Unsurprisingly, there are fewer women at the head of startups, unicorns and scale-ups. Obstacles, difficulties in raising funds… The reasons to explain this phenomenon are numerous. Who are the female founders of the NEXT40 and FT120 startups? Business Cool draws their portrait!
Why are there fewer women in entrepreneurship?
Women are entrepreneurs like any other. Well… almost! Indeed, the latter face many obstacles that men rarely encounter. The first is related to education and training. Indeed, many women put on psychological brakes and head towards engineering courses, for example. They have much less of a role model and are less pushed by teachers, throughout their schooling, to take action. The presence of female role models promotes ambition and self-confidence.
Gender discrimination is also numerous and entrepreneurship is a path strewn with pitfalls for women who are not always taken seriously by investors or potential partners. Sometimes, as in the world of work, the unfounded fear that they will become pregnant and abandon their business can cause some investors to be reluctant.
Listen : Élodie Abecassis (I MAKE): The place of women in entrepreneurship
NEXT40 startup founders
Aude Guo, co-founder of Innovafeed
Innovafeed is a startup specializing in biotechnology and the food of tomorrow. It is at the origin of a breeding of insects which are intended to be found in animal and plant food. The startup was co-founded by Aude Guo in 2016. After a stint at the École des Ponts ParisTech and the College of Engineers, she worked at Safran, then at McKinsey, for almost four years.
Vanessa Fara Rabesandratana, co-founder of Ledger
Ledger is a well-known startup operating in the world of cryptocurrencies. It offers a secure wallet to store all its Bitcoins and other Ether. This scale-up was co-founded by Vanessa Fara Rabesandratana and Éric Larchevêque in 2014. Vanessa Fara Rabesandratana trained at the University of Paris-1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. She worked notably at Coinhouse and as a music journalist at La Terrasse, a position she still holds today. In 2020, she created Le Center, a place that allows you to experience the performing arts in virtual reality or in real life.
Éléonore Crespo, co-CEO and co-founder of Pigment
As its name does not indicate, Pigment specializes in financial management. It was co-founded by Éléonore Crespo and Romain Nicolas in 2019. Today co-CEO of Pigment, Éléonore trained at ENS and Mines Paris-PSL. She is on the board of several startups, such as Spendesk and Alan. She also has a strong background in financial analysis and worked for over three years at Google in London.
Sophie Hersan & Fanny Moizant, co-founders of Vestiaire Collective
Collective locker room offers sales of high-end and luxury clothing. The advantage? You can buy, in the same place, accessories and fashion pieces from the biggest designers, like Vuitton or Moncler. The startup was co-founded by Sophie Hersan and Fanny Moizant.
Sophier Hersan graduated from a business school and was involved from the start, in 2009, in the development of Vestiaire Collective as Supply & Quality Director. Today, she is Fashion Director.
For her part, Fanny Moizant is president of Vestiaire Collective. She graduated from NEOMA and trained at the Institut Français de la Mode. Between 2018 and 2021, she was also on the board of SMCP (Sandro, Maje Claudie Pierlot, De Fursac).
Sandra Françonnet, co-founder and CEO of SAFTI
If you are looking to buy or rent an apartment, you may go through SAFTIa PropTech created in 2010 and co-founded by Sandra Françonnet, today general director of the scale-up. Sandra Françonnet trained at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne before completing a master’s degree in HR at the University of Lille. She also earned an MBA from TBS Education. For more than seven years, she held the position of CEO of Merci+, a group specializing in personal services, before creating SAFTI.
FT120 startup founders
Laure Cohen, co-CEO and co-founder of CertiDeal
CertiDeal offers reconditioned products and specializes in electronics: smartphones, computers, tablets, etc. The startup was co-founded in 2015 by Laure Cohen, a graduate of Paris-Dauphine University. She worked in the world of banking, within SG, before starting to invest in the world of startups. In particular, she founded Cleanco, in 2007, a startup which offered a new dry cleaning service for CSP+.
Rachel Delacour, CEO and co-founder of Sweep
sweep supports the ecological transition of companies and helps them reduce their carbon emissions. It was co-founded in 2020 by Rachel Delacour, who is the current CEO of the startup. Rachel Delacour trained at KEDGE Business School. His journey is marked by entrepreneurship. In 2009, she created BIME Analytics, a startup which was acquired at the end of 2015 by Zendesk.
Emmanuelle Fauchier-Magna & Quitterie Mathelin-Moreaux, co-founders of Skello
If you are disorganized or if you feel that your teams are unable to follow their schedule, Skello is the startup you need! It was founded in 2016 by Emmanuelle Fauchier-Magna and Quitterie Mathelin-Moreaux. The first graduated from HEC Paris and spent three months in entrepreneurship at school 42. She worked in France and the United States, at Paul Hastings, then Turo and Serena Capital, before creating Skello, startup of which she is COO today.
For its part, Quitterie Mathelin-Moreaux trained at ESCP after spending two years in prep school in Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague. She also attended a Le Wagon bootcamp, in parallel with the launch of Skello. Today, she is CEO of the startup.
Véra Kempf, CEO and co-founder of Singulart
Singulart is a virtual art gallery which offers buyers access to a large number of pieces and artists the opportunity to showcase their works to potential collectors. It was co-founded by Véra Kempf who is CEO of the startup. A graduate of Sciences Po in 2014, she has led several projects, such as Carré Paris, a project in the world of pastry.
Maria Pereira, co-founder and CIO of Tissium
Maria Pereira is co-founder of Tissium and current CIO of the startup (Chief Innovation Officer). She graduated from Coimbra, MIT and INSEAD. She is also part of the prestigious Forbes 30Under30 ranking. Tissium works for the future of human tissue reconstruction using programmable polymers.
Isabelle Rivière, co-founder of Mnemo Therapeutics
Mnemo Therapeutics is a Biotech that operates in the world of oncology, that is to say the treatment against cancer. Founded in 1998 by Isabelle Rivière, this startup is investing in a field in which many startups, such as Moderna, are positioning themselves. Isabelle Rivière graduated from Paris-Sud University where she obtained a PhD in immunotherapy and cellular engineering.
Cécile Roederer, CEO and co-founder of Smallable
Smallable is a digital store which is aimed at all members of the same family, as well as teenagers, children, young adults or parents. The startup was founded in 2008 by Cécile Roederer who is the CEO. The latter graduated with a DESS in Marketing from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. She has solid experience in the world of clothing and leather goods, having worked for three years at DIM and four years at Lancel.
Juliette Vogler, co-founder of Okamac
Refurbished goods are on the rise! Okamac offers reconditioned products specializing in Apple computers: iMac, Macbook Air or Macbook Pro, Mac Mini… The startup was co-founded by Juliette Vogler in 2016. This graduate of Paris-Panthéon-Assas University created around Okamac , a committed group called Sens Technologies.
