FEMALE FOUNDERS

DESCRIPTION

This Innosuisse-event is co-hosted by the Entrepreneurship Center and the Innovation Office of the University of Bern and marks the start of the multipart series Womxn Who Start Up. The Innosuisse Female Founders format aims to increase representation of women among entrepreneurs and to bring aspiring entrepreneurs of all genders into contact with successful female entrepreneurs.

 

Who can register for the event?

Anyone who is interested in either entrepreneurship or women in tech is invited to join us at our event. If you already have a business idea, this might help inspire you further and connect you to like-minded people as well as people who already took the leap and founded their businesses.

Please make sure to register for the event below.

 

What’s this event about?

At the event we will provide insights into entrepreneurship as well as the specific topic of women in tech:

Did you know the analysis of gender disparity in the tech startup sector reveals consistent underrepresentation and distinct challenges faced by women compared to their male counterparts? Societal role expectations and structural barriers hinder women’s progression in the tech sector. This highlights the need for fostering women’s inclusion in technology startups.

Join our event to learn more about the challenges and opportunities for women in the tech startup industry as well as challenges generally faced by founders, irrespective of gender and industry.

Get inspired by Ansuya Ahluwalia, entrepreneur, CTO & Partner at thrity3, Laura Matter, co-founder of noii land AG, Rhiana Spring, founder of SpringACT, Maureen Azria global business executive with cross-industry expertise and executive board member of Women in Tech® Switzerland  as they come together to share their innovative ideas and to discuss the challenges and opportunities of founding and working in a start-up (in the tech sector).

Meet our host & speakers: 

Manuela Kaufmann (Host)

Manuela Kaufmann holds a Master’s of Science degree in Business Information Systems and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. In her role as a Senior Manager at a consulting firm, she supports companies at the intersection of business and technology with a focus of customer centricity, innovation and transformation. She is absolutely convinced that innovation is not a nice-to-have but a must for companies that want to remain relevant tomorrow. In addition to her consulting work, her heart beats for moderation – the trained moderator playfully combines expertise with performance skills.

Ansuya Ahluwalia

Ansuya is a serial entrepreneur and currently CTO and partner at thirty3. She has spent 15+ years in tech including roles as Founder & CEO at Anamii – an online wellbeing recommendation and matching platform; CTO for Vicara – Big Data and Cloud Consulting for Swiss Finance; Sr. Software Developer at Amazon in Silicon Valley and holds an MSc in Computer Science from UCLA, with a focus on Machine Learning & Data Analytics.
At thirty3, she is driving innovation through digital transformation and AI. They accelerate business and product development for startups, scale-ups and enterprises. Ansuya spends a lot of her time presenting talks on AI and empowering women in tech. Additionally she also volunteers as a podcast host at Swisspreneur.

Rhiana Spring

Rhiana Spring is a multiple award-winning international human rights lawyer and AI entrepreneur. With the United Nations, the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and diverse legal teams, Rhiana has worked in protecting human rights across 18 countries in Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. Aged 17, Rhiana setup and ran her first IT business, having taught herself multiple programming languages. Now, Rhiana is the Founder and CEO of Spring ACT – Action. Compassion. Technology. – connecting human rights and AI to empower individuals to take action and help eliminate global social injustices. Together with her team, they developed “Sophia”: the global chatbot empowering people affected by domestic violence to gather potential evidence and seek help wherever they are in the world.

Laura Matter

Laura Matter is the co-founder and CEO of noii, a video chat-based dating platform. noii combines sophisticated algorithms with psychological expertise to find suitable partners and then enables people to take part in a video chat speed dating session. The 24-year-old grew up near Winterthur and founded noii land AG together with her two co-founders in 2022. Her professional background is in the marketing industry, where she most recently worked in a social media agency. Today, noii has over 30,000 users, mainly from Zurich, and has also been offering weekly offline events for singles since 2023. noii is making today’s dating world more real and authentic again by combining video dating and offline events. To date, the noii team has secured CHF 1.5 million in capital from external investors, including an incredible CHF 1.2 million via crowdinvesting in June 2024.

Maureen Azria

Maureen is an accomplished business expert with a diverse background spanning multiple industries and continents. With a proven track record in driving growth and innovation, she has held key positions in Europe, Africa and Asia, shaping the strategic direction of both startups and multinational corporations, with a strong emphasis on digital transformation, and organizational optimization.

As Executive Board Member of Women in Tech® Switzerland, an association dedicated to empowering women in the country to embrace STEM, she believes supporting women is key to a future led by inclusive leaders, regardless of their gender, and is dedicated to raising awareness on attracting more women to Tech.”

DATE

September 18th, 2024

Time: 6.00 – 9.00 pm

DESCRIPTION

This Innosuisse-event marks the start of a multipart series of events aiming to increase representation of women among entrepreneurs and to bring aspiring entrepreneurs of all genders into contact with successful female entrepreneurs.

 

Who can register for the event?

Anyone who is interested in either entrepreneurship or Fem-Tech is invited to join us at our event. If you already have a business idea, this might help inspire you further and connect you to like-minded people as well as people who already took the leap and founded their businesses.

Please make sure to register for the event below.

 

What’s this event about?

At the event we will provide insights into entrepreneurship as well as the specific topic of fem-tech:

Did you know that women have been underrepresented or entirely excluded from clinical trials, research studies, and health data collection initiatives? As a result, many healthcare interventions, medications, and treatment plans are based primarily on data collected from men, overlooking the unique physiological, hormonal, and genetic factors that influence women’s health.

Fem-Tech startups are playing a crucial role in closing this gender data gap by generating new data, conducting research, and developing technologies that cater specifically to women’s health. By leveraging digital tools, wearable devices, mobile applications, and data analytics, Fem-Tech is empowering women to actively participate in their healthcare journey, capture their health data, and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of women’s health.

Join us at our event as we discover the transformative potential of Fem-Tech in closing the gender data gap and about innovative start-ups transforming women’s health and well-being.

Get inspired by Céline Spillmann, founder of PERIOD GmbH, Virginia Franco, co-founder of YONI Solutions SA, Petronela Sandulache, founder of CorDiFio, Lisa Falco AI & Data Consultant for Health & FemTech, Forbes Contributor, and Author as they come together to share their innovative ideas to revolutionize women’s health and to discuss the challenges and opportunities of founding and working in a start-up.

Meet our Speakers: 

Céline Spillmann

Céline Spillmann has studied law, economics and computer science and was named Forbes 30 under 30. The cycle care brand PERIOD is her second company after having co-founded a LegalTech startup. PERIOD develops natural products around periods, menopause and female pleasure and creates their formulas locally in their manufactory in Zurich. Recently, Céline has started a third company which focuses on video podcasts and media productions. With the help of the format ‚PERIOD presents‘, Céline aims to open up the discussion around periods and womanhood with inspiring guests.

Dr. Virginia Franco

Dr. Virginia Franco is a Gynaecologist and the CEO & co-founder of YONI Solutions SA. She is specialized in pathologies of the lower genital tract and women’s health in primary care. She has experience in obstetric emergencies and as a gynaecologist she also worked in the menopause division and contraceptives in patients under high risk comorbidity. Since incorporation of the company YONI Solutions, she started working more dedicated to vaginal microbiome analysis in the favor of women that suffer from recurrent vaginal infections in order to better recommend Probiotics in Women’s Health. Virginia is currently working full time in the company and remains active in scientific activities such as planning and executing clinical studies.

Petronela Sandulache

Petronela Sandulache is the founder of CorDiFio Health. With 10 years of consulting experience in innovation and strategy, startups and emerging technologies across three continents, and in industries spanning from automotive to healthcare, from printing to financial services, she is determined to empower people to be in control of their health. Her work has been featured in ZDF and ARTE documentaries as well as in Forbes.
She holds a CAS ETH in Entrepreneurial Leadership in Technology Ventures (ETH Switzerland), MA in International Management from the University of Sydney (Australia) and the London School of Economics (UK) – top of the Dean’s list, and a BA in Economics from the University of Rome (Italy). She thrives in a diverse and multicultural environment, and speaks 4 languages fluently. Innovation, entrepreneurial empowerment and dream following are at the core of her work. Her motto: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” (Lincoln)
CorDiFio Health is a Swiss-based femtech social venture that aims at closing the gender health gap. Their mission is to raise awareness on heart diseases misdiagnosis and beyond, and especially contribute to women’s health empowerment and research in gender-centric medicine. Their vision is to Make Hearts Beat Longer. One heart at a time!

Lisa Falco

Lisa Falco is a Lead Consultant in AI & Data at Zühlke Group, Author of her book „Go Figure! The astonishing science of the female body.“ and contributor at Forbes, writing for Forbes Women about FemTech & Women’s health. With nearly two decades of experience, Lisa has been dedicated to the intersection of medicine and technology, particularly in leveraging data to gain deeper insights into the human body. Her expertise spans various aspects of women’s health, including research in areas like bone health, diabetes, and fertility. Before her current position, Lisa Falco held the role of Director of Data Science at Ava, a Swiss FemTech startup. During her tenure, she spearheaded a team focused on creating algorithms and artificial intelligence solutions aimed at helping women get pregnant faster by using data derived from their menstrual cycles.The experiences from her work at Ava, coupled with the encounters with various women throughout the process, served as the catalyst that inspired her to author her book.

Céline Spillmann

Céline Spillmann has studied law, economics and computer science and was named Forbes 30 under 30. The cycle care brand PERIOD is her second company after having co-founded a LegalTech startup. PERIOD develops natural products around periods, menopause and female pleasure and creates their formulas locally in their manufactory in Zurich. Recently, Céline has started a third company which focuses on video podcasts and media productions. With the help of the format ‚PERIOD presents‘, Céline aims to open up the discussion around periods and womanhood with inspiring guests.

Dr. Virginia Franco

Dr. Virginia Franco is a Gynaecologist and the CEO & co-founder of YONI Solutions SA. She is specialized in pathologies of the lower genital tract and women’s health in primary care. She has experience in obstetric emergencies and as a gynaecologist she also worked in the menopause division and contraceptives in patients under high risk comorbidity. Since incorporation of the company YONI Solutions, she started working more dedicated to vaginal microbiome analysis in the favor of women that suffer from recurrent vaginal infections in order to better recommend Probiotics in Women’s Health. Virginia is currently working full time in the company and remains active in scientific activities such as planning and executing clinical studies.

Petronela Sandulache

Petronela Sandulache is the founder of CorDiFio Health. With 10 years of consulting experience in innovation and strategy, startups and emerging technologies across three continents, and in industries spanning from automotive to healthcare, from printing to financial services, she is determined to empower people to be in control of their health. Her work has been featured in ZDF and ARTE documentaries as well as in Forbes.
She holds a CAS ETH in Entrepreneurial Leadership in Technology Ventures (ETH Switzerland), MA in International Management from the University of Sydney (Australia) and the London School of Economics (UK) – top of the Dean’s list, and a BA in Economics from the University of Rome (Italy). She thrives in a diverse and multicultural environment, and speaks 4 languages fluently. Innovation, entrepreneurial empowerment and dream following are at the core of her work. Her motto: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” (Lincoln)
CorDiFio Health is a Swiss-based femtech social venture that aims at closing the gender health gap. Their mission is to raise awareness on heart diseases misdiagnosis and beyond, and especially contribute to women’s health empowerment and research in gender-centric medicine. Their vision is to Make Hearts Beat Longer. One heart at a time!

Lisa Falco

Lisa Falco is a Lead Consultant in AI & Data at Zühlke Group, Author of her book „Go Figure! The astonishing science of the female body.“ and contributor at Forbes, writing for Forbes Women about FemTech & Women’s health. With nearly two decades of experience, Lisa has been dedicated to the intersection of medicine and technology, particularly in leveraging data to gain deeper insights into the human body. Her expertise spans various aspects of women’s health, including research in areas like bone health, diabetes, and fertility. Before her current position, Lisa Falco held the role of Director of Data Science at Ava, a Swiss FemTech startup. During her tenure, she spearheaded a team focused on creating algorithms and artificial intelligence solutions aimed at helping women get pregnant faster by using data derived from their menstrual cycles.The experiences from her work at Ava, coupled with the encounters with various women throughout the process, served as the catalyst that inspired her to author her book.

This Event kicks off the series Women Who Start Up by the Innovation Office of the University of Bern.

DATE

September 20, 2023

Time: 6.00 – 9.00 pm

REGISTRATION

REGISTRATION

LOCATION

Main building University of Bern
Room 501 (Kuppelraum), 5th floor
Hochschulstrasse 4
3012 Bern

FLYER

CONTACT

Dr. Isabelle Hahn

Project Manager Innosuisse, Departement of Management and Entrepreneurship University of Bern

Joëlle Prisi

Project Manager STAGE UP, Departement of Management and Entrepreneurship University of Bern

COURSE PROGRAM

17.30 – 17.35 | Welcome and Introduction
17.35 – 17.55 | Keynote speech by Jacqueline Ruedin Rüsch

17.55 - 18.30 | Panel discussion

Anna Söderlind holds a MSc from Stockholm School of Economics, as well as diplomas from the Karolinska Institutet and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH).  She is passionate about the mix between economics, technology and the human aspect of healthcare. In her current role in the Innovation team at Groupe Mutuel, she has brought the topic of FemTech to the table. This has resulted in the development of Tech4Eva, a leading FemTech accelerator, from which its participating startups have raised more than 90 Million CHF since the accelerators start in 2021.

  • Jacqueline Ruedin Rüsch (Co-founder and General Partner Privilège Ventures SA)
  • Donatella Caresano (CEO and Chairman IRONGLOVE Technology Sagl)
  • Elisa Filippi (Founder and CEO TicInsect Sagl)
  • Katerina Rigana (PhD Candidate, Entrepreneur and FinTech Business Designer)
18.30 – 18.45 | Q&A and Closing
18.45 – 19.30 | Apéro and Networking

SPEAKERS

Maureen Azria

Global Business Executive with Cross-Industry Expertise, Women In Tech Switzerland

Laura Matter

Co-Founder and CEO at noii land AG

Rhiana Spring

Executive Director & Founder at Spring ACT

Ansuya Ahluwalia

CTO & Partner at thirty3

Manuela Kaufmann

Host

LOCATION BERN

The University of Bern’s Department of Management and Entrepreneurship supports the dialogue and collaboration between science and practice through different programmes and projects. The focus is placed on supporting students, researchers and people from start-ups, family businesses and large companies in developing entrepreneurial projects. For the Business Concept courses, the Entrepreneurship Center was engaged by Innosuisse to coordinate the courses in the central region, and offers the local course in Bern.