Female Founders Breakfast - The exclusive networking event for female founders and investors

On September 18, 2025, a special highlight for female founders and female startup teams will take place as part of the Boerse Stuttgart Group's Finance Summit 2025: The Female Founders Breakfast. The event offers an exclusive opportunity for female entrepreneurs to exchange ideas with experienced female investors, gain valuable insights and significantly expand their network. Organized by the Finance Accelerator in cooperation with Encourage Ventures e.V., GIG 7 Female Business and AI xpress, the breakfast creates a protected environment for inspiration, exchange and concrete support.

Strong partners, clear mission

Women are still underrepresented in the start-up and investor sector. Studies show that female start-ups often receive less venture capital, even though they often deliver better long-term results. This is precisely where the breakfast comes in, giving female founders access to experienced female investors who can provide not only capital, but also strategic knowledge, mentoring and valuable contacts. The event is aimed at start-ups with at least one female founder and creates an intimate atmosphere in which questions can be asked, ideas presented and important connections made, even before the official start of the Finance Summit.

Exclusive setting for exchange and inspiration

The breakfast offers space for 50 participants. After a welcome by the Finance Accelerator and the partner organizations, the participants start an open exchange.

• Round of introductions with the investors
• Key insights from the investors and "chatting from the sewing box"
• Q&A and networking sessions
• Opportunity to hold initial discussions on potential collaborations or investments.

Afterwards, participants are invited to attend the Finance Summit and follow the startup pitches.

Top female investors in personal exchange

A special added value of the breakfast: participants will have the opportunity to network exclusively and personally with three outstanding personalities from the business and startup scene. Each brings her own expertise and a unique network that can take female founders a decisive step further.

Christine Rittner is an experienced business angel and mentor who has built her career primarily in the fields of human resources (HR) and retail. With an impressive career of 19 years on the board of LIDL International, including as CEO in Lithuania and most recently as Global CHRO and board member for 300,000 employees in 32 countries, she brings a wealth of strategic and operational experience.

Today, Rittner is a member of the Supervisory Board at Greenforce and a member of the Board of Directors at Denner (Migros Group) and is also active on advisory boards such as the Hackathon Company and the Nürtingen-Geislingen University of Applied Sciences. Her focus as a business angel is on innovative start-ups in the HR & retail sector, which she supports with capital, know-how and coaching.

What female founders can expect from her:

• In-depth knowledge of business scaling and HR strategies
• Understanding of international markets and expansion
• Practical insights into management issues
• Access to a strong network of supervisory boards, advisory boards and female leadership initiatives

In addition, Rittner is an inspiring personality who has received several awards herself, such as one of Capital's Top 40 under 40 or the Mission Female Award in the field of consulting.

Ina Schlie combines top-level corporate experience with a strong commitment to the start-up scene. As a long-standing executive at SAP and current member of the Supervisory Board, she brings in-depth knowledge from the fields of technology, digitalization and corporate finance. She is also a lecturer at LMU Munich and regularly shares her knowledge in specialist lectures and mentoring programs. In her career, Schlie has managed large transformation projects as well as supported start-ups as an investor. Her focus is on companies that combine technological innovation with social added value.

What female founders can expect from her:

• Expertise in tech strategies, digitalization and scaling
• Insights into corporate startup cooperations
• Support in positioning business models for investors
• Inspiration from her own transition from a corporate career to a business angel role

Petra Wörwag is Managing Director of Petra Wörwag GmbH and brings a strong focus on sustainable business development as a business angel. Educated at the renowned University of Chicago Booth School of Business, she combines entrepreneurial thinking with an international perspective. Her work is characterized by the connection between business and social responsibility, an approach that is particularly exciting for female founders who pursue impact goals in addition to profit.

What female founders can expect from her:

• Experience in sustainable business models and social entrepreneurship
• Mentoring on financing strategies and international growth
• Access to networks in the field of impact investing
• Inspiring insights from their own entrepreneurial careers

The three female investors cover a broad spectrum of skills and specialist areas. This gives female founders insights into different sectors and development phases, from early start-ups to international scale-ups.

The Female Founders Breakfast is much more than just a networking event. It offers:

• exclusive access to top female investors and personal discussions in a protected setting
• Mentoring and feedback: tips on business models, market opportunities and scaling
• Network building: contacts to other female founders and potential cooperation partners
• Inspiration and empowerment: first-hand success stories that encourage and open up new perspectives

The Female Founders Breakfast is part of a growing movement to bring more women into leadership and investor roles. Initiatives like this show that it's not just about capital, but also about access to knowledge, networks and role models. For many female founders, a meeting like this can be the decisive impetus to take their business to the next level.

Register now, limited places!

Female founders who want to take the next step should not miss out on this event. With only 50 places available, the Female Founders Breakfast at the Finance Summit 2025 offers a unique opportunity to engage in a direct exchange with leading business angels, gain valuable inspiration and sharpen your own vision.

Register here: https://www.finance-accelerator.de/events/#ff-breakfast