft: Co-founder of Apryl (acquired by Progyny), an worker fertility advantages platform that permits firms to assist workers on their path to parenthood. Jenny additionally operates as an investor with Nucleus Capital and Atomico, seeking to assist impact-driven ventures. Earlier to this, she labored with the likes of Adyen and Fyber.
Jessica Holzbach: Founder & CEO of Pile(acquired by Vivid Cash), the primary Neo Treasury in Europe. It provides treasury merchandise for high-growth startups to profit from their cash, preserve it protected, and diversify throughout a number of banking options. She can be a board member at Fürstlich Castell’sche Financial institution and an occasional angel investor.
Joanna Torngren Redebran: She turned her curiosity for funding right into a enterprise thought, aiming to facilitate development throughout Sweden’s tech ecosystem when she based Nyfikna in 2021. The agency is changing into considered one of Sweden’s most impactful business-angel networks aiming to assist early-stage startups.
Julia Bijaoui: Founder at Frichti, Local weather Home, and Selar. She is a serial entrepreneur wit huge expertise throughout many sectors. Previous to embarking on his entrepreneurial expertise, she was the Technique and Working supervisor for Birchbox and a enterprise developer with JolieBox.
Julia Hawkins: Basic Associate at LocalGlobe & Latitude. She takes a selected curiosity in well being, inventive industries, mobility and fintech. She has backed firms equivalent to Yulife, Vira and Fertility. At present working with LocalGlobe and Latitude, she seeks to depart a constructive affect and finds healthcare to be her primary precedence.
Karoli Hindriks: Founder at Jobbatical. In 2020 she was named by the EU Council as one of many 8 most inspiring girls in Europe. She based her first firm at 16, formally changing into the youngest inventor in her native Estonia. She additionally led the launch of seven tv channels in Northern Europe, together with Nationwide Geographic Channels and MTV.
Katharina Unger: She is the CEO and Founding father of LIVIN farms, a startup revolutionising different protein manufacturing with insect-based applied sciences. Below her management, the corporate has secured funding and gained international recognition for its contribution to the way forward for meals. Katharina’s entrepreneurial journey exemplifies the ability of female-led innovation in FoodTech and BioTech sectors.
Katrina Walker: After working as an information scientist in each the general public and company sectors, Karina launched CodeOp, a venture-backed social enterprise centered on addressing the gender disparity in tech by means of technical coaching and game-changing partnerships with native and regional governments in addition to NGOs and corporates.
Kerry Baldwin: Managing Associate of IQ Capital, a deep tech early-stage VC primarily based in Cambridge and London. She co-founded IQ Capital in 2006 and is without doubt one of the UK’s most skilled VC traders with over 24 years of deep tech enterprise capital expertise. She joined Enterprise Applied sciences in 1998, investing within the first wave of UK deep-tech firms.
Kinga Stanislawska: Because the founding father of European Ladies in VC, Kinga Stanislawska is a vocal advocates for gender variety in enterprise capital. The purpose is to extend the variety of females as senior VC professionals in Europe and globally. With a monitor document of supporting high-growth companies, Kinga is a driving pressure in reshaping the European funding panorama to be extra inclusive, guaranteeing that ladies in tech and innovation have the sources they want.
Laura Urquizu: CEO and President of Pink Factors. In 2020, Laura was named one of many 100 Leaders Reworking Enterprise by Enterprise Insider and among the many most inventive individuals by FORBES. Beforehand Laura Urquizu held government and administration positions at Arthur Andersen, Caja Navarra & CAN Company.
Lena Hackelöer: Founder & CEO at Brite Funds a fast-growing second-generation challenger within the European fee house. Permitting customers to make funds utilizing their checking account, Brite employs state-of-the-art open banking expertise to course of on the spot funds and payouts throughout Europe throughout a variety of verticals.
Leila Maidane: Founding father of Femmes Fieres and Founder & CEO of InterSkillar. She has additionally contributed to the WEgate Thematic Group on the ‘digital & inexperienced transition of girls entrepreneurs’. Leila has devoted her profession to serving to girls begin and broaden significant companies.
Lina Chong: Lina joined Goal International in 2018, now serving as Associate at HV Capital. She specializes within the rising areas of SaaS, Client Merchandise and Net 3.0, and has labored with some huge names in Europe’s startup ecosystem together with TravelPerk, Fresha, Bloom and Kippah.
Linnéa Kornehed Falck: Co-founder and Deputy CEO at Einride, champions sustainable delivery options by means of expertise together with digital, electrical, and autonomous methods. As a part of the World Financial Discussion board’s tech innovators group, she goals to hurry up the shift in the direction of clear and resilient expertise.
Lisa Barclay: Govt Director of Nesta Impression Investments, has over 20 years of expertise rising companies as an investor, advisor, and supervisor. With a ardour for affect investing, her profession consists of roles as COO of Social Finance, Assistant Director at Bridges Ventures, and Co-Founding father of EGS Group.
Lisa Carter: Founding father of the bootstrapped startup Dialogue Field in Bristol, which focuses on uniting high-level stakeholders for impactful conversations with international manufacturers. As the one black woman-owned enterprise in its sector. Past main Dialogue Field, Lisa is the inventive pressure behind the jewelry model NIKAO and Founding father of Panelle.
Lubomila Jordanova: Founder and CEO of Plan A, leads a science-backed, AI-driven SaaS platform specializing in enterprise carbon accounting, decarbonization, and ESG reporting. A staunch sustainability advocate, she additionally co-founded the Greentech Alliance, connecting over 3,000 Greentech firms with greater than 500 VCs, media, and consultants.
Luciana Lixandru: Associate at Sequoia Captial, Luciana companions with impactful European founders who’re pioneering impactful change. She has invested in Sequence A at UiPath, Sequence A at Miro, Sequence B at Deliveroo, seed stage at Hopin, seed degree at Tessian and extra. Luciana has additionally been a Board Member for firms equivalent to Miro, Tessian and UiPath.
Lucile Cornet: Associate at Eight Roads, Lucile is an impactful investor backing promising firms, significantly within the health and SaaS sectors. She has an in depth profession within the funding house and is at the moment backing firms like Reveal, Amenitiz, Spendesk, Interplay and Fuse Common.
Lupina Iturriaga: Advocating for the inclusion of passionate and visionary people to create dynamic groups, Lupina based Fintonic in 2012. Lupina can be the co-founder of senior skilled and Councillor on the Startups Institute.
Manon Sarah Littek: Founding Basic Associate on the Inexperienced Technology Fund. Manon is enthusiastic about rising impactful ventures within the meals tech and inexperienced tech areas. She has been an lively investor in shaping the meals revolution throughout Europe and at the moment works with Upfield, Change Meals, Lypid and The Rainforest Firm.
Marcia Kilgore: Founding father of Magnificence Pie, a startup revolutionizing the wonder trade. Since its inception in 2016, Magnificence Pie has centered on delivering high-quality magnificence merchandise, fostering self-worth, and instructing girls to say their deserved success. Having secured over €92 million million, Marcia has change into a pivotal determine within the entrepreneurial world.
Margo Polishchuk: Margo is the co-founder and President of proSapient, a major analysis and skilled networking service for institutional traders, consultants, and company purchasers world wide. The agency goals to ship actionable intelligence and related consultants to purchasers, giving them an edge to achieve their industrial ambitions.
Marie-Helene Ametsreiter: A distinguished determine in enterprise and enterprise capital, at the moment a Basic Associate at Speedinvest, main the Industrial tech staff. She advocates for variety within the EU startup and VC sectors, supporting revolutionary firms like Greyparrot, Fernride, and CELUS.
Mariya Gabriel: Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, present President of the Robert Schuman Institute. Earlier European Commissioner for Innovation, Analysis, Tradition, Schooling and Youth since 2019. She was answerable for EU insurance policies associated to Horizon Europ, analysis and innovation, the Erasmus+ programme, schooling, tradition and sport.
Marta Krupinska: As CEO & Co-Founding father of CUR8, she is spearheading carbon elimination options, an important subject in tackling the local weather disaster. Marta beforehand led Google for Startups UK, the place she labored to assist underrepresented founders. With a formidable monitor document in impact-driven ventures, she shouldn’t be solely shaping the CleanTech trade but additionally paving the way in which for extra girls in management.
Melanie Gabriel: Melanie is the co-founder and former CMO of Yokoy, a Swiss fintech that leverages AI to automate company expense, bill and bank card processes of midsize and enormous enterprises. She is a board member on the startup Moodtalk, advisor and enterprise angel.
Advantage Valdsalu: One of many early workers at Pipedrive as Head of Localization, is now bringing disruptive options for company environmental motion with Single.Earth. Based in 2019, Single.Earth goals to make sustainable forest and land administration the brand new normal.
Mette Lykke: The visionary founding father of TooGoodToGo, a number one sustainability app that fights towards meals waste by partnering with supermarkets, eating places, bakeries, and motels to redistribute surplus meals. Main a staff of over 400 Waste Warriors, Mette’s impactful work follows her success.
Michaela Jeffery-Morrison: Because the Managing Director of the Ladies in Know-how World Sequence, she is pioneering new paths for girls in tech. By means of Ascend International Media, she fostered connections between companies and expertise, specializing in empowering girls and women to enter and excel within the expertise sector.
Miriam Wohlfarth: A serial entrepreneur, she established considered one of Germany’s pioneering fintech companies, Ratepay, a fee service supplier. In 2020, she launched her newest enterprise, Banxware, which is remodeling the European lending trade by enabling platforms to supply banking merchandise.
Montse-Suarez: Founding father of IRIS Ventures, Montse is an skilled trade skilled with a distinguished profession within the VC, non-public fairness and funding banking industries on a worldwide degree. She beforehand based Vaultier7, a consumer-focussed non-public fairness agency that’s backed success tales like French vogue unicorn Vestiaire Collective.
Namrata Sandhu: Co-founder and CEO of Vaayu, a startup that’s serving to retailers monitor and minimize their carbon emissions. She has over 17 years of worldwide expertise constructing, growing and implementing sustainability methods throughout firms – specializing in local weather change, carbon emissions, human rights, ESG reporting and moral provide chains.
Nana Addison: Founder and CEO at Styleindi & CURL CON. Her companies present inclusive options for the cosmetics and wonder tech sector. Nana advocates for variety, inclusivity, and fairness within the trade. Her newly launched model, Historical, made her the primary Black Lady in Germany to safe tech VC funding in magnificence.
Nicola McClafferty: Associate at Molten Ventures and a board member for a number of startups, can be the founding father of Covetique, a curated on-line market for pre-owned luxurious vogue. Her prior roles embody serving as an investor at Ravensbeck and Balderton Capital, the place she centered on cross-platform media and e-commerce.
Nora Bavey: Basic Associate at Unconventional Ventures, an Impression fund centered on early-stage affect tech firms constructed by numerous founders in Europe. She can be the co-founder of the UV Accelerator, an 8-week digital program geared toward supporting tech startups by underrepresented founders within the Nordics, specializing in sustainable enterprise development.
Nikita Thakrar: Co-Founder & CEO of Included VC, pioneers the primary international, totally funded Fellowship focusing on numerous and infrequently marginalised communities, aiming to democratise entry to the enterprise capital trade by means of schooling and alternatives. In three years, practically single-handedly, Nikita established a globally acknowledged model.
Paulina Jänsch: Founding companion at Leanox Impression Capital, champions sustainability startups and feminine empowerment. Leanox focuses on purpose-driven innovators searching for affect past revenue. An lively mentor, Paulina goals to draw extra girls traders and obtain gender parity within the startup scene with Leanox’s newest fund.
Rachel Delacour: A distinguished determine in European tech, based Sweep in 2020 to fight local weather change. Sweep, a B2B software program, helps firms handle and scale back their carbon footprint. Beforehand, she co-founded BIME Analytics, acquired by Zendesk, and serves as a enterprise angel and board member for varied US and French startups.
Rafaela Andrade: As a Associate at Mundi Ventures, she has performed a pivotal position in supporting early and development stage expertise ventures. Her work spans throughout Europe and Latin America, serving to bridge funding gaps and fostering a extra inclusive startup ecosystem.
Raja Skogland: An angel investor in over 70 startups, has suggested hundreds of founders since 2015. In 2020, she based The Visionary Firm, offering founders with sources to spice up their fundraising and scaling efforts. Beforehand, she was CEO at TheFactory, a number one accelerator in Norway, and launched thehub.io in 2016.
Roberta Lucca: Roberta is the Co-founder and Board Director of Bossa Studios, angel investor and keynote speaker on the way forward for video games, entrepreneurship and management. BOSSA is a BAFTA-winning impartial video games developer and writer primarily based in London. Pushed by creativity, it takes a group strategy to content material and recreation improvement.
Roxanne Varza: Director of Station F, a worldwide startup campus primarily based in Paris. She’s additionally a scout for Sequoia Capital, and a board member of NRJ Groupe and Le Fonds pour l’Indépendance de la Presse. Amongst her earlier roles, Roxanne led Microsoft’s startup actions in France and co-founded Tech.eu.
Sana Afouaiz: An award-winning gender skilled, advocate for girls, public speaker, the individual behind Womenpreneur, and writer of “Invisible Ladies of the Center East”. Sana has suggested entities just like the United Nations and the European Fee on gender points and co-founded Womenquake, a motion difficult and re-examining gender notions.
Sara Resvik: Sara is an skilled early-stage investor and chief with expertise from BackingMinds, Industrifonden, Schibsted and Axel Johnson. Based in 2016, BackingMinds was constructed on the thesis that the following unicorn will come from seeking to the ignored components of Europe’s startup ecosystem. Sara is at the moment a companion at Endeit Capital.
Sarah Barber: Managing Associate of Jenson Funding Companions, Sarah was a part of the staff answerable for creating the primary Jenson SEIS Fund in 2012, to assist startups increase capital by means of the scheme. She has been instrumental within the development of the fund, main the staff in fundraising, deployment and managing the portfolio of investee firms.
Selma Prodanovic: The “Startup-Grande-Dame,” is a distinguished speaker, investor, and advisor. She’s the Board Member & Gender Committee Chair of EBAN, founding father of 1MillionStartups, and initiator of the EBAN Gender Balanced Investing Manifesto. Over 20 years, she’s considerably influenced Europe’s startup and angel investing ecosystem.
Shrestha Chowdhury: Co-Founder and CTO at Razor, a Berlin-based unicorn. Shrestha moved to Berlin in 2020 from New Delhi, the place she led expertise and analytics capabilities at varied e-commerce startups, together with as Chief Know-how and Product Officer at main Indian e-commerce fashion-tech firm StalkBuyLove.
Simone Brummelhuis: Founding Associate and Fund Director on the Borski Fund, a VC fund investing in expertise leaders and variety. Simone is a supervisory board member of Royal Schiphol Group, Rabo Amsterdam and Media Huis Nederland. She beforehand based The Subsequent Ladies, offering entry to capital, applications, sources and networks for girls.
Sophie Hersan: Co-founder and Vogue Director of Vestiaire Collective, the main international on-line market for preloved vogue. It counts over 23 million consumers and sellers and has a worldwide attain with places of work in Paris, London, Berlin NY, Hong Kong and past. Sophie based the agency in 2009 and is enthusiastic about making a extra sustainable future.
Talia Rafaeli: Basic Associate at KOMPAS, an early-stage enterprise capital agency that focuses on investing in startups that can lead the digital transformation and sustainability revolutions in main trade verticals. She backs bold founders who develop expertise to rework buildings into extra sustainable and wholesome areas.
Vera Elizabeth Baker: A Associate at 4P Capital, has a deep understanding of affect funding, she focuses on high-growth companies that drive constructive change in sectors starting from FinTech to sustainability.
Vivienne Hsu: With over 20 years of strategic communications experience in B2B and B2C organizations, she is the co-founder and CEO of Anasbasis Companions and a Founding Member of Chief. Hsu additionally mentors within the fintech sector, specializing in advancing girls to management positions and enhancing their expertise and affect.
Yonca Braeckman: Founder and CEO of Impression Shakers, fosters societal and environmental options by means of inclusive entrepreneurship. Dedicated to mission-driven initiatives and supporting underrepresented founders, she contributes to diversifying the Belgian and European tech ecosystems and mentors startups and entrepreneurs.
Yvonne Bajela: Associate at LocalGlobe, and former founding Member and Principal at Impression X Capital, a UK-based enterprise capital fund based to spend money on firms led by underrepresented entrepreneurs throughout Europe. Recognised by ‘Forbes 30 Below 30′ in 2020, she has invested over €230 million in startups across the globe.
Congratulations to all of the wonderful girls trailblazing and breaking boundaries throughout Europe. We’ll see you all once more subsequent yr with the 2026 version!
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