Women Founders 2024 Looks at Challenges, Opportunities for Female Entrepreneurs

WIDE&CO held the ninth edition of its flagship Women Founders event at the House of Startups (HoST) in Luxembourg-Bonnevoie on Tuesday 26 November 2024.

About 170 people registered for this evening event, which was “dedicated to inspiring, empowering and connecting female entrepreneurs”.

As WIDE&CO Executive Director and co-founder Marina Andrieu explained, there is still more to be done to promote and support women entrepreneurship. She reflected on the origins of WIDE and how it has grown over the past decade; it was initially an ASBL before becoming a social enterprise (SIS) three years ago. Its mission is to “create a more inclusive and diverse tech industry by providing opportunities for women to thrive”. Marina noted that there is still a “huge gap” between men and women founders. She shared some statistics, for example the share of female entrepreneurs in Luxembourg in 2023 was 8.7%, compared to 10.6% for men. She emphasised the need for “good data”, noting that a Women in Startups Index is set to launch next year.

Following her introduction, Marina Andrieu invited the panellists up to the stage. These were: Genna Elvin, Chief Tada Officer and co-founder of Tadaweb; Reyhaneh Niknejad, co-founder and Head of Business Development at Elora; Amal Tawakuli, co-founder and CTO at Algora; Leesa Soulodre, founder of Planet43 and Managing General Partner at R3i Capital.

The panellists shared their experiences as women entrepreneurs, including the opportunities and challenges along the way. They touched on different stages of this journey, with Genna Elvin and Leesa Soulodre being more “seasoned” entrepreneurs and Reyhaneh Niknejad and Amal Tawakuli having launched their startups more recently. For the latter two panellists, their respective startups were recently selected for the fifteenth edition of the Fit4Start acceleration programme in Luxembourg.

Among the topics discussed were the challenges facing women entrepreneurs and particularly women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) field, lessons learned, the role of artificial intelligence (AI), and how to find one’s co-founders and team when starting out. The panellists spoke about the need to adapt and persevere, agreeing that becoming an entrepreneur is hard work that requires sacrifice, and it is not for everyone. They also spoke about how rewarding it can be (to be your own boss, to create and manage something of your own). Concerning barriers facing women when it comes to investment, unconscious bias was mentioned. AI was described as the “current big thing” rather than the “next big thing”, and its value for both professional and personal life was explored. The panellists also touched on the importance of women and minorities having their voices heard in shaping AI for the future.

Moreover, the panellists discussed the value of programmes such as Fit4Start, with Reyhaneh Niknejad and Amal Tawakuli sharing their experiences on pitching and getting selected. They noted that it was challenging but you are the expert on your own product or service, you should know your competition, your market and clients, and do your best to convince a jury who knows nothing about it in just a few minutes. Persistence also pays off. Genna Elvin, who has been a Fit4Start jury member, noted the need to “keep your foot on the accelerator” after such programmes, i.e. in the “real world”.

In terms of advice for women looking to launch their own startup, the panellists mentioned: wearing multiple hats and knowing with whom you are getting into a venture (if aspirations align, etc.); never signing anything before you have read and understand it (perhaps invest in a lawyer who can assess the risks); finding the right balance (e.g. between co-founders and risk appetites); remembering your leads, i.e. is it: Legal - Ethical - Acceptable - Defendable - Sensible?

Marina Andrieu subsequently thanked the panellists and WIDE&CO’s partners. She also launched a call for projects for Impact Web Studio (for details, see https://www.impactwebstudio.com/), an initiative aimed at supporting entrepreneurs (e.g. in building a prototype or MVP) in Luxembourg and the Greater Region. Marina also announced that WIDE&CO is launching a campaign for public donations this year, to ensure the SIS can continue supporting women entrepreneurs.

Beyond WIDE&CO (and Fit4Start), attendees were invited to check out the support services offered by initiatives such as PULSE (Luxembourgish Startups Association) and R3i Capital (for investment).

After a look at some upcoming WIDE&CO events, it was time for the predominantly female audience to network over finger food and drinks.