Energ news

The market isn’t short on capital or ideas. It’s short on perspective. At the European Female Founders & Investors Summit, I argued that underfunding female founders isn’t just a moral debate—it’s a macroeconomic blind spot. Women build resilient companies, manage resources efficiently, and consistently outperform expectations, yet receive a fraction of available venture capital. That’s not a pipeline problem. It’s a bias problem—and a missed arbitrage opportunity. The real alpha lies where others still hesitate to look. Female founders are not a niche; they are shaping the next wave of returns across ClimateTech, Digital Health, and beyond. If you’re curating a conference and want a sharp, ROI-driven perspective on where real value is being created, let’s talk.

In 2025, Innovation Week Prague was about bold female founders, sharp ideas, and one tough jury decision. I had the privilege of serving as a jury member at the Female Startupist Competition and hosting my workshop “Mature Minds. Young Hearts.” Reviewing 25 ventures was a powerful reminder: innovation is never just about the idea—it’s about the founder, the problem, and the discipline to scale.

The funding gap for female-led ventures isn’t just a fairness issue. It’s a capital allocation problem — and a massive missed opportunity.

In this keynote, business angel and founder-first investor Gerd Bommer breaks down how funding decisions are really made. What are investor meetings actually testing? Which signals create conviction? And why do strong ventures still fail to convert interest into investment?