One of the goals of the German government's start-up strategy is to strengthen female start-up founders and diversity. At 25 percent, the existing funding statistics show that the proportion of female founders is higher than the national average and has been on the rise in recent years in particular. The commitment of the start-up networks with their wide range of services to raise awareness among women and to promote and network female founders has also contributed to this positive development.

New funding line

With the continuation of exist Women, the federal government is sending a clear signal. The exist Women funding line includes events, advice and support services as well as a financial grant for prospective female founders. Universities and research institutions whose start-up network has established or is planning to establish advisory services for female founders and would like to conclude scholarship agreements with female founders are eligible to apply. Applications for the new existing Women Round 2026 can be submitted from 01.09.2025. The submission deadline is 30.09.2025.

Exchange formats

The exist team would also like to offer suggestions and the opportunity to exchange experiences outside of the exist workshops on the topic of supporting female founders. We therefore cordially invite all start-up networks of German universities and research institutions to share their formats and be inspired by the wide range of offers.

To this end, PtJ was commissioned by the BMWE to produce the survey "Survey of good practice measures in the field of women entrepreneurship", which you can download here. here can achieve. The results and processed information are compiled in a continuously updated table, which you can download here.

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