Project progression at exist Women

The funded women receive workplaces at the applicant institution (e.g. in start-up centers, libraries, etc.) as well as the opportunity to use the infrastructure, take part in support and training measures offered both centrally and decentrally by the local start-up network, network with other women in the existing women cohort and regularly exchange ideas with an entrepreneurial mentor with start-up experience. Together with coaches and supporters, the future founders validate their start-up idea, develop a suitable business model and draw up a roadmap for the next steps towards self-employment. This also includes the search for co-founders and questions about follow-up financing, e.g. via a start-up support program such as the exist Start-up grant or exist Research transfer.

Overview of the timeline:

month	Event
0	exist Women Monitoring questionnaire (at the beginning of the funding)
2	Naming the prospective female founders and their mentors
3-5	Seminar founder
1-9	Female Founders Forum
9	Project completion (submission of the founders' "brief descriptions of the start-up idea" (one-pager) and the "evaluation of the measures")
9, 24, 48, 72	exist Women Monitoring questionnaire (after the end of funding)

Participant questionnaire for European Social Fund (ESF) projects

The questionnaire is used to collect data on participants in European Social Fund (ESF) projects. Your information is used by the program managers to meet the reporting requirements within the framework of the legal requirements and to check whether the implementation of the projects complies with the requirements. Therefore, please answer the questions carefully. Your data will only be processed anonymously and will not be used for personal evaluations. You will need about 5-10 minutes to complete the questionnaire.

Note: On the Website of the European Social Fund you can use the anonymous online contact form to report suspected cases of fraud or corruption. You can find more information on the topic of fraud and corruption prevention here.

Monitoring and evaluation of the ESF intervention period 2014-2020 by the Survey Center Bonn (uzbonn)

In order to receive funding, the participants confirm a declaration of consent to the recording of their personal data and complete the ESF questionnaire. The European Union, which has provided money for the support, would like to know what has happened to the people after the funding has ended. The data is needed to determine whether the money is spent on useful measures and whether the support was successful and helped people. In order to know whether the support was also successful in the longer term, some of the participants are now being asked again about their professional situation. To this end, the participants will receive an invitation to take part in the survey by text message or e-mail. The Bonn survey center - uzbonn - was commissioned to conduct the survey. The participants selected for the survey will receive the name and contact details of a contact person at uzbonn to whom they can address their questions. Further information on the evaluation can be found on the ESF pages to find.

EXIST monitoring

On behalf of the BMWK, Project Management Jülich (PtJ) conducts surveys of all start-up projects and companies founded with EXIST funding.

The BMWK and PtJ are pursuing three basic objectives with the repeated survey of funded start-up teams at different times:

• Firstly, the data will be used to draw conclusions about the achievement of objectives and the effectiveness of the EXIST program.
• Secondly, developments from the beginning to the end of the funding phase and beyond are to be recorded and traced.
• Thirdly, the information collected forms a basis for managing and improving the funding program.
  

Participation in the data surveys up to five years after the end of the project is mandatory for all funded start-up teams.

Personal data protection:

Data is processed in accordance with the Federal Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (legal basis Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR). Collected data will be used exclusively for the purposes of the PtJ's internal program monitoring or - in anonymized form - provided for external evaluations or accompanying research on behalf of the BMWK. They are not made accessible to the public or other third parties.

Further information (according to Art. 13 GDPR) can be found here: Information obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) towards participants in the EXIST start-up grant

Use of material resources:

exist Women supports each sponsored founder with 2,000 euros in material resources. No coaching and material resources plan has to be submitted to the project sponsor for this. Instead, the funds are made available to the universities as a lump sum. The aim is the personal qualification of the founder and preparation for further start-up activities. The start-up network (possibly with the involvement of the mentor) works with the prospective founder to define her individual roadmap with milestones for the duration of the project and plans the use of the material resources accordingly. The funds can be used for the following purposes, for example:

• Technical devices
• Material for prototypes
• Travel expenses
• Participation fees for events
• Additional coaching

"Seminar founder"

exist Women includes participation in the centrally organized seminar "Female Founder" with approx. 20-25 participants. The 1.5 days in presence in Munich or Berlin are followed by a 2-hour online follow-up meeting after 3 months. On the one hand, this promotes networking among the sponsored women in a protected environment; on the other hand, the women should become aware of their existing entrepreneurial soft skills, strengthen them and recognize their potential. The seminar is not a selection process, but is intended to specifically support the development of the women's entrepreneurial mindset.

+ When will I receive an invitation to the seminar?
Within the first three months after the start of support from exist Women, the founders receive an invitation to take part in the seminar.

"Female Founders Forum"

During the 12-month qualification phase, the prospective female founders take part in the centrally offered "Female Founders Forum" 1-2 times. Here, up to 200 participants meet in Berlin to gain entrepreneurial qualifications and expand their network with each other and with female founder role models. Typical topics of the event include strategic networking, financing and approaching investors as well as business models for ecologically or socially sustainable start-ups.

Meeting of existing women universities and research institutions

The universities and research institutions funded via exist Women meet once or twice a year as part of the exist workshops in their own format. The funded institutions support each other in transferring particularly successful measures for supporting female founders to other locations. In addition, online workshops are held to exchange ideas on the topic of female entrepreneurship.

Project completion

12 months after the start of the funding period, the funded institutions send the founders a "brief description of the start-up idea" (one-pager), in which the start-up ideas are presented briefly and concisely.

In addition, the funded institution submits an "evaluation of the measures" for supporting female founders. This briefly lists which measures to support female founders were carried out at the institution, how often, to what extent and with how many participants. It also takes stock: What content and formats have proved successful, and where should the concept be adapted? The start-up networks communicate particularly successful measures via the survey "Good practice measures for female founders". Furthermore, the funded institutions can make suggestions on how the funding measure exist Women can be further developed after the end of the model phase.