In the spirit of International Women’s Day, introduced in Berlin on the 8th of March, we believe that women who are involved in the startup scene should be recognised and honoured. Just 9% of Berlin technology startups were founded by women. That is less than the share of women-founded technology companies in Europe overall (17%), as well as in United States hubs such as Silicon Valley (24%) and New York (16%). To inspire other future entrepreneurs, we asked 8 female founders what advice they would give to all who are thinking about founding their own startup.
1. Volunteer Vision
Volunteer Vision is a Munich-based HR startup that provides young people looking for a job with a digital mentor who trains them in relevant professional and social skills. This is also beneficial for mentors who grow personally and develop digital skills. The mentoring sessions take place in a virtual room via browser-based video chat with participants currently located in over 20 countries.
Volunteer Vision was founded by Dr Suska Dreesbach-Bundy and Julia Winkler.
2. Civey
Would you like to express your political opinions? Or do you want to know what others think about animal rights? Civey is an online survey tool that lets you take part in public opinion polls and in return see what others think in real-time.
The startup was founded by Gerrit Richter, Janina Mütze, Michael Vogel and Prof. Oliver Serfling, and Sven Hauser.
3. MysteryVibe
MysteryVibe is a startup designing and creating pleasure products combined with cutting edge technology. The company’s vision is to apply Big Data and IoT to pleasure, make all that information openly available and support the medical & research communities to address health issues in a positive informed way.
MysteryVibe was founded by Robert Weekly, Shanshan Xu, Soumyadip Rakshit, and Stephanie Alys.
4. CoDesign Factory
How should corporations attract Millenials and how should they solve new issues? CoDesign factory built a team of experts from various backgrounds to help SMEs and corporations with modernisation.
The startup was founded by Aya Jaff, Viktoria Delius-Trillsch, Diana Zur Löwenm, and Hauke Schwiezer.
5. CareerFoundry
Do you want to change your career path but are you a bit scared to go through this life-changing step? CareerFoundry wants to support these individuals by offering online courses in UX Design, UI Design, and Web Development. Additionally, each student is provided with tutors, mentors, and experts that will help them through the courses as well as with finding a job.
The startup was founded by Martin Ramsin and Raffaela Rein.
6. WisR
Many people wish to continue working and maintain their standard of living after retirement. The Austrian startup WisR developed a platform that focuses on matching active retirees, who want to stay active, with companies that look for a skilled workforce.
WisR was founded by Carina Roth, Â Klaudia Bachinger, and Martin Melcher.
7. Buah
Berlin-based food startup Buah introduced a healthy snack alternative. Freshly harvested and ripe, Buah offers a wide range of freeze-dried fruits and vegetables that will make snacking guilt-free.
The startup was founded by siblings Jessica and Daniel Krauter.
8. Tenetrio
Tenetrio is a sustainable food product for dog owners to feed to their furry friends. The startup produces the dog food from insects that they breed, an alternative to meat, that contributes a healthy lifestyle for dogs and the environment. Tenetrio CEO, Dr. Ina M. Henkel, explained why insects are easier to maintain and more nutritious for dogs to consume. On top of that, the environment is considered as well.
The startup was founded by Dr. Ina M. Henkel, Sabrina Jaap, and Katrin Kühn.