The Hungarian budget airline has launched a cadet program to support the careers of female pilots.Continue reading
After its own female business development program, Hungarian-founded international agency Design Terminal could form a European network of female entrepreneurs from this year as a consortium leader within the framework of an EU initiative.
According to Design Terminal, female entrepreneurs are underrepresented in the innovation scene across Europe. Meanwhile, various researches show that female company managers and founders are essential for success: according to McKinsey & Co, for example, companies with both male and female managers have a 21% greater chance of being profitable.
However, European data are depressing. According to an article by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology published last August, only 21% of the continent’s businesses were founded by women, and only 2.5% of startups with multiple founders were entirely created by women.
As a result, the Hungarian innovation agency thinks that it is high time to change trends, which is why they started their program. Within the framework of it, four innovation agencies, the Hungarian Design Terminal, the German SPINLAB, the Estonian Tehnopol and the Czech DEX Innovation Center, launched their joint pan-European initiative on March 8, on International Women’s Day. The main goal of the program is to make way for female entrepreneurs on the continent.
The agency is building “Innovation Champions” through corporate partnerships and talent development programs in 12 countries. It mentors start-ups, SMEs, talent management, business development, investment brokerage, and provides consulting services to large companies, bringing innovation challenges to their business. It empowers business leaders and employees, as well as start-up founders, with knowledge, networking and an innovative approach to boost innovation within their organizations.
The Womenture program, which runs until January 2025, would strengthen female entrepreneurship on two platforms. On the one hand, from October 2023, those who would like to start a business or develop their existing company can apply for the mentoring leg of the program from any country in Europe. Womenture experts will strengthen the participants with targeted professional mentoring. The mentoring program start is due to start with 20 participants.
In the meantime, the partner organizations expect the best European ideas from agencies, institutions and various stakeholders concerned about the success of women’s innovation programs.
As a result participants can even improve the before-mentioned data with their useful experience, expertise, and best practices.
“The supportive community and the sharing of challenges can lead to great strength, which can thus contribute to individual and joint success.” Edit Ditte Szabó, founder, mentor of female entrepreneur programs said in connection with the initiative. Another entrepreneur, Kinga Jentetics Kinga, founder of Publishdrive, has told about her experiences when she was told that she should be extra prepared when meeting an investor because while in many cases a male founder can get millions of dollars with a simple presentation, as a woman she will likely be ripped to shreds. Their experiences only highlight the need to strengthen the female entrepreneur community.
Featured photo via Facebook/Design Terminal