May has been an incredibly busy month for me. With a lot of effort being put into WiE, we have seen an increase interest from female founders who want to join the events. Here is my recap of WiE activities during May 2021.
May 3rd at The Groud
Held at The Ground, the breakfast served as a platform for knowledge-sharing and discussions on topics such as femtech, human rights, and the role of incubators in promoting female entrepreneurship. Melina Bergström, Carmen Flores Bjurström, Katja Fjellström, Tshepiso Lehutjo and Maria Vardanyan joined the discussion.
The conversations during the breakfast delved deep into various subjects, including the challenges of balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship, creating equal workplaces, and the potential of femtech.
- Experts in gender equality and human rights, such as Melina and Maria, shared their research on challenges that women face in workforce both in Sweden and abroad.
- Katja, a business coach, highlighted the effectiveness of incubators like Drivehuset in helping students kickstart their entrepreneurial journeys.
- Tshepiso emphasized the importance of embracing femtech and offering more solutions in addressing women's health.
- Carmen, a former scientist turned entrepreneurial venturer, inspired the us with her personal journey of career changes.
May 10th at The Ground
This week we invited Zeynep Erdal, Miriam Kiehn, Arwa Mustafa and Aurora Koon joined WiE and the conversations explored topics such as scaling up food businesses, navigating funding opportunities for women entrepreneurs, and creating co-working spaces that promote sustainability and female empowerment.
- Arwa and Miriam highlighted the potential of introducing innovative and healthy food options to the market. Arwa discussed the Baobab fruit from Sudan as a potential addition to the Swedish food market, while Miriam's startup, Funky Flavor, offers a DIY fermentation kit that promotes gut health and provides customers with preservative-free food options.
- Aurora's venture, Regenerative Minds, emphasized the importance of scaling the regenerative mind shift and finding sustainable solutions for challenges. Through collaborative networks and creative processes, they aim to create win-win-win solutions and contribute more to the system than they take.
- Zeynep's career has been dedicated to improving societies and communities through cross-sectorial development programs. She shared the significance of stakeholder involvement and capacity building in driving positive change.
May 17th at The Ground
The WiE breakfast event catered to Lund University students specializing in Entrepreneurship, with the belief that the younger generation has the potential to change the future. The students had the opportunity to hear the pitch from Lukas, the CEO of Bottel. We learned about the company's background and go-to-market strategy in the Nordics. Heiram (염해람) Yeom, Viktoria Skara, Alejandra Ramos, Lola Matmusaeva and Romina Marchetti joined our breakfast.
- Viktoria from Minut, an innovative startup that monitor noise and occupancy, provided valuable advice on career in a rapid growing startup.
- Alejandra, who is researching crowdfunding and its impact on startups, shared insights on the potential connection between crowdfunding success and attracting venture capital.
May 24th Mindpark Malmö
The discussions held during the event delved into various business aspects, including cross-cultural negotiations, the burgeoning field of biotech startups, and alternative approaches to seed investments like crowdfunding. Barbara Terebieniec, Celine Krone, Ning Wang, and Danyang Wu joined the breakfast.
- Experts like Ning shared insights on cross-cultural negotiations, for example, Chinese negotiators often prioritize building lasting relationships and establish trust that can extend beyond a single negotiation. Swedish negotiators also value long-term relationships, but they may approach negotiations with a focus on efficiency and achieving concrete results within a shorter timeframe.
- Celine and Barbara, professionals in the field of biotechnology, led discussions centered around biotech startups and how challenging it is to secure research funding. They also shared that some women may hesitate to identify themselves as entrepreneurs, even if they have started a business.
May 31st at MindPark Malmö
Pernilla Agardh, Charlotte Arnberg,Allisa Lindo, Jacqueline-Charlotte Rudolph and Charlotte Stridh, joined our WiE breakfast. We finished the discussion with a tour of Goto10 office. The highlight of the discussion was that Charlotte Stridh, who specializes in growth and communications at Djäkne Startup Studio, gave a presentation on their approach of becoming hands-on co-founders and creating a platform for early-stage tech products and companies. Djäkne Startup Studio has worked with over 40 tech companies and achieved successful exits since 2001.
During the breakfast, we guided the conversation, allowing the women to connect with one another on a deeper level. Rather than strictly adhering to a predefined agenda, we embraced the organic flow of conversation.
Through active listening and open-ended questions, we fostered an environment where every woman had the opportunity to share her story, passions, and challenges. This approach encouraged meaningful exchanges and allowed people learn from one another and offer valuable support and advice.
