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Female Founders

© Mediaserver Hamburg / Christian Brandes | Mediaserver

Women have innovation potential, but still rarely dare to take the step into self-employment.

The proportion of female founders in Germany and Hamburg is growing steadily, but women are still underrepresented in the startup scene. Most startups are founded by men, especially the capital-intensive ones. The Hamburg Senate has therefore decided to set up a female founders programme and to provide even more support for female founders in Hamburg, for example in the areas of financing and law. Female founders events are also intended to facilitate the exchange and networking of female founders with each other and with investors.

© Mathias Jäger/Hamburg Startups: the finalists of Female StartAperitivo 2022
© Mathias Jäger/Hamburg Startups: the finalists of Female StartAperitivo 2022

Female Founders in Hamburg

Hamburg is home to many female founders who have successfully developed their business idea into a profitable company. Traceless materials by Anne Lamp and Johanna Baare, for example, offers an alternative to plastics based on natural ingredients.

At the deep-tech startup ai-omatic, the founding team includes one woman and two men. It has launched a cloud-based software solution for predictive maintenance of machines.

Support Programmes & Organizations

  • Non-Profits

    Wirtschaftsjunioren Hamburg

    Hamburg’s Junior Chamber of Commerce is involved in various voluntary projects to support interests of young entrepreneurs true the motto "acting for Hamburg".GründerGeist is an annual start-up competition that ultimately...
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  • Public Organizations

    Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft mbH

  • Non-Profits

    Hamburger Allianz für Social Entrepreneurship

    The Hamburg Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship e.V. is a cross-sectoral alliance that was established in 2023 by seven founding members, including the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the University of Hamburg. The...
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  • Incubators, Accelerators & Company Builder

    Social Impact Award Deutschland

    SIA Germany is a nationwide education and incubation programme that supports young people in (further) developing their social and ecological ideas into successful social enterprises.
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The percentage of women among startup founders is still low. Women often face the challenge of balancing startup and family life. Yet female founders place more emphasis on sustainability and the ecological impact of their company than male founders do; this is incredibly important for the future and should be further encouraged. Some successful female founders are already showing that women are also made for entrepreneurship and can be an inspiring role model for other women who want to start their own businesses.