In the current modern era, when people are talking about gender equality and news about achievements made by women are hitting the web almost every day, there seems to be a vast difference in the role of men and women when it comes to entrepreneurship. Especially, women in technology have been overshadowed by men and fail to get the same level of recognition as the opposite gender.
However, it looks like things have started changing greatly as women in the tech sector are getting to the spotlight gradually. The reason is that there are not many women entrepreneurs in the tech sector and the ones who exist are celebrated and honoured. And, we are sure that this Women’s Day, these women founders of successful European startups will inspire others to also achieve big.
Corinne Vigreux, TomTom (Netherlands)
Corinne Vigreux and Peter Frans Pauwels co-founded the Dutch consumer electronics company TomTom in 1991. TomTom is known for its navigation cabinets fitted within cars and it focuses mainly on card and software development. This Dutch company provides one of the most expensive digital map databases across the world. And, it processes billions of data points on a daily basis in order to maintain as well as scale various products and services. TomTom attained the unicorn status in 2005 and is one of the dozen unicorns in the Netherlands.
Christina Maria Polleti, Cluno (Germany)
Munich-based Cluno was founded in 2017 by Christina Maria Polleti, Nico Polleti and Andreas Schuierer. It is called the Netflix of car subscriptions as this mobility startup makes the process much simpler. With Cluno, you can book a car online paying a fixed monthly cost including maintenance, registration, warranty, vehicle tax, wear and tear, etc. You will have to pay additionally only for refuelling the car.
Aude Guo, InnovaFeed (France)
Paris-based biotech startup InnovaFeed was founded by , Bastien Oggeri, Clement Ray and Guillaume Gras in 2016. It is one of the pioneers involved in the production of superior quality protein, oil and fertilizer from a new source. It uses insect rearing (Hermetia illucens) for animal feed and aquaculture. The company’s innovative insect rearing process is deployed on an industrial scale in order to resolve the strain on natural resources and the necessity for a more responsive and sustainable way. It provides natural and sustainable protein for the fish-farming sector at a competitive price, thereby contributing to its growth.
Wendy Bogers, Ligo (Netherlands)
Wendy Bogers founded Ligo, a legal services company in 2015 in Amsterdam. She was named No. 39 in the Forbes list of 100 Female Founders to Watch and won the Dutch Legal Challenge. It is an online platform for legal services and contract lifecycle management. The startup lets large organisations automatically generate, negotiate, manage and sign their contracts. Its mission is to change the legal market. Ligo offers legal documents, notarial services, and free phone consultation with lawyers and legal workflows. Wendy Bogers founded it in 2015, with its headquarters in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Aziza Chaouachi, Leavy (France)
Aziza Chaouachi cofounded the innovative travel tech marketplace Leavy along with Ben Romdhane and Mario Moinet in 2018. Leavy is one of the first travel communities and marketplaces that is aimed at making travel affordable. The company reinvents the way people spend for travel and hospitality with its community platform that lets members begin their getaway with 100% guaranteed cash, by taking care of listed homes, by sharing their space with visitors, etc.
Graciëlla van Vliet, Closure (Netherlands)
Graciëlla van Vliet and Chantal van der Velde started Closure in 2017 in Rotterdam. Closure is a service, which lets relatives cancel all the subscriptions, accounts and contracts of their loved ones after their demise. It foresees a day when everyone’s legacy in the private sector comes to an end automatically. This startup handles all subscriptions, accounts, and contracts for users and saves a lot of administrative work as well as ongoing costs.
Thalita van Ogtrop, The Next Closet (Netherlands)
Thalita van Ogtrop and Lieke Pijpers founded The Next Closet in 2013 in Amsterdam. This startup is a sustainable marketplace for used designer clothing. The company aims to make the fashion landscape more sustainable and used clothes common. The Next Closet’s mission is to change the textile industry by inspiring people to invest in quality and reuse what they already have. It aims to minimise the environmental harm caused by the textile industry.
Ida Tin, Clue (Germany)
Clue, a menstrual tracking app was founded by Hans Raffauf, Ida Tin, and Moritz von Buttlar in Germany in 2013. By creating a Clue account, you will get personal insights about the cycle. It lets you share your menstrual cycle with a partner or friend and the cycle tracking app is operational in 15 languages including Polish, Korean, Turkish and Hindi. You can learn about personal patterns with 30+ tracking options such as cramps, skin, hair, sleep and more to gain a better understanding of how your body works.
Kaidi Ruusalepp, Funderbeam (Estonia)
Estonian equity trading platform Funderbeam was established by Kaidi Ruusalepp and Urmas Peiker in 2013. The global funding and trading platform works with the mission to shake up traditional models of funding and trading of private companies. Funderbeam was the result of the necessity for a transparent and secure platform that will help companies get where they need to go and give private investors more control of their investments than ever before.
Mar Alarcon Batlle, Social Car (Spain)
Founded by Mar Alarcon Batlle in 2011, Barcelona-based Social Car is a hire service that lets private car owners rent their vehicles. Social Car is a pioneer peer-to-peer private car rental platform aimed at improving transportation options. It lets car owners to make money by renting out their vehicle when it is not in use. In addition to this, Social Car also lets drivers make a good deal by providing them with a flexible and sustainable car sharing or rental solution.
Main image picture credits: Clue
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