StrongHer is the business training programme for women entrepreneurs who want to focus on digitising their business. The project stems from the need to accompany female-led enterprises in their development path, which are continuously growing on the market, as the latest Unioncameres data show, according to which there are 1.325 million of them (22.2% of the total national production fabric). A path that not infrequently confronts female entrepreneurs with additional challenges such as limited access to financing, the persistence of gender stereotypes, and the difficulty of reconciling work and family.
“This year,” Mariano Spalletti (pictured), managing director of Qonto for Italy, which is organising the programme for the third year, comments in a note, “we decided to renew the StrongHer project, expanding its impact in favour of female entrepreneurship with three-day learning sessions, quarterly workshops, and mentorships in collaboration with strategic partners, to provide them with all the tools they need to grow their businesses. Our goal is to promote success stories while fostering networking opportunities, providing educational resources and promoting gender equality. An initiative that concretely demonstrates our commitment to bridging the gender gap in the world of entrepreneurship and positioning ourselves alongside female entrepreneurs in this mission, with the aim of increasingly meeting their needs and confirming our market leadership”.
The selections for female entrepreneurs and freelancers who have already launched or are about to launch their own business are open until 16 February and are aimed at those who wish to pursue a path of growth in their business, focusing above all on digitalisation. In March, the StrongHer Night will be held to announce the participants and officially kick off the project, which this year includes two days of business training for 40 selected female entrepreneurs, as well as a series of informal networking meetings and several master classes with specialised mentors that will be held until November and, for the first time, will also be open to the public.
The third edition of StrongHer follows the large number of registrations in previous years, which saw the involvement of more than 60 women entrepreneurs, who were able to attend free training sessions held by mentors specialised in digital innovation topics, such as digital marketing, financial and accounting management, and e-commerce creation. In addition, selected participants were involved in one-to-one meetings with mentors and networking events, becoming part of an active community supporting women doing business in Italy.
The StrongHer project counts on the collaboration of Cofoundry as main partner, and Latuta, Bugnion, B Heroes, Bridge for Billions, B4I, Glow, Grls, Hi!Founders, I3P, InnovUp, LifeGate Way, SheTech, SocialFare, Sprintaly Lab, Startup Geeks, Vento, Terziario Donna di Confcommercio Milano, Lodi, Monza e Brianza, The Ideas Lab, YoRoom, Zest Group and 360 Capital as partners.
“Cofoundry is proud to be the main sponsor of StrongHer, an initiative that fully reflects our values of inclusiveness, innovation and support for female entrepreneurship. Our mission is to accelerate and support anyone wishing to turn their ideas into reality and StrongHer is an ideal partner in this journey,” says Cofoundry founder Erica Turchetti. This choice reflects our vision of a more inclusive and innovative future, where the contribution of both genders results in shared success. We want to send out an unequivocal message: a female entrepreneur, manager or employee possesses the same skills and potential as a man and must have the same opportunities; collaboration between genders is the key to building a more balanced and successful business”.
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