If you think about gender equality and women-led European startups, there is still a lot of work to do. According to the European Commission, less than 15% of startups are founded or co-founded by women.
But there is good news: in 2021 the number of women-led startups has grown by 49%. Also, according to the European Investment Bank, women-led startups deliver higher investment returns compared to male-led.
There are several European women-led startups that deserve attention. In this article, we focus on five early-stage ones.
5 Women-led early-stage European startup
Bloom Money
Bloom Money provides an app that allows people to create their own Circles and invite their friends to build financial resilience together. Nina Mohanty, the Founder, wanted to create a social startup based on financial inclusion.
This startup believes in community empowerment. Bloom Money provides diaspora communities with a digital way to run their savings club. These savings clubs are often referred to academically as ROSCAs (rotating savings and credit associations), and they are called by many different names around the world.
Users can find circles based on what they need and their ability to make repayments every month. Compared to its competitors, Bloom, is completely cash-free so it is safer both to withdraw money and make payments.
Bloom Money app will launch shortly. If you wish to be one of the first to join the app you can register on Bloom’s webpage.
Your Juno
In 2020, two sisters – Alexia and Margot de Broglie – founded Your Juno, a financial education platform for women and non-binary people in Europe. Through an innovative app. Users are able to receive a personalized training path based on their goals and skills.
The aim is to reduce the gender gap in finance by offering courses about investing, retirement savings, or getting out of debt. Ultimately, Your Juno wants to rebuild confidence in this sector and allow more people to invest or set up retirement-saving strategies autonomously.
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Hormona
Launched in 2019 as an online community by Jasmine Tagesson and Karolina Löfqvist, Hormona is another women-led European startup. It uses data to target hormonal imbalances with innovative solutions. With the help of endocrinologists, nutritionists, and gynecologists, Hormona can help women decode their hormones and improve their well-being.
Through this startup, women can understand what is happening to their hormones daily and how this can affect their physical and mental status. Regularly, women can complete a home test to see their hormone levels. Furthermore, the startup is developing a polycystic ovary syndrome detection system and a section to support women through Menopause symptoms.
Kolibri
Amèlie Quilichini, founded Kolibri, in 2021. It is an early-stage biotech startup working on gene therapy. Gene therapy could help overcome global health challenges like cancer. However, because of insufficient bio-manufacturing techniques, which use biological systems such as cells to produce biomaterials, research is still limited.
Kolibri develops new bioreactors for large-scale cell engineering in Europe. Bioreactors are devices where living organisms synthesize substances. In particular, the team created bioreactors to handle mammalian cells. They use low-power and scalable acoustic waves to manipulate cells. Thus, they can increase cell production and reduce costs. Kolibri, through its technology, is transforming gene therapy by making it more efficient and cost-effective.
MicroHarvest
Global demand for protein is in the range of hundreds of million tonnes per year. However, this number is growing beyond what the current production systems can deliver. MicroHarvest, an early-stage biotech startup launched in 2021 by Bekers Katelijne, is on a mission to find sustainable protein solutions.
MicroHarvest claims that it can produce protein by using bacteria. It does so because the team found that bacteria are the world’s best protein factories since they grow fast and contain up to 70% protein. For this reason, they are more sustainable and efficient than animal or vegetable protein, which requires a lot of space to grow and depends on soil and climate quality.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by Impakter.com columnists are their own, not those of Impakter.com –In the Featured Photo: Alexia and Margot de Broglie Co-founders of Your Juno. Photo credit: Your Juno.
