Fortune For Female Founders

Although the Nordic countries are considered to be the world’s best in gender equality, when it comes to women in tech, the numbers are nowhere near to being equal. Yes, we are seeing more female founders hitting the news and receiving international awards, female investors joining and / or starting VC funds and women running publicly-listed tech companies. Still, only 17 percent of startups are founded by women –  a number that is even lower when it comes to tech startups.

From our side, we support women in tech as much as we can by having 50% girls in our team, bringing to 1:1 male-female ratio at our events and supporting women in tech-friendly initiatives.

One of such, F-LANE, is currently open for applications.

A new round of F-LANE – the first accelerator in Europe to focus on tech-startups by or for women – is now open.

F-LANE empower female entrepreneurs and women in tech in a world that is largely dominated by men.

“We are changing that with the help of one of today’s technology leaders, Vodafone, by providing our teams with access to investors, experts and other startups. We deeply believe that technology can make an impact, improving the situation of women and girls globally,” says Cilia C. Kanellopoulos, Head of Social Innovation at the Vodafone Institute.

Even though the program mostly accepted females, not only startups that have female founders can apply for F-LANE. The program welcomes everyone who uses technology to empower women. The program mission is to foster the participation of women in technological development and to empower women of all ages around the world through technology.

F-LANE is collaborating with the Impact Hub Berlin and the Social Entrepreneurship Akademie to globally source innovative startups that focus on women and have the potential to make a wide impact. The majority of the startups participating in the program received investments afterwards – some as high as EUR 4.5 million.

In addition to that, the program provides the number of other benefits.

Living costs

Each team receives a € 12,000 stipend to cover living, travel and venture expenses. Plus, the program provides accommodation and childcare, if necessary.

Personal curriculum

After the individual assessment, Social Entrepreneurship Akademie will assist you with your personal curriculum and provide individual to make your venture investment ready.

Access to Funding

With Vodafone Germany as the main partner to the program, the teams will get access to potential corporate partner and the wider Vodafone family. On top of that, the program will help with introductions to potential business partners and investors.

Impact Ecosystem

F-Lane provides access to the Impact Hub community, a global network of 100+ spaces and over 16,000 social innovators that support your venture globally, as well as to the network of the Social Entrepreneurship Akademie.

Mentors

Finally, the program will introduce you to a personal mentor with experience in entrepreneurship, who will help with advice and business coaching.

The 7-week long accelerator program starts on 16 March 2018 in Berlin is now open. The deadline for applications is very soon, so hurry up! Send your application to www.f-lane.com/online-application until 20 December.