Women Who Build Europe: European Female Founders Summit

​European Female Founders, in collaboration with HERFUND and Scale'Her are organizing Women Who Build Europe Summit on 17 March 2026. A day full of inspiration, connecting founders, investors, and EU policymakers to talk women-led innovation, scale-ups, access to finance, and Europe’s competitiveness. In addition, this is the closing event of the HerFund project and the launching of the SCALE’HER competition. Ending the Summit with the very first European Female Founders Awards.

​The preliminary agenda is as follows:

​Part 1 Conference
Venue: Renaissance Hotel Brussels

​08:30 – 09:15 | Registration & Welcome Coffee Networking among founders, policymakers, investors, ecosystem leaders, and youth representatives.
09:15 – 09:30 | Opening Remarks Setting the strategic context: why women-led entrepreneurship is central to Europe’s competitiveness, resilience, and future growth. 09:30 – 09:50 Keynote Address
09:50 – 10:00 European Female Founders Introduction
10:00 – 10:10 HERFUND Introduction
10:10 – 10:40 Strategic Conversation: Invest in the Future HERFUND / EFF / Scale'Her representatives
10:40 – 10:50 Coffee Break
10:50 – 11:05 Youth Empowerment Keynote The Next Generation of Women Innovators Focus on entrepreneurial pathways, skills, confidence, and access to opportunity for young women.
11:05 – 11:45 Panel Session Building Powerful Networks & Mentorship Ecosystems Strengthening cross-border mentorship, public-private partnerships, and support systems for women founders.
11:45 – 12:15 STREAM IT Workshop
12:15 – 12:30 Design Thinking Session How Can We Make Europe More Inclusive for Female Founders?
12:30 – 12:45 Call to Action Announcement Closing the Gender Gap in Investment for Female Founders
13:00 – 14:00 Networking Lunch (Location to be confirmed)

​Part 2 European Parliament Reception

​15:00 – 15:10 Welcome
15:10 – 15:25 Opening Keynote Accelerating Women-Led Innovation in Europe Europe’s innovation gap, growth strategy, and aligning competitiveness with inclusion.
15:25 – 16:00 High-Level Policy Panel EU Startup & Scaleup Strategy: What It Means for Women Founders Discussion on the 28th regime, cross-border scaling, regulatory simplification, and equitable access to EU reforms.
16:00 – 16:30 Fireside Chat Inclusive Entrepreneurship as an Engine for Growth How inclusion drives productivity, innovation, and long-term competitiveness.
16:30 – 16:45 Coffee Break
16:45 – 17:15 Impact & Innovation Showcase Women-Led Projects Changing Europe Featuring high-impact ventures driving environmental, social, and economic transformation. 17:15 – 17:30 ScaleHer Competition Launch
17:30 – 17:50 From Failure to Success
17:50 – 18:00 European Female Founders Awards Ceremony Celebrating scalable, inclusive, and transformative women-led ventures.
18:00 – 18:05 Closing Reflections From Recognition to Action: Scaling Women-Led Innovation Across Europe
18:05 – 21:00 Networking Reception & Cocktail, Announcement of Call to Action and MoU signature (HERFUND/EFF).
Open Mic: Investors & Entrepreneurs.

NB! This is a preliminary agenda and it is a subject of change.
NB! Please note, as part of the event is hosted at the European Parliament, additional information including date of birth, nationality and ID will be collected. Your data will only be used for the access to the European Parliament building.