Female Founders

Female Founders is a leader in driving gender diversity in tech and innovation throughout Europe. They work with startups, investors, and corporations to create equal opportunities for entrepreneurial women in the European tech and innovation ecosystem. With the vision of re-shaping the economy and society by empowering female entrepreneurial minds, Female Founders aims to solve two issues in the European tech ecosystem: the access to funding for female-led ventures and the access to female talent.

Female Founders provides products, services, and opportunities that focus on three areas in the tech and innovation ecosystem: startups and investment, female talent, and its growing community. Core programs include the startup accelerator "Grow F," which helps female-led ventures become investment-ready, and the leadership accelerator "Lead F," which helps female leaders succeed in their careers. Grow F was named as one of “Europe’s top 8 accelerators for female founders”.

Female Founders was established in 2016 in Vienna, Austria by co-founders Tanja Sternbauer, Nina Wöss, and Lisa-Marie Fassl. Lisa-Marie Fassl is the CEO. The organization has fifty-nine startups in its portfolio, seventy alumni from its leadership accelerator, and reaches over 42,000 people weekly on its communication channels.

Female Founder's startups and investment initiative offers three opportunities for female entrepreneurs: Grow F, its investment readiness startup accelerator for female-led ventures; Everything About event series, a series of intimate, online sessions with expert insights for founders; and Demo Day, events showcasing promising female-led ventures in Europe and connecting them with Female Founder's investor network.

Female Founder's female talent initiative also offers three opportunities for female entrepreneurs: Lead F, its leadership accelerator for women; LTST TalentHack, a no-code hackathon connecting talent and tech companies who are looking to hire; and Gender Diversity Consulting, helping companies become more successful by improving their diversity and inclusion strategies.

Female Founder's growing community initiative offers two opportunities for female entrepreneurs: Lead Today. Shape Tomorrow (LTST), a leading European event for female entrepreneurship, and Online Community, which combines the group's social media channels, newsletter and blog.