Why the Enra founders have to fight prejudice

Lara and Lena Farwick founded their start-up Enra together with their brother Arne. They see many advantages in founding as siblings - even if some people are surprised about the division of their roles.

There are moments that you don't forget quickly as a founder. The first customer order, for example, is one of them, as is the first pitch to a financial backer. For twin sisters Lara and Lena Farwick, there are a few others as well. "For example, there was the one man who rang our office doorbell, I opened the door and the first thing he asked me to do was get my boss," says Lena Farwick . "Another time, my brother was declared my husband because people couldn't imagine we were siblings." And on Linkedin, she sometimes likes to receive messages addressing her as "Mr. Farwick ",. "People don't even look at the profile, they firmly assume they're dealing with a man when they write to the tech executive of a startup."

It's true that Lara and Lena Farwick have to smile a bit themselves when they tell stories like this - but it's still precisely cases like these that make it clear that things are still going wrong in the startup world. The Female Founders Report 2021 already shows that less than twelve percent of all founders are female. In addition, women are significantly less likely to succeed in closing a financing round. So there is still a long way to go before we have a diverse startup scene.

Profitability achieved after just one year

Lena Farwick is CTO of the Paderborn-based startup Enra, while her sister Lara is CMO and responsible for marketing, among other things. Her brother Arne is CEO. Originally, they wanted to make trade fairs more digital and efficient with their start-up. For example, they provided machines with a barcode that customers could use to view additional information. They also developed a system to automate contact with booth visitors. This is because the so-called lead capture, i.e. the recording and strategic classification of newly acquired contacts, was often still done using paper and pen. "I used to have to enter sheets of paper, to which a business card was stapled, into an Excel spreadsheet," Lara recalls of her time in the marketing department of a medium-sized company.

Just one year after launching, Enra was profitable. Then came Corona, the economy shut down, trade shows were canceled - and the siblings had no choice but to reinvent their startup for once. Enra is now a digital platform for marketing. Companies can present their products in a virtual space, and then digitally follow up with contacts. This saves a salesperson travel time and expense. Six different versions of its platform are offered by Enra. The more a company pays, the more features it gets unlocked.

Fighting outdated ways of thinking

For the coming years, the siblings have identified three major trends they plan to work hard on. The metaverse is already an absolute hype topic in the tech world, says Lara Farwick . "But our customers often haven't heard of it or can't relate to it." They also want to help companies save CO2 with their digital sales. "In the future, no-code platforms will also become more important. Users should be able to customize their digital workspace the way they need it without any programming ability," says Lara Farwick .

It's a world you have to dive deep into to develop the digital marketing tools that suit companies, plus it takes a fair amount of programming skills. As an industrial engineer and tax clerk, brother Arne Farwick takes over the commercial management. Lara Farwick has the necessary knowledge in marketing and Lena Farwick, as a former mechanical engineering student, brings the technical knowledge.

For a long time, they were not even aware that their story was unusual in the start-up world. "Ever since I can remember, I've been passionate about technology; even as a child, I wanted to understand why something works the way it does. I wanted to look under the hood and not just accept that it worked," says Lena Farwick. It wasn't until she was automatically addressed as "Mr." by many on Linkedin that she realized this, she says. "This way of thinking is absurd, gender has nothing to do with what job you do," she says.

The sisters hope that other female founders will not be influenced by such experiences. "Do what you enjoy, because only then will it be good," advises Lara Farwick . She herself would like to contribute to empowering other female founders, even if she doesn't like the word that way. "We don't just need more women in tech jobs, we need more women to start and run a business."