EIT Urban Mobility seeks a partner organisation (gold or silver) with expertise in active mobility, community change and community initiatives that empower local residents.

The organisation will support a programme testing new mechanisms to engage with local citizens (women) in active mobility.

As this is the first time running this programme, the activities will include the development of the overall programme of activities, conducting outreach and dissemination activities, coordinating the different actors and conducting the final evaluation of the programme. The activities will be conducted in close partnership with EIT Urban Mobility, with both actors co-designing and co-implementing the programme together.

All information can be found in the Expression of Interest document

All applicants have to complete this application form

Deadline for submissions: 13 June 2022 at 9:00 CEST

Women2Invest aims at helping women start their careers in venture investment, both through training and access to funds. At the same time, it gives investors access to a group of promising women with technical background that will add diversity to their investment teams.

Women2Invest is an access and training activity aimed at helping women with STEAM university studies and no or little knowledge of investment become familiar with the fundamentals of venture capital. The training part of the activity includes a combination of masterclasses, practitioners experience, simulation of investment processes and practical work.

The ultimate goal is providing participants with a paid internship or job in a venture capital fund, a corporate venture capital fund or a corporate venturing unit. Participants will also have the opportunity to build a network of future colleagues, top-notch practitioners and key players in the venture industry. The activity is powered by Diversity VC Iberia and will run online for 8 weeks starting in mid-October 2022.

Women2Invest is looking for participants with these characteristics:

• Recent graduates and young professionals from STEAM careers:
  • Up to 7 years after completing undergraduate & master studies
  • Up to 2 years after completing PhDs
• Holding a passport from either one of the 27 EU member states or the eligible associate countries
• Fluent in English
• With genuine interest in the venture capital industry / investment in startups

The call for applicants is now open until 30 June 2022 and can be accessed here. More details can be found in the terms and conditions.

Women2Invest is part of the Supernovas programme of EIT Urban Mobility, EIT Manufacturing and EIT Food, which has the ultimate goal of increasing the presence and role of women in the EU entrepreneurship ecosystem.

In case of any questions or inquiries, please contact Ana Alcaine at ana.alcaine@eitfood.edu

We welcome Supernovas, the new programme that thrives for an entrepreneurial ecosystem with more women!

Supernovas is EIT Urban Mobility’s new programme that, along with EIT Manufacturing and EIT Food, has the ultimate goal of increasing the presence and role of women in the EU entrepreneurship ecosystem. Participants in this programme will have access to financial support, training and networking opportunities.

This initiative has been carefully designed to tackle the existent gender-gap and reaching a balance amongst the key pieces of the ecosystem. To do so, we have built a set of activities to unleash the female potential by identifying groups of women of different ages, backgrounds and aspirations, and supporting them with specific initiatives to enter and scale positions in the ecosystem.

The programme is included within the Strategic Synergies Cross-KIC cluster, which has been created by EIT to support the EU’s mission to build a healthy, sustainable and inclusive Europe.

Interested in joining? Check all the information related to the activities and open calls here.

As part of Supernovas, the Rocket-up programme has opened a call for female-led startups to support their access to new European regions. Ten startups will be selected to participate in the activities, which will promote international outreach and sales to the most innovative ventures. The deadline for the call is 19 June 2022.

Gender balance in the entrepreneurial ecosystem has been historically poor with male founders accounting for most successful international companies. Accessing new markets can be more difficult for women due to normally having fewer connections. Through activities like Rocket-up we support ventures to achieve growth, as part of our compromise to reach gender balance in the European startup ecosystem.

Rocket-up is a 3-month programme that supports women-led startups in accessing a new country or region by connecting them with experts and networking opportunities all around Europe. We seek mature startups based in the EU or EU related countries, that add to the Sustainable Development Goals and address challenges related with EIT Urban Mobility, EIT Manufacturing or EIT Food focus areas.

The programme offers:

• Internationalisation squad: Tailored and individual mentoring with three handpicked local experts for a new market entry
• Organised mission: Introductions with potential stakeholders of the preferred target city
• Online group events: Four online events with training activities, successful female entrepreneurs as speakers and opportunities for networking and connection with other entrepreneurial women.
• EIT pan-European network: Access to the EIT network (including European cities, industries partners, investors) and financial opportunities
• Visibility: More visibility of the startups through EIT communication channels as an EIT Community supported venture

The programme is held inside Supernovas, a project of EIT Food, EIT Urban Mobility and EIT Manufacturing, that aspires to promote a more gender balance entrepreneurial ecosystem. Applications are done via AwardsForce.

Are you a female founder of an urban mobility startup? Did you know that of the €3.2 billion of venture capital (VC) invested in the Nordic countries 6% went to mixed gender founded teams, and only 1% to founding teams made up entirely of women? And these numbers are not new, they have been this low for years. Through years of experience, the founders of Position99 know that female founders are out there, they want to raise capital, and have an enormous potential to help solve our societal challenges. 

Aiming to be the reference in the market for supporting and funding gender-balanced startups, EIT Urban Mobility has recently partnered up with Position99, to identify 99 female founders in urban mobility in the Nordics and help them get access to venture capital through increased visibility and match making. 

Over the next months, EIT Urban Mobility and Position99 will give several workshops in Sweden, Denmark, and Estonia to bring more awareness about the topic and to introduce the list of 99 female founders. Follow our journey via https://www.linkedin.com/company/eit-urban-mobility  Become part of the list and apply via https://www.position99.com/en 

“Research show that female founders are perceived differently, and that the VC-world is full of outdated cultures and norms. It is also a question of communication and investors seldom have the time or will to change their own perspectives. This is unfortunate since it is our firm belief that without a gender diverse innovation scene, we will not be able to solve the climate crisis”. Something which got confirmed by the theme of the United Nations Observance of International Women’s Day 2022: “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow”. 

Anna Branten, initiator of Position 99

During the last two years, EIT Urban Mobility has made gender-balance a key objective when selecting startups to invest in. Since this active focus, the number of female-led ventures in the EIT Urban Mobility portfolio has grown from 16% to 27%. At the same time, the share of gender-balanced startup investments has improved from 28% to 52%. 

“With this partnership we are taking the next step to give female founded startups better chances to receive funding. More than half of our investments last year were in gender-balanced startups. Although good, this is not enough, and initiatives like this will lead the way to changing the investment scene by improving visibility for female founders and the deal flow for investors“. 

Fredrik Hanell, Business Creation Director at EIT Urban Mobility

Women in Urban Mobility is a joint project of UnternehmerTUM, Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya, Carnet Barcelona, and Junior Achievement Bulgaria, supported by EIT Urban Mobility.

Aiming to empower women to become active shapers of future urban mobility, the project was awarded as best practice example in the category “Networks” at the “gerecht mobil” competition.

The three European cities – Barcelona, Sofia, and Munich – come together to contribute their knowledge to a more gender-diverse perspective to urban mobility.

With passion and combined forces, the project strives to empower women to take entrepreneurial action; encourage companies, cities, and governments to promote gender equality; and to foster creative exchange on the innovation process in urban mobility with female perspectives to increase social inclusion and shape the future of mobility for everyone.