FEM-START

FEM-START describes itself as the platform for female entrepreneurs with growth ambition who want to understand whether, when and how capital fits their next step. It says it is not itself a lender, a fund or an investor: it works with banks, governments, regional development agencies, investors and experts to make the route to capital more understandable and accessible. Its work takes two forms. Events, including the regional Capital Booster sessions, are short introductions to what external capital can and cannot do for a business, which financing forms exist and who to approach in that region. Its programme runs over five practical modules and takes a founder from growth ambition to a plan a financier can assess: a sharpened customer and value proposition, evidence of demand and commercial potential, a growth plan, an understanding of which financing forms fit the business and its stage, a concrete funding need and funding roadmap, and a pitch. Participants get direct feedback from financiers and experts, access to legal and tax expertise through its partners, and a regional network of other founders. FEM-START says its involvement does not stop at the last module: depending on the founder stage and financing question it arranges introductions to financiers, experts and partners. Editions run in several Dutch regions under the programme names FEM-START Capital Ready, FEM-START Growth and FEM-START Next Level, including at least one English-language edition, and the regional editions carry the same five-module structure.

• Education on financing forms and when external capital fits a growth stage (opens in a new tab)
• Business-case and growth-plan work, including proposition and evidence of demand (opens in a new tab)
• Funding strategy and a concrete funding roadmap (opens in a new tab)
• Pitch development and practice with funding conversations, with feedback from financiers (opens in a new tab)
• Access to a network of founders, experts and financiers, and introductions after the programme (opens in a new tab)

  FEM-START names banks, governments, regional development agencies, investors and expert partners among the parties it works with.

• FEM-START Capital Ready (opens in a new tab)

  The five-module programme that takes a founder from growth ambition to a fundable plan: proposition, evidence of demand, growth plan, suitable financing forms, funding need and roadmap, and a pitch. Regional editions also run under the names FEM-START Growth and FEM-START Next Level, with the same five-module structure.

• Capital Booster (opens in a new tab)

  A short regional event that introduces growth financing: when external capital can accelerate growth, the advantages and disadvantages of the different financing forms, and which financiers are active in that region. An introduction, not the five-module programme.