Women own 12.3 million businesses in the US alone. Sadly, the business climate still largely favors men. Here’s a somber statistic. In December of 2020, women lost 156,000 jobs, compared to the 16,000 jobs men lost. Spot the difference yet?

Well, Lisa Marrie Fassl and Nina Woss surely did and decided to step up to the plate, and give women in businesses their deserving roles. Now, every woman in need has a female empowerment community to rely on - Female Founders.

At Female Founders, female entrepreneurs get the support, help and mentorship by the great female leaders. The platform leaves nothing to chance - it takes over and directly connects female inventors and leaders with investors. Essentially, Female Founders stand behind women, when no one else does.

Read on to learn how Nina and Lisa’s Female Founders mission unites intelligent and entrepreneurial women who craved for their spot in the business world.

Girls Who Dream Become Women with Vision

Lisa-Marrie Fassl was born and raised in Austria. Growing up, Lisa boasted exceptional energy and loved spending time with friends. Every child has such enthusiasm but Lisa has had it in her since birth. As a teenager, she dreamed of becoming someone who mattered, someone who could make a drastic change. During adolescence, besides being the teenager that parties and wastes time, Lisa dove deep into business books, and it all began falling into place from there.

Nina Woss also was born and raised in Austria. Nina has been a true artist at heart since she was a child. No, not a conventional artist as one might imagine. From her earliest years, Nina loved the smell of books and the power of knowledge. Though super-young, she never once questioned her abilities and found female discrimination an unacceptable concept. As a teenager, she intensively researched the subject of feminism and female leaders. Before attending University, Nina had already grown into a strong and independent woman. She was yet to become a strong business leader.

Becoming Women of the Century

The early twenties are one of the main crossroads in life. Lisa’s twenties, however, were all about making it big. Lisa studied Business Administration at Karl-Franzens University and from the get-go, she knew she was going to become a consultant. Right after graduation, Lisa rushed to enroll in the respective Master’s program, and obtained her degree in 2014.

The first job she got after graduating was organizing a startup event. During this event, besides meeting countless outstanding entrepreneurs, Lisa caught the light of the entrepreneurial spirit. This drove her to become a Local Representative and become a co-founder of her first business baby, called the Kitchen Startup. Driven by the response on her first platform, Lisa aimed for her second project, Female Founders.

Conquering a Man's World

Lisa met her company co-founder, Nina, back at college. Nina initially studied Business Administration in Vienna. Finishing her undergraduate studies in 2011, Nina next enrolled in the Master’s program Lisa attended as well. In the meantime, Nina tackled various assignments from her side studies at the Universitas Gadjah Mada. During her master’s studies, Nina also was a trainee at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. In 2009, Nina enrolled at Bentley College in Massachusetts. Nina completely gave herself to the business mold and returned as a new person. In 2016, the founders did research on the main challenges female entrepreneurs faced in Austria. The results were surprising, to say the least. It’s not that female entrepreneurs lacked professional skills, but they did miss confidence and support. Another research showed them that female leaders, especially those from smaller towns, were unable to fulfill their dream because they couldn’t land investors.

Nina and Lisa could not let the case rest. Their initial plan was to create a powerful network of investors, founders - all female, all ready to tackle the manly business sphere.

From Women, for Women

Female Founders was officially launched in Vienna, Austria, in 2016. Nina and Lisa alongside their friends and mentors built a powerful European entrepreneurial haven where women could thrive.

Female Founders is a society initiative designed by women to provide other women leaders to turn their business goals to reality. The program tools include mentorships from female industry experts, support from master tutors, and access to European early-stage investors. The tools are available only for innovative startups led by women, or startups with at least one equal-right woman on their board. Female Founders warmly welcome diligent teams who are ready to score investors. The founders arrange meetings and social events to introduce the female leaders to the business.

The founders assure women who join abroad their train that they will have fun, learn along the way and put their best foot forward business-wise. The company doesn’t just aim at finding female leaders a job and getting their name out there. It also ensures that each woman will get to learn, adapt and overcome, and ultimately see her business vision come to life! The company works with over 20,000 women across Europe weekly. Suffice to say, their progress is more than evident, and their cause - even more valuable.

Troubles Strikes

A couple of years later, after the company saw some progress, it faced a lethal threat to the business. The COVID-19 pandemic has just been declared.

At first, the Female Founders team worked from home, before the situation worsened and travel restrictions were imposed. Female Founders' programs have always been meant to take place in person. Even so, getting adjusted to remote working was the only option left. In the beginning, the founders struggled to make ends meet, given the chaos, and noted great differences in their live and online programs. After all, not everything can be explained or digitized online.

But, the team also believed that lemons make lemonade, so they put in their best efforts to keep business afloat and their clientele engaged and inspired. Instead of giving up, the team began arranging meetings featuring more female founders and mentors. Whilst it grew in womanpower and hires, the company reduced its travel costs to zero.

Once the storm passed and they found their footing, the company became even more recognized and beloved among female leaders.

The Future is Female

Female Founders note that their success is only the beginning in creating a better future for every woman. The Female Founders have instilled a policy that demands responsibility, fearlessness, respect, and patience towards every woman. But, most importantly, it aims to teach all women how to be confident with who they are.

With these values in mind, and the confidence of their previous achievements, the Female Founders aim to become a global femi-entrepreneurial network. They aim to expand their team further as well. This way, more female potential can reach the business heights they had envisioned.

Company Profile and Plans

Female Founders is located in Vienna, Austria. However, as they aim to connect women from Europe, the company decided to send ambassadors throughout Europe and Scandinavia. So now their mission is officially spread in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, and many more. Currently, this femi-team counts twelve people who tirelessly work on the improvements of the company.

It took quality, vision, and innovation for Female Founders to throw all gender-business stereotypes out of the window. With it, the platform set a high standard for both themselves and others.

They ultimately opened the horizons so more business women could spread their entrepreneurial wings - not at all as ‘women in business’ but as businesswomen!