The biggest annual pitching competition for female and non-binary business founders is back for another edition. After the success of the previous two years, we are incredibly excited to bring back the Female Founder Pitching Day for 2024!
Finland needs more diversity and female representation in its startup ecosystem. Despite the increasing number of entrepreneurs in Finland, only a third of them are women, and this figure is even lower for startups. Female founders also still receive significantly less funding compared to their male counterparts. In the Nordics, only 1,1% of the total capital raised in 2021 went to startups with all-women founding teams, according to the Annual Nordic funding report by Unconventional Ventures. The Female Founder Pitching Day was created to challenge that status quo.
The event aims to uplift and empower female and non-binary presence in the Finnish startup scene, by providing an exclusive opportunity for female and non-binary founders to secure funding for their business.
We’re honored to welcome as keynote speaker Nasima Razmyar, First Vice Chair of the SDP party, Head of the Startup Matters Group at Finnish Parliament, who will share valuable insights on the policies shaping the future of innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Female Founder Pitching Day, a collaboration between The Shortcut, Tech Nordic Advocates, and Shevestments, is the biggest annual pitching competition for female business founders and entrepreneurs in Finland. Previous participating founders come from many different areas, including tech, healthcare, fashion, and many more.
Previously held at Maria 01, the event was the first of its kind in 2022, and since then we have had two highly successful editions. Last year’s winner Annika Lundström, with her MedTech startup ReMinded, won the grand prize of €15.000 from our sponsor Google. The Finnish startup has recently gone on to secure almost $500.000 in funding from investors.
Finland has all the makings and capacity to become the premiere launchpad for all female and non-binary entrepreneurs who dream of making it big. We are now looking for sponsors who share the same vision for female entrepreneurship to make it happen.
By participating in Female Founder Pitching Day as a sponsor, you will get:
Date & Time: 17th December, 9:30 to 13:00
Venue: Helsinki City Hall
Agenda
09.30: Doors open
09.45 – 09.50: Opening Words from Paula Miettinen, Director of Business Services at the City of Helsinki
09.50 – 09.55: Welcome Words from Google
09.55 – 10.00: Welcome Words from Organizers (The Shortcut, SheVestments, Tech Nordic Advocates)
10.00 – 10.15: Keynote Speech by Nasima Razmyar, MP
10.15 – 10.30: Panel Discussion
10.30 – 11.15: First Round of Pitches
11.15 – 11.35: Break
11:35 – 12.20: Second Round of Pitches
12.20- 12.50: Light Lunch + Networking
12.50-13.00: Winner Announcement
This year’s 12 amazing pitches will come from leading programs by Tech Nordic Advocates Finland and The Shortcut, as well as an open call.
More information on the pitchers will be confirmed later. Stay tuned!
Definitely! As part of our challenge, you will be learning the basics of Microsoft Azure. We recommend planning in around one day to finish the challenge if you have no prior experience with Microsoft Azure.
Unfortunately, our services are only available for Finnish residents with a right to work in Finland. Since part of the training will be in person, you also need to be able to travel to our office in Helsinki.
This is a full-time training, Monday to Friday from 9 to 16. You need to be able to commit to the full training, so if you have a full-time job during the same hours, you are not able to join the training.
When you apply to the training, we will verify that you are eligible to join us. If you are eligible, you will gain access to the challenge. Please reserve around 3.5 hours to finish the challenge.
The challenge takes around 3,5 hours to finish if you have no prior knowledge of Microsoft Azure. However, if you have some background in cloud computing, you might get through it faster.
Congratulations! We will let you know by the 23rd of March if you are a fit for our training! Make sure to check your email.
