Report of the First Regional Forum on The role of women in innovation decision making

Stakeholders from Nine Countries Joined the First Regional Forum on
The role of women in re-launching the economy and innovation decision making

Budapest 22 November 2021 – V4 countries together with Georgia, Serbia, Romania, Norway and Moldova joined the regional forum in Budapest on 22 November 2021, supported by the International Visegrad Fund and the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation.

At the hybrid event titled „The role of women in re-launching the economy and innovation decision making” speakers included Marianna Neupauerová (Deputy Director, International Visegrad Fund), Irén Márta (Director, Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary), Aleksandar Bijelić (Director, SeVeN, Serbia) and Janina Lamøy (Innovation Norway). The organizing Women/Business/Angels Association (WBA) aims to connect CEE stakeholders and to share best practices from business, academia and government.

„It is Women/Business/Angels/ Association’s strong belief that by connecting business angel investment and funding with innovative companies, countries can accelerate innovation capacity building as a competitive advantage in CEE” – pointed out Eszter Szabó, founding President.

„Working with CEE and Norway shows that there is a lot in common in the two places while building a stronger innovation ecosystem. We can learn from each other’s experiences and connections” – said Rita Anson from Winnetwork, Norway.

The Forum is a milestone in the efforts of Women/Business/Angels Association to invite more women into innovation and investments. Built on this stakeholder meeting WBA will present for chambers of commerce and major companies the need and opportunity to cooperate. WBA also starts a 5-session angel investing and mentoring training for CEE in the first half of 2022.

Click here for a more detailed summary of discussion on the forum!

 


The WINGATE project: Serbia, Romania, Moldova, Hungary and Norway

Women/Business/Angels is a beneficiary partners in the WINGATE project, funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation. This consortium works across Norway, Serbia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova, supporting and training women entrepreneurs and women business angels.

The Visegrad 4+ project: Visegrad 4+ countries

Women/Business/Angels Association is the consortium leader of a project, co-funded by the International Visegrad Fund, with participating partners from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Georgia and Moldova besides Hungary. We aim to support the development of business angeldom and innovation ecosystem building in these countries and within that, the role that women play in making investment decisions in innovative startups.


 

Implemented by:

Business/Women/Angels Association aims to grow the number of angel investors in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and works with its coalition partners. The Association invites a wider audience, both women and men, to gain experience, learn about new opportunities and new ways to make the region’s economy stronger while having a return on investment for each. The Association was recognised as a European Best Practice by Candace Johnson, President of EBAN in 2017. The Association is non-profit, non-partisan. Members pay a yearly membership fee.