Gründerinnentage: Making the world more entrepreneurially sustainable
Back in 2015, the United Nations adopted a comprehensive framework with 17 global goals to ensure that economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection go hand in hand. These Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be achieved by 2030. The topics range from poverty and health to education, biodiversity, ocean conservation, peace and justice.
Solving pressing social challenges is also the most important driver of social entrepreneurs - the focus topic of the Gründerinnenentage on June 8 and 9, 2023. On the initiative of Gründerinnen-Consult, this cooperation with the Social Innovation Center of the Hannover Region will take place for the first time with a focus on innovation and social entrepreneurship of female founders: "The fascinating thing about social enterprises is that they combine social and economic aspects in an innovative way. These companies create added social value, for example by employing disadvantaged people or developing products and services for disadvantaged groups of people. What makes them special is their financial independence, as they are largely financed by the market and do not rely solely on donations or state subsidies. Social entrepreneurship proves that social commitment and economic success can go hand in hand," describes Raphaelvon Galen, project manager of the Social Innovation Center.
For social entrepreneurs, the focus of doing business is not profit at any price, but the impact that a company achieves with its products or services - the "social impact": "Sustainability aspects are becoming increasingly important for entrepreneurial decision-making processes - be it in lending, compatibility issues or seemingly self-evident matters such as the choice of recyclable office materials. Those interested in setting up a business can only benefit from addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at an early stage and creating future-proof companies," says Dr.Isabel Schwinge, head of the Gründerinnen-Consult project at hannoverimpuls, summing up the idea behind the two Start-up Days.
Hanoverian best practice examples such as the presentation of the phaeosynt team by Stephanie Pfeil-Coenen, the first company in the world to produce antibodies in diatoms, thus providing a plant-based alternative to conventional antibodies from animals or animal cell cultures, and one of this year's Startup-Impuls winners from hannoverimpuls and Sparkasse Hannover with its first vegan (animal-free) pregnancy test. As well as the participants of the Social Innovation Center's entrepreneurship program, Anna Chevalier from Includein.Design, which offers sewing courses and patterns for people with and without disabilities, and the team from resonanzraum, who presented their concept of health promotion with Healing Art through Ann-Sophie Küchler and Sanna Lappe.
The presentations were intended to inspire and motivate the participants to work on their own business concepts the next day with professional support.
Social enterprises are playing an increasingly important role in Germany, partly because more and more people want to do meaningful work and there are tasks that social entrepreneurs can solve more innovatively than the state. Simply because they are more flexible, because they are faster, because they have good ideas. Implementing the SDGs requires close cooperation and partnership between governments, businesses, civil society and other stakeholders at local, national and global level. The Founders' Days also stand as a testament to a new era of female entrepreneurs who are now in the process of rewriting the narrative of the economy of and for tomorrow.
Social Innovation Center
The Social Innovation Center is a project of the Hannover Region's Economic and Employment Promotion Agency, which has set itself the goal of strengthening social innovation and social entrepreneurship, developing entrepreneurial concepts to solve social problems and finding and supporting suitable business models and start-up teams.
Founders-Consult
Gründerinnen-Consult is a project of the business development agency hannoverimpuls and supports women in realizing their entrepreneurial ideas by offering them tailored advice, training, networking opportunities and access to financing. It is financed with funds from the European Social Fund.
