The 10 Women Entrepreneurs To Watch In 2016 - Forbes France The 10 Women Entrepreneurs To Watch In 2016

18% of start-ups were led by women in 2015. A small percentage, but growing. For a woman who undertakes, should we say entrepreneur, entrepreneur, or entrepreneur? The three are admitted, and that's good, because women are undertaking more and more. According to the Compass Startup ecosystem report published in 2015, 18% of start-ups are led by a woman, compared to 10% in 2012. The United States tops the ranking. In Chicago, 30% of women have gone into entrepreneurship. Boston, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles follow, where 22% of start-ups are managed by a woman. In Europe, where the average is 17% female entrepreneurs, France ranks first and sixth in the world thanks to Paris, with 21% female entrepreneurs.

According to Marie Vorgan le Barzic, founder and CEO of NUMA, a support network for start-ups, businesses and communities, “society is at a tipping point. Women have realized that they have to support each other. Indeed, many structures welcome and advise women, such as Paris Pionnières, an incubator dedicated to women. Marie Vorgan le Barzic insists on the fact “that there is always a brake in terms of mentality on the way in which women are able to project themselves into a course of success. They have a persistent feeling of illegitimacy, but an increased awareness that this is not normal. »

Although mentalities are changing, there are many obstacles to the arrival of women in the highest positions in companies: the Global women entrepreneur leaders Scorecard study, in 70% of the 31 countries studied, women have less than a 50% chance that men to start their business, see it prosper and create jobs. A problem that comes from the attitude of the world of finance, in the opinion of Marie Vorgan le Barzic, according to which the fundraising gaps between men and women remain substantial. Of the 261 start-ups that raised funds in 2015, 15% were founded or co-founded by women. A weak result and yet an increase of 41% compared to 2014, according to the Girls in Tech barometer.

The founder and CEO of NUMA is convinced of the positive evolution of the sector: “we are in a patriarchal and reactionary society, but there are beginning to be examples of great female successes. Moreover, the new generation does not pose this kind of obstacle: they were raised by working mothers, they are all educated, international, open. » A change in mentalities visible in the number of young entrepreneurs to follow.

1. Urska Srsen, 26, Slovenia. Founder of Bellabeat, a connected jewelry company for women. Physical activity, but also menstrual cycle, stress, sleep and meditation time are recorded. The young thumb launched in 2014 and which raised 4.5 million in 2015, employs 60 people in its offices in San Francisco, Shenzhen and Zagreb.
2. Celine Lazorthes, 33, France. Founder and leader of the Leetchi group, which includes the site and the online kitty and MangoPay. Leetchi was acquired in 2015 by Crédit Mutuel Arkéa.
3. Caroline Walerud, 25, Sweden. The young woman wants you to find a shoe that suits you. Volumental proposes to scan the shape of the foot in order to no longer rely on the size, but on the footprint and the shape. Same for glasses. The company launched in 2012 with Caroline Walerud and three other co-founders. Today, it employs around twenty people in seven countries.
4. Limor Fried, United States. This engineer created Adafruit Industries in 2005, while she was still a student at MIT. His company offers open source hardware in addition to electronic manufactures. The company is now worth $33 million.
5. Alice Zagury, 30, France. Co-founder in 2013 of TheFamily, a start-up accelerator which has already propelled 270 start-ups and raised 80 million euros.
6. Tory Burch, 49, United States. The Globe-trotter launched her ready-to-wear brand in 2004, drawing inspiration from her parents' fashion in the 1960s. the world.
7. Josephine Goube, 27, France. Founder in 2012 of Migreat, a refugee aid platform. Application for Visas, work, studies… In twelve languages, the site helps migrants to settle in France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and Spain. Joséphine Goube is at the top of Forbes' ranking of young social entrepreneurs under the age of thirty.
8. Sara Blakely, 45, United States. Founder of Spanx in 2000. She still owns 100% of the capital of her fine lingerie business. In 2012 she was presented as the youngest billionaire in the world by Forbes magazine.
9. Marie Lora-Mungai, 32 years old, France. This former journalist, based in Nairobi since 2006, launched Buni Media in 2009, an online video platform. In 2015, it gathered all its activities in Restless global studio: VOD, production, distribution...
10. Jessica Scorpio, 29, United States. Founder of Getaround, a peer-to-peer car rental site launched in 2009. The site raised $19 million and won the TechCrunch NYC Disrupt award in 2012.