Diversity & Female Entrepreneurship

Anyone can start a business! – that is our guiding principle in the “Startup-Port” association, which we carry into the world with our offers and contributions. However, some tendencies can still be identified in the startup scene today that point to unequal opportunities. For example, women are still significantly underrepresented as founders of startups and are correspondingly less perceived by the public.

The reasons for this imbalance are complex. On this page, you will therefore find offers that are explicitly aimed at women as well as our positioning on diversity, with which we invite potential partners to network and develop synergies.

Discover the founding spirit in yourself and inspire others with your start-up story! We will be happy to support you.

Our attitude

As a university network, we see our contribution to strengthening diversity in the start-up ecosystem of the Hamburg metropolitan region in particular in tackling existing access barriers in a solution-oriented manner and making role models visible. Disadvantage thrives best where it is concealed or overlooked. With our offers, publications and official positioning, we therefore want to take action against such blind spots in start-up support and offer access to all those who have a desire to start up.

We represent a broad understanding of diversity and do not limit our concern to the consideration of only one specific category. In our public relations work and program design, we pay attention to diversity-sensitive communication and not only deal with the significance of gender or so-called migration background in the context of founding, but also, for example, with the professional diversity among founders.

Nevertheless, we have decided to set a focus in our internal strategy. The proportion of female founders in Germany remains low at 18% (source: German Startup Monitor 2021 – regional breakdown Hamburg). Even though we in Hamburg have been above the national average since last year and female founders make up 21% here (ibid.), this is a ratio that indicates an imbalance and signals an urgent need for action. Wherever women are underrepresented, their specific perspectives are neglected and much potential is lost that could benefit everyone in the form of innovations and economic and societal developments.

While reasons remain an individual decision, they must not be prevented by structural discrimination and stereotypical role models. For this reason, we are committed to strengthening female entrepreneurship and valuing social diversity with our work and networking power.

Für Gründungsinteressierte

Hier finden Sie unsere Angebote für Gründerinnen sowie aktuelle Veranstaltungen zu den Themen Gender und Diversität. Bei Fragen zu den Angeboten oder Anregungen können Sie sich an den zuständigen Kollegen Rafael Jancen wenden: rafael.jancen@haw-hamburg.de