5 women & networks from the startup scene you should know

Amanda-Stella Birkenholz from UVC Partners: There are still significantly fewer female investors than male investors, and according to the German Startup Monitor 2021, the share of female founders in Germany is less than 18 percent. A situation that also concerns economic engineer and UVC investor Amanda-Stella Birkenholz. When asked in an interview with Munich Startup whether she believes special networks for women are needed to motivate more women to found companies and invest, she says: “I believe that women should network more overall and that a women’s network can be a good framework for speaking openly about certain topics in a closed group. That’s why we founded the Female Founders Office Hours, where we offer support to female teams on topics such as financing, startup programs, and building startups. Nevertheless, the network must be gender-independent, and networking with successful founders and investors – who are still often male today – is what women need to build knowledge and gain access to customers or investors.” (Photo: Amanda-Stella Birkenholz)

Businettes, the incubator for early-stage female founders: Claire Siegert and Victoria Arnhold are the founders of Businettes, a community platform for (aspiring) female founders. With Businettes, they want to help close the gap in the European startup ecosystem between female and male founders. “By closing the founder gap, we see the great opportunity to empower more women to make bold career decisions, take the stage, and dare to become more than the hierarchies in our current society sometimes offer them. We firmly believe in having a positive impact for female empowerment”, the two founders say in an interview. The platform includes a digital, solution-oriented program tailored to the needs of aspiring female founders. In addition to the actual business program and a personal development module, the two founders also place great emphasis on direct exchange within their founder community (Photo: Businettes)

Svenja Lassen, founder of Female Investors Network: Svenja Lassen, head of the Munich office of Austrian startup investor network Gateway Ventures (formerly Primecrowd), founded the Female Investors Network (FIN) in 2020. FIN is intended to be an open point of contact for women interested in investing who want to expand their knowledge, exchange ideas and learn from each other. Here, active business angels who have already invested meet women who are approaching this topic for the first time and want to work as investors in the future. The common goal of all participants is to increase the overall share of women in the startup ecosystem – both among investors and founders. In an interview, we asked Svenja Lassen why the startup scene needs a network like FIN: “Because there was no network of this kind before where like-minded people could meet on equal footing and exchange openly. There are investor groups for women, but they usually only include women who already have investment experience. My aim is to raise general awareness about startup investments, inspire more women on this topic, and lower the barriers to entry. And that requires a point of contact where every question is allowed and people encourage each other. Or as one of our investors once said: ‘Starting startup investments is like learning a new language. You need a little vocabulary and then an environment where you dare to speak together.’ That’s exactly what we offer.” (Photo: Stefanie Kresse)

Inga Grieger from BMW i Ventures: BMW i Ventures is the corporate venture capital fund of BMW Group that invests money and resources in startups in all growth phases, but particularly in Series A and B. The focus is on transport, manufacturing, supply chain, and sustainability. Inga Grieger works at BMW i Ventures as a business development manager and concentrates on collaboration between BMW i Ventures portfolio companies and BMW Group. In an interview, we asked her, among other things, what makes a good pitch for her: “Definitely an authentic presentation. Over time, you quickly recognize whether someone is just playing a role. Especially for the success of founders, I think it’s crucial that they remain authentic and don’t put on a different persona. Then there’s a founding team that is passionate about the idea and can convey that passion. Last but not least, we look at whether the business idea is customer-centric and can drive sustainable transformation in the automotive industry.” (Photo: BMW i Ventures)

One Mission: The Munich initiative One Mission has made it its mission to bring more diversity to Munich startups. At the same time, the network, founded by founder center Werk1, wants to make it easier for female founders to access investor funding. When asked how startups benefit from diverse teams, Maike Wursthorn, co-founder of One Mission, says in an interview with Munich Startup: “Diverse teams are more innovative and efficient through different experiences, perspectives, and opinions. If you set up diversely from the start and, for example, develop a product with a diverse team, you automatically reach a larger customer base – that increases your chances of success. At the same time, the company image is positively strengthened and tolerance in society is promoted.” (Photo: One Mission)