The Impact Pitch is a central component of the funding program. The jury evaluated not only the business ideas but also the participants’ entrepreneurial development, their motivation, and their potential to successfully implement their projects.
A cross-university jury decided on the awarding of the full scholarships. The jury included Professor Dr. Daniel Hunold from TH OWL, Carina Fobbe from garage33 at the University of Paderborn, and Theresa Nerlich from the Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE) at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences.
Lale Karatay, Yvonne Naava, Celina Ronneburg, Miriam Plöger, and Regina Graf have each received a full scholarship. All ten female founders will remain part of the support program and continue their startup journey together. The Impact Pitch thus marks not the conclusion, but the transition to the next phase of support.
The focus is now on individual mentoring. Experienced entrepreneurs and experts from the business and innovation sectors will support the participants over the coming months.
Marcel Banmann, Emel Tumay, Eckard Bicker, Constanze Obst, Dr. Ina Nordsiek, Eduard Bergmann, Victoria Birgel, Dr. Stephanie Rabbe, Britta Schattenberg, and Andrea Jaschke will support the founders with personalized coaching, strategic feedback, and their entrepreneurial expertise. Together, they will further develop business models, reflect on challenges, and prepare the next steps on the path to launching their startups. At the same time, the mentoring program opens up new perspectives, valuable contacts, and practical experience for the participants.
Campus Foundery OWL, the startup center at TH OWL, is leading the implementation of the support program. Together with its partners garage33 and the CFE, it supports women from their initial startup idea through to the launch of their business.
Workshops, individual coaching, mentoring, and cross-university networks lay the groundwork for more science- and knowledge-based startups founded by women in Ostwestfalen-Lippe.
The Impact Pitch marks the start of the next phase for the participants. The five full-scholarship recipients will continue to develop their projects with additional financial support. All ten female founders benefit from the program’s mentoring and networks. In this way, exist Women OWL provides long-term support to women on their path to entrepreneurial independence.
The exist Women OWL support program is funded as part of EXIST – Women by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the European Social Fund Plus.
