About the Award

The Female Founder award will launch in September 2026. Please visit us then for more details.

Find out more about last years’ winners and finalists here, and to listen their inspiring journeys on the Monocle podcast – tune in here.

What's in it for you

Rewards

A prize will be awarded to the winner and a 'Rising star 2025' will be recognised. All finalists will be given the opportunity to join 'Project Female Founder 2026', a year-long, global investor readiness, networking and mentorship program, that arms early-stage female founders with fundamentals to support their access to aligned capital. With partners Fortuna, Coralus, and Live True, the program consists of an investor readiness and pitch program, followed by access to the Coralus network to help build an ecosystem of support. Finalists will receive mentoring from UBS advisers, access to experienced entrepreneurs, venture capital firms and others in a global community, allowing you to build your regional and international contacts.

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Cash prize

The winner will receive USD 10,000 to support their founder journey. A special award will also go to the 'Rising Star of 2025'.

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Mentoring

Receive mentorship from a UBS senior leader and access to female-focused VCs and investors. Companies above USD 50 million can connect with Growth Entrepreneur Network.

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Project Female Founder

Join Project Female Founder, a year-long program for investor readiness and networking. Access to global Coralus network of female entrepreneurs to connect and share your best practices.

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Global profile

Access speaker and publicity opportunities to gain recognition. Build your global profile through this prestigious award, either as a winner or finalist.

Jury

The following individuals will lead the selection process and decide on the winner of Female Founder Award 2025 based on the following categories: diversity, financial track record, growth potential and leadership. 

Portrait of Jennifer Povlitz

Jennifer Povlitz – UBS

Vice Chair GWM US

Portrait of Alice Page

Alice Page - UBS

Chief of Staff to the President Global Wealth Management

Portrait of Marianna Mamou

Marianna Mamou – UBS

CIO Office – Head Advice Beyond Investing

Portrait of Yin Yan

Yin Yan – UBS

UBS Next Investor

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Martin Grinberg

CEO, Digital Smart Group & Vanguard Software Factory 

Location: Spain

Martin is an Entrepreneur, Advisor, and Investor with a strong track record of founding and scaling companies. He specializes in internationalization and business expansion, and is passionate about connecting people, fostering collaboration, and supporting entrepreneurs in the tech space.

Portrait of Jonathan Paul

Jonathan Paul

CEO & Co-founder Adatos

Jonathan is the co-founder of Adatos, a remote sensing company that uses AI to analyze satellite data for carbon projects and agriculture. He is a former banker, he has invested in over 10 startups and founded a hedge fund focused on climate-related investments.

Portrait of Chaitanya Hiremath

Chaitanya Hiremath

CEO, Healthpoint Ventures

Location: USA

Chaitanya Hiremath is a seasoned entrepreneur with a strong focus on innovation and technology. He has led successful ventures across various industries, earning recognition from Forbes 30 Under 30 and Entrepreneur Magazine's Top 25 People in Tech for his contributions to AI-driven solutions and business leadership

Portrait of Anieke Lamers

Anieke Lamers

Operating Partner at Borski Fund

Location: Europe

Anieke Lamers is an Operating Partner at Borski Fund, a gender lense VC fund based out of Amsterdam. She is a VC shapeshifter: from VC investor to founder, operator, and back into VC and VC coach. Besides being an Operating Partner at Borski Fund, a 50M fund in Amsterdam investing Seed-Series A in female founders accross Europe, she runs The VC Coach, where she coaches emerging fund managers and VCs across Europe, combining hands-on experience with sharp strategic insight. She's passionate about reshaping venture capital into a more inclusive, human-centered industry.

Portrait of Andrea Fritschi

Andrea Fritschi

Managing Partner & Chief Investment Officer of Tenity

Andrea Fritschi is Chief Investment Officer at Tenity, a leading global FinTech venture platform. She brings over 20 years of experience spanning institutional investing, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. Andrea began her career at Swiss Re and BlackRock, focusing on private equity and VC strategies worldwide, before founding and leading startups in health tourism and FinTech ESG. At Tenity, she drives the institutional growth of the VC platform and its global FinTech footprint.

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Michal Smida

CEO, RockawayQ

Location: Czech Republic

Michal is the CEO of RockawayQ, an investment division of Rockaway Capital focused on accelerating the digital and AI transformation of manufacturing companies across Europe – and globally. Previously, Michal founded a FinTech company Twisto, a “buy now, pay later” payments solutions that served over a million customers across CEE. Acquired for USD 100+ million by Zip Co in 2021. He currently serves as a non-executive director at Dodo and Malcom Finance.

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Dennis Le

Director, OpenSpace

Location: APAC

Previously, he was at Roland Berger and Analysys Mason.
Dennis represents the firm as a member of the Vietnam Private Capital Agency.
He holds a CEMS Master's in International Management from the London School of Economics and HEC Paris and a Bachelor's of Business Administration from the National University of Singapore.

Portrait of Jenny Atout Ahlzén

Jenny Atout Ahlzén

Co-founder and Partner, Arcan Impact

Location: MENA

Jenny is a Co-Founder and Partner at Arcan Impact, an ecosystem enabler providing capacity building programs and strategic consulting, advisory and research on impact investing and innovation finance. Prior to Arcan Impact, Jenny co-founded Amam Ventures, a gender lens impact fund in the Middle East. She has deep experience in investment management and, she has been featured among the top  women in VC in MENA. Jenny is passionate about supporting tech-enabled companies committed to equal opportunities and empowering more women towards the front as business owners, managers, and employees. Prior to co-founding Amam, Jenny worked as an Investment Principal at Silicon Badia, a VC fund investing in tech-enabled ventures and also worked closely with BeyondCapital, a Jordanian ecosystem enabler. She also has operational experience with SMEs and tech startups. Prior to VC, Jenny was the Head of Asset Management at Awraq Investments. Jenny is a Chartered Financial Analyst, and is the Vice Chair at the microfinance institution Vitas Jordan. 

Partners

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Tenity

Location: Global

Logo of European Women in VC

European Women in VC

Location: Europe

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RockawayQ

Location: Europe

Logo of Openspace Capital

Openspace Capital Pte Ltd

Location: Global

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Anthemis

Location: Global

Logo of Arcan Impact

Arcan Impact

Location: MENA

2025 Winner & Rising star

Portrait of Christina Qi
Winning the Female Founder Award validates our mission to democratize access to institutional-grade data - proving that modern infrastructure can replace the systems holding the industry back … This recognition proves that diverse founders are defining the future of financial infrastructure - not just participating in it.
Christina Qi, US based, Co-founder at Databento
I’m honored to be named a finalist for the UBS Female Founder Award 2025. At Playbook, we help women executives around the world accelerate their careers through education, mentorship, and networking … This recognition motivates us to keep scaling Playbook, connecting more women with the resources, opportunities, and networks they need to succeed on a global stage.
Wafa AlObaidat
Bahrain based, Founder at Playbook
Portrait of Wafa AlObaidat

Rules

By participating in the competition for the Award, applicants accept and agree to abide by these Official Rules and represent and warrant that they meet all eligibility requirements. Additionally, applicants agree to accept the selection decisions of UBS as appropriate, final, and legally binding.

Download a PDF copy of the Official Rules.