10 women-led impact startups to watch
Explore ten early-stage, women-led impact startups to watch in 2022 and beyond
The gap between those startups that are purely profit-driven and those that are purpose-oriented is shrinking. So if your business model does not look beyond the financial balance sheet – your time is likely coming to an end soon.
Impact-driven, purpose-oriented startups seek a sustainable, positive, and social impact for our societies and the planet. And female entrepreneurs, meanwhile, still face an uphill battle when founding new tech companies. But they are no less successful than their peers.
With the Heatmap Startup List, we’re tracking the latest high-potential startups from the best accelerator programs in Europe. We know which are the best programs, because startup founders themselves share with us their opinions.
And why are they the best accelerator program? By and large, they excel with the best support, the brightest mentors, the strongest networks, and the shortest way towards funding as well as investments.
Track future unicorns Before everyone else
We believe they have the right starting conditions and business model to get very successful very fast. As a matter of fact, most of these impact startups are at an early stage. That is why many don’t even show up yet on traditional investment platforms like Dealroom or Crunchbase. So make sure to explore the following list of women-founded impact startups, and find out how to create your own top selection!
1. Finuprise
The FinTech startup Finuprise builds an impact investing platform to invest in publicly traded companies aligned with social and environmental causes.
Founders Gaia Licia Balossi and Heidi Lee (both graduated Copenhagen Business School with a MSc in Organizational Innovation & Entrepreneurship) participated in the renowned Copenhagen-based Antler Denmark accelerator and VC program. Antler offers up to $110k (€96k) to founders.
2. Neutralize-C
Neutralize-C helps companies to reduce their carbon footprint through mitigation projects. The team around founders Nivaldo Souza (engineer) and Eda Demir (e-commerce specialist) is building a digital platform to quickly find suitable, land-use based carbon sequestration projects and report on the sustainability impacts.
The Lisbon-based climate tech startup completed the eight-week, Europe-wide EIT Digital Venture pre-accelerator program in 2021. It is locally executed by the renowned Portuguese accelerator Building Global Innovators (BGI). The founders received an initial investment of €15k to build their MVP.
3. dialog
Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology is one of Europe’s best technical universities. It offers the 12-month KTH Innovation pre-incubator program for its students, researchers, and staff, investing up to SEK 250k (ca. €23k).
Participating in the program’s current batch 14, the health technology startup Dialog is building a digital platform for speech therapists and their patients, facilitating training and rehabilitation. The Stockholm-based founding team around Filippa Kärrfelt possesses tech skills in computer engineering, AI, and Natural Language Processing.
4. Kolibri
Gene therapies help overcome global health challenges such as chronic diseases and cancer, yet research and treatments are often limited by insufficient bio-manufacturing techniques. The Paris-based biotech startup Kolibri develops next-generation bioreactors for large-scale cell engineering.
The team around founder and CEO Amélie Quilichini (Master of Engineering, CentraleSupélec) participated in the 2021 Paris edition of the prestigious Entrepreneur First accelerator program, which offers founders an investment of £80k (€95k). She was also selected by STATION F to join the Female Founders Fellowship for high potential female founders.
5. F3nice
Since 2018, the Norwegian energy company Equinor (formerly Statoil) is collaborating with the global startup seed accelerator Techstars (headquartered in Boulder, USA). Together they run the Oslo-based Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator program (typical investment: $20k / €17.5k).
Among the program’s 2021 class is the sustainability-focused startup F3nice, founded and managed by engineer Luisa Elena Mondora. The circular economy startup based in Bergen, Norway, produces metal powders from recycled waste for additive manufacturing (3D printing).
6. Know Your Food
Know Your Food (based in Vilnius, Lithuania) is building an app that lets users know the environmental impact of their grocery shopping list and awards them for consuming sustainably.
Founder & CEO Gintare Rimolaityte (Business & IT graduate from Copenhagen School of Design and Technology) participated in the new Amsterdam-based Startupbootcamp Sustainability accelerator program. The program offers €15k in funding.
7. Unspendr
AI expert and mathematician Galina Dvoretskaya is founder and CEO of the Barcelona-based startup Unspendr. The impact startup is building a city-level review platform to guide consumers in finding sustainable companies and brands.
Unspendr is in the 2021 class of the Amsterdam-based Startupbootcamp Sustainability accelerator program, which offers €15k in funding.
8. FABBRIC
Lanzadera (based in Valencia, Spain) is one of Europe’s most prolific startup accelerators. It is typically offering €4k seed funding to its startups. In the January 2022 intake is the Barcelona-based fashion tech startup FABBRIC, which is building a manufacturer to consumer e-commerce platform.
The founding team of Alba Rocafort Marco (consumer business specialist) and Hugo Cuesta (marketing specialist) seek to reduce the environmental footprint of the fashion industry by applying a farm-to-fork concept. This promotes sustainable consumption, while reducing overall prices.
9. AdviceRobo
FinTech startup AdviceRobo (based in The Hague, Netherlands) provides smart alternative data solutions for credit scoring and risk mitigation, thereby making access to finance more inclusive also for underserved client groups.
Rosali Steenkamer (seasoned sales and marketing manager) and Diederick Van Thiel (serial entrepreneur and investor) founded AdviceRobo in 2013. They are committed to the Sustainable Development Goals “No poverty†and “Good Health and Well-beingâ€. AdviceRobo participated in batch 13 of Plug and Play Germany’s Fintech Europe accelerator program (based in Frankfurt). The program typically offers $50k-250k (€45k-€230k) in startup funding.
10. Vaayu
Berlin is the home of CleanTech startup Vaayu, founded by Namrata Sandhu (sustainability and supply chain specialist, ex-Zalando) in 2020. Her company runs a carbon tracking platform for fashion retailers, seeking to reduce the industry`s abysmal carbon footprint.
Vaayu participated in the 2021 batch 16 of Plug and Play’s 3-month Brand & Retail Europe accelerator program (based in Paris). The program typically offers $50k-250k (€45k-€230k) in startup funding.
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