Important update

The 5th Annual Female Founder Award is now closed.

The 5th Annual Female Founder Award was launched on 19 September and we’re excited to celebrate and support inspiring female entrepreneurs.

  • Missed the launch? Watch the replay here.
  • Applications are now closed, but please join us for the Award Ceremony, which will be broadcast live on LinkedIn on the 12th December.

2025 Finalists

Anouk Moll, United Kingdom based, Co-founder at Klear AI Limited

Carolina Almeida Cruz, Portugal based, Founder at C-MORE Sustainability

Christina Qi, United States of America based, Co-founder at Databento

Lehar Gupta, United Kingdom based, Founder at MetricsLM

Libby Leffler, United States of America based, Founder at First

Marla Sofer, United States of America based, Founder at Knomee

Natalya Thakur, United States of America based, Founder at Knova

Sheri Atwood, United States of America based, Founder and CEO at SupportPay

Shir Chorev, Israel based, Co-founder at Deepchecks

Wafa AlObaidat, Bahrain based, Founder at playbook

Jean Neo, Singapore based, Co-founder at Hupo

Morin Sarenio, Israel based, Founder at AI Light

Shakirat Animashaun, Nigeria based, Founder at Enricher Finance

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.

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'.

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.

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.

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 picture of Jennifer Povlitz

Jennifer Povlitz – UBS

Vice Chair GWM US

Alice Page - UBS

Chief of Staff to the President Global Wealth Management

Marianna Mamou – UBS

CIO Office – Head Advice Beyond Investing

Yin Yan portrait

Yin Yan – UBS

UBS Next Investor

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.

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.

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

Picture 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.

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.

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 $100+ million by Zip Co in 2021. He currently serves as a non-executive director at Dodo and Malcom Finance.

Portrait picture of Dennis Le

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 picture 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

Tenity

Location: Global

European Women in VC

Location: Europe

RockawayQ - logo

RockawayQ

Location: Europe

Openspace Capital - logo

Openspace Capital Pte Ltd

Location: Global

Anthemis - logo

Anthemis

Location: Global

Arcan Impact - logo

Arcan Impact

Location: MENA

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.