Turning bold ideas into thriving businesses

Project Female Founder is our global accelerator program, unlocking opportunities for female entrepreneurs to scale their ventures in fintech and enterprise technology. It's part of our commitment to champion women's wealth – and promote equal access to funding and opportunity worldwide.

Build. Connect. Grow.

With the next cohort starting in April 2026, Project Female Founder brings together 100 early-stage founders for a year of investor-readiness training, mentoring and network building. The finalists from our annual UBS Female Founder Award automatically gain a place in the program.

The program helps founders attract funding, strengthen their business plans and build connections with global investors. It also draws on insights from our own research highlighting the strong performance and investment potential of women-led businesses.

If you'd like to take part in Project Female Founder, please apply online through our website (from March 2026).

Program

Project Female Founder is a year-long online initiative designed to equip early-stage female entrepreneurs with the tools, insights, and connections needed to scale their businesses. The program begins with an intensive 8-week accelerator and continues with a 12-month activation phase, offering ongoing support and engagement. Delivered in partnership with Fortuna Funding, the program reflects UBS's broader mission: to lead in women's wealth and empowerment.

Open to ventures that are majority-owned and led by women, it is sector-agnostic and tailored to founders with products in development or early commercialization. Participants gain access to curated content, regional events, and introductions to UBS’s entrepreneurial networks, including the Industry Leaders Network.

Operating across more than 25 countries, the program engages over 100 venture capital mentors and 60 UBS client advisors, Project Female Founder reflects UBS’s commitment to closing the gender funding gap and positioning itself as a trusted wealth manager for diverse founders.

Ultimately, Project Female Founder will provide support in these ways:

  • Education on the fundamentals necessary to attract aligned capital
  • Addressing both the personal and business needs that will lead to sustainable business growth
  • Connections and mentorship to support business leaders
  • Increased access to networks; key influencers in your local ecosystem
  • Connection to a global community for business growth and investment
  • New relationships; the core to business success

Online through our website (from March 2026).

Participation criteria:

  • Stage of company is beyond idea and the product or service is in development (prototype) or commercialization
  • Have raised USD 1mil; raising Series A round
  • Sector agnostic
  • Majority owned (51%+) by women
  • Majority led by a woman (led by refers to the senior leadership role of CEO/President)
  • Company is registered as a legal entity in the region in which they are operating
  • Founder understands and can commit to the program timeline and participation in the online sessions

Our recent success stories

Portrait of Daphne Tay

Daphne Tay

Founder who joined PFF 2024

Bluente recently secured USD 1.5 million in funding and specializes in AI document processing and translation across 120+ languages for financial institutions and professional services firms.

Portrait of Inna Tokarev Sela

Inna Tokarev Sela

Founder who joined PFF 2024

Illumex.ai raised USD 13 million following its PFF Seed round to advance its enterprise GenAI platform for intelligent data integration and automation

Portrait of Alice Nawfal

Alice Nawfal

Founder who joined PFF 2024

Notabene, a company specializing in crypto transaction risk management and compliance, secured a USD 14.5M funding deal following its participation in the PFF program.

Portrait of Kimberley Abbot

Kimberley Abbot

Founder who joined PFF 2022

Vested Impact, winner of the 2025 Morningstar Green FinTech Award, is a sustainability-driven analytics platform that quantifies the real-world impact of investments.

FAQs

Related UBS initiatives

Female Founder Award

Our global, annual fintech startup award for female founders.

Women's wealth

UBS’s global initiative to empower women to take control of their financial futures through tailored advice and education.

Women's wealth insights

Learn how female owned and controlled wealth is changing the face of wealth.

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