On November 12, 2024, the "Gründungsdienstag Science meets Practice" event on the topic of female entrepreneurship took place as part of the series of events organized by the university's start-up office. The event offered exciting insights into current research and practice in the field of female start-ups.
The event was kicked off by the Head of the Start-up Office, who warmly welcomed the participants. Prof. Dr. Christina Stadler addressed the audience with introductory words and presented the event formats of the Start-up Office.
In the first part of the event, university graduate Lea Kohm presented the key findings of her master's thesis on "The role of business angels in female start-ups". Her research highlighted the challenges women face in acquiring investor capital and showed that both female start-ups and women as business angels are still underrepresented. The graduate addressed various factors that influence this unequal distribution. These include structural hurdles, e.g. access to networks and sources of capital, bias in the investor scene or a lack of visible role models for female founders and female business angels. The speaker proposed several measures to reduce these inequalities, such as targeted support programs for female founders, the expansion of mentoring networks and raising awareness of diversity in the investor scene. Her outstanding work has already been recognized with the Gender Award from the university's Equal Opportunities Office.
In the second part of the event, founder Tanja Kaltwasser introduced herself and her company ideenKiND GmbH. Her marketing agency specializes in brand strategy and web design. Ms. Kaltwasser is an alumna of HWG LU and studied business administration in the BIS degree programs. It was impressive to see that she had already driven her start-up forward during her studies and alongside her professional activities.
She not only gave the participants 10 valuable tips on how to start a business, but also explained the 11 steps that she believes are crucial when setting up a company. She emphasized how essential it is to have a clear vision and firm values that you follow consistently. She emphasized the importance of perseverance and self-confidence and talked about her personal success factors, such as building a strong network and the ability to react flexibly to change.
Malou Deuber talked about her path to entrepreneurship: after studying marketing at HWG LU, she worked for several years in digital marketing at a renowned company. The turning point came when an influencer asked her to provide support at celebrity events. This moment was the starting signal for the initially part-time founding of her own consulting firm socialrelation, which specializes in social media, influencer marketing and content creation for brands and personal brands.
But her entrepreneurial journey did not end there. Two and a half years ago, Ms. Deuber founded the "SheDoes Club" network for female founders and entrepreneurs in Mannheim. Her latest "baby" is the natural cosmetics company CURATIF BEAUTY. "It takes courage, perseverance, creativity and fun to turn your own vision into reality," Malou Deuber emphasized passionately and encouraged the participants not to be discouraged by setbacks.
The event ended with a lively Q&A session, during which participants had the opportunity to put their questions directly to the speakers. The focus was on topics such as personal challenges in the start-up process and tips for successful networking. Both founders emphasized the importance of networks, as they enable mutual support and an important exchange of experiences.
The evening provided an excellent platform to gather inspiration and make contacts, especially for prospective founders.
