The Female Founder Special Prize was awarded in 2019 by Handelsblatt and McKinsey as an additional prize to ‘The Spark – The German Digital Prize. Even today, women are still underrepresented in leadership positions, and female founders are even less represented in the tech scene.
A total of five female founders from Munich were among the top 14 finalists – and thus shortlisted for the Female Founder Special Prize.
- Fabiola Munguia from Requestee: The startup wants to make pentesting—that is, having one's own app or network checked for vulnerabilities—as easy as ordering pizza. And it only works with verified companies, making the process simpler and more transparent.
- Maria Sievert von Inveox: The health startup develops digital solutions for pathology laboratories. During the Corona crisis, the company Business model further expanded.
- Sandra Westermann from superheroineThe job platform founded by Westermann aims to alleviate the shortage of skilled workers with more flexible working models. To this end, the founder connects family-friendly companies with willing mothers and fathers.
Female Founder Special Prize: Innosabi and Vectoflow still in the running
Two other Munich-based founders also made it through and are now among the top 4 finalists:
- Katharina Kreitz from Vectorflow: The tech company supplies industrial customers with innovative, aerodynamic measurement technology with its 3D-printed special probes.
- Catharina van Delden from Innosabi: The software startup brings crowd innovation to companies. The crowd innovation platform uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to better leverage the data on the SaaS platform for its customers' innovation projects.
On November 12, the decision will be made as to which of the four female founders will win the Female Founder Special Prize. In addition to the two Munich-based entrepreneurs, Lea-Sophie Cramer, founder of Amorelie, and Verena Pausder with her association "Digital Education for All" are also in the running.
The award recognizes exceptional, innovative and lateral thinkers whose ideas have the potential to fundamentally and sustainably transform markets. Therefore, the Female Founder Special Award is intended to support female startup founders in the tech sector, give them the recognition they deserve, and provide them with a platform to serve as role models for other women. These digital pioneers are intended to encourage other women to take the step into founding a company.
