Why this program is needed, how we tailored it for female founders and what awaits you in the accelerator

Why we started Grow F

Female Founders were created with the goal in mind to establish a community for women in the startup ecosystem. Since then, many different ladies joined our tribe – this resulted in a big and diverse crowd of entrepreneurial-minded kick-ass women – not only from the startup sphere. We support each other through mentoring, connect at meetups and more. But support is especially important, where women are a minority, which is definitely the case in the startup ecosystem. This is why we wanted to start a startup specific program – the accelerator is more or less a step back to the roots for Female Founders.

We care not only about the startup – but also about the founder

In Austria, only around 12% of all startup founders are women – the European average lies at 15%. Grow F connects them to supporting and open-minded individuals, investors and experts. The program was designed with all the challenges in mind regularly faced by female startup founders. A majority regularly noted that they feel less equipped and confident in some soft skill topics – abilities that are often seen as important when starting a business. As a result, we included half-day workshops tackling challenges of founders on a personal level. Content in the 3-month program are “self-confident appearance”, “negotiations training” and “female leadership”. This can be seen as an extra boost of the founders, beside the hard skills expertise provided.

Visibility for future role models

What could be further circumstances that hold women back? 65% of the participants in the Female Founders Report think, that the small share of female founders originates from societal and cultural factors. It needs awareness amongst women, as well as men (yes, it is still not said often enough!) to break with these traditional roles and social patterns. Female role models and awareness raising looks like a promising way to go. This is another great goal of Grow F – to increase visibility of kick-ass female founders, challenging the stereotypes that are out there.

What else awaits you at Grow F

Grow F offers valuable expert input – like internationalization, investors profiling or go to market strategies –on a very individual level. We are going to have coworking sessions with experts, working on your startup. No generic input sessions – we promise! What is more, an experienced mentor will be by your side for the whole 3-month program. Check our list at mentors on our website. We have hand-picked and dedicated individuals who have a broad range of expertise – some started businesses for rocket internet in Asia and Africa or manage startups like N26 in Austria. We love them and you will too! The network of Female Founders also includes VC funds and business angel networks, these contacts will be made available to you in exclusive investor meetups and other occasions.

To sum up, Grow F will support you on an individual level through our community of mentors, investors and experts – we are looking forward to receiving your application! If you have any questions about the program, read more here or just reach out to our program manager via lena@femalefounders.at