Press release - The WINGATE project helps Hungarian entrepreneurs with a free e-learning program

Only a fifth of domestic companies are managed by women in Hungary

24.11.2022 – The weight of businesses with purely female owners is becoming more and more significant even in Hungary: while in 2021 14% of all registered domestic companies were managed by women, within a year this proportion climbed to 17%. However, there is plenty of room for improvement, as the number of businesses run by men is still twice as many, and according to last year's survey by the WINGATE project, women would most likely would like to expand their specific financial knowledge and business relationships in order to develop. The WINGATE project, an international business support program with a budget of around 2 million euros, uses research results to support women in the realization of their business goals with training and networking events, have launched their educational platform in November, which helps beginning and advanced entrepreneurs, as well as angel investors, with free thematic learning materials.

In our constantly changing, uncertain and crisis-filled world, the abilities and skills in which women generally excel are increasingly coming to the fore in business life: such as empathy, self-awareness or social skills. Moreover, according to many, female leaders can help humanity in the most effective way to overcome the climate crisis. According to the newly adopted directive of the European Parliament, by 2026, 33% of all management positions in companies must be occupied by women, although this does not yet apply to companies employing fewer than 250 people. There is definitely progress, however, few people are still concerned with how to effectively support women in starting a company and then in sustainable growth, or even in helping these entrepreneurs to become business angels themselves - although it is clear from the above, it would be in our common interest.

Tangible knowledge and networking - this is what women need to get started

The WINGATE project was launched in 2020 under the leadership of the Hungarian SKC-Consulting Kft. with the aim of supporting novice and more experienced female entrepreneurs with knowledge transfer, training and networking opportunities. The project, realized with a contribution of 2 million euros from the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Norwegian Regional Cooperation Fund, helps women in Moldova, Norway, Romania and Serbia to realize their business ambitions, in the areas where they need it most. As a first step in this, a comprehensive international survey was prepared in 2021 with the participation of nearly 1,500 respondents, which accurately assessed which skills and knowledge could be developed to enable more women to enter the challenging world of entrepreneurship. The WINGATE project started compiling target-specific knowledge materials and training based on the answers received.

„The female entrepreneurs unanimously reported that the administrative obligations and the legal environment are/were the biggest challenge for them when starting a company, and this is definitely an area in which we can provide them with effective help with proper education, the collection of available and understandable transfer of information. They are also uncertain about how their idea can be translated into a successful business in practice and how they can present it to an investor or a business angel. Acquiring financial knowledge is therefore still a key issue, but at the same time it has become clear that development is also necessary in relation to soft skills: communication, self-awareness or even negotiation techniques are more important when building a successful business than we think.” - shared by Ágnes Puskás, head of the WINGATE project.

The key issue is education: digital knowledge awaits beginners, experienced enterpeneurs and business angels

One of the main objectives of the WINGATE project was the creation of an online knowledge platform based on needs and demands, tailored to different entrepreneurial phases, in which the preparation of a comprehensive and very instructive questionnaire survey was considered an important milestone. Thanks to the persistent work of the project partners, a free digital educational platform has been created that can effectively contribute to the most important mission, so that women can more easily start on the path to becoming entrepreneurs and contribute to the prosperity and development of European societies with their valuable work. In addition to the fact that the e-Platform helps women start a business, it also provides great support to those who have already started their business and want to develop it. After registration, 7 different "lessons" are currently available on the site - partly in English, partly in Hungarian - and in specific topics that help start-up entrepreneurs, those planning to expand their business, and angel investors. The goal is to continuously expand the available curriculum.

"Anyone who digs into the otherwise easy-to-consume materials can get practical tips on how to prepare a good business plan, what are the steps that must be followed in the critical 100 days after founding a company, can get pointers for entering foreign markets and business development, while the female business angels can gain complex knowledge about the entire innovation ecosystem. There is enormous economic potential in women, who are not supported in their ambitions by their wider, or even often narrower environment, and after starting a family, these career aspirations are pushed even further into the background. However, it is good to see that the importance of entrepreneurial skills has already entered the mainstream media in the form of entertainment-educational content, and to hear more and more positive examples of women who changed their professional profile from an almost impossible situation and started their own company. We want to support them” – adds Ágnes Puskás

In addition to visiting the education platform, those who are interested should subscribe to the regular newsletter of the WINGATE project, in which additional useful information and tips are available.

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About the WINGATE project

The consortium formed for the WINGATE project, whose members from Hungary are SKC-Consulting Kft. and Women/Business/Angels Association, won a tender worth of 1.824.320 Euro from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation. Additional partners are the Serbian Venture Network (SEVEN), the Romanian National Association of Entrepreneurs (ANAA) and the Norwegian Kvinner i Business (KIB). Their goal is to create a green, competitive and accepting business environment in Central and Eastern Europe. To this end, the WINGATE project is intended to support female entrepreneurs in the region. The website of the project was created in English, but in Hungary, a significant part of the surveys, events, teaching materials and trainings will also be available in Hungarian.

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by Péter Nyári

Survey: Mainly the understanding of finances, courage and business relationships are most needed to multiply the number of women entrepreneurs in Hungary

In an international research program Hungarian women were also asked about the recipe for successful entrepreneurship

26 May 2021 - The number of enterprises with only female proprietorship has increased in Hungary in the last 10 years, but they still represent only about 14% of the total domestic company portfolio. Spearheaded by the Hungarian SKC-Consulting Kft. the WINGATE international business stimulation program, implemented from a nearly HUF 660 million budget, was launched with the aim of supporting beginner and more experienced women entrepreneurs through knowledge transfer, training and networking opportunities. The WINGATE project covering four other European countries in addition to Hungary, as a first step examined in an international survey what women entrepreneurs really need to succeed.

The success of women entrepreneurs is a key issue for the performance of the entire global economy, as it is estimated that ensuring gender equality in business could contribute a surplus of about $12 thousand billion to the global GDP by 2025. There are currently more than 500 joint ventures in Hungary with an annual turnover of over HUF 1 billion, that have women owners and authorized signatories. Despite the fact that the number of these companies has almost doubled compared to the number a year earlier (300), the share of businesses with only female proprietorship in the category of enterprises with a turnover of over HUF 1 billion still represents only 6%.

The goal of the WINGATE project was to promote the start-up of new businesses led by women and the development of existing ones in Norway, Moldova, Serbia and Romania, besides Hungary. In addition to start-ups or more experienced entrepreneurs, the program also targets women who are currently employed or inactive and who are still considering starting their own business. Through the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Norwegian Regional Cooperation Fund, the business incentive project is being implemented from EUR 1,824,320 (approx. HUF 660 million), of which nearly 40% is spent in Hungary. WINGATE is dedicated to support women entrepreneurs with a wide range of educational materials, trainings, networking and community-building events that can be put into practice.

It is very difficult to take the first step – knowledge on business and relationships are also much needed

WINGATE used a questionnaire in the countries concerned to assess which skills and business knowledge women entrepreneurs needed the most. More than half of the nearly 1,500 respondents were Hungarian, about 90% had a tertiary education and were fluent in English, and there was a roughly equal proportion of respondents who were already entrepreneurs and those who were just planning to start a business. The majority of women surveyed are between the ages of 26 and 40, and more than 40% still work in business, sales, marketing or commerce, however, they are still lacking the specific knowledge to run a successful business. As the next step the program will consist of various trainings to be developed available free of charge. Those interested can expect to benefit from business and management content primarily, but they will also be able to apply for skills development trainings.

“The result of the survey revealed that women envisioning their future as entrepreneurs want to develop both social skills and specific professional knowledge. They all consider thinking out of the box, the right level of self-confidence and courage to be important regarding entrepreneurial success, and above all they value financial and management expertise. It also turned out that one of the biggest barriers to starting a business is considered to be the regulatory environment and the constantly changing market conditions. In addition to administrative issues, the first steps also create uncertainty: how to turn a good idea or product into a sound business plan, and how would it be attractive to an investor? On the other hand, almost 60% of the respondents considered it important to emphasize that they would need a much more effective networking to succeed; and based on the answers, personal competencies need to be developed the most, including communication, clear and compelling speech, conflict management and negotiation techniques. What the latter have in common is that these areas were typically less addressed at school - and still are today.” concludes PUSKÁS Ágnes WINGATE project manager.

Women angel investors are a huge untapped resource

As for some respondents starting a business is no longer a challenge, but business development is, they need a completely different type of knowledge to move on. The survey found that high-level project management skills, confident budgeting, developing an effective PR and marketing strategy, successfully engaging investors, and knowledge of more advanced business models (franchises, joint ventures) are the key issues for business expansion. Business angels also have an unavoidable role in business development: investors who in addition to their experience embrace new ideas from their own capital and provide market entrants the necessary help to reach business success through their business network. There are very few female angel investors in Hungary, consequently the WINGATE project intends to fill in this gap.

“It shall give a very serious boost to the region’s economic growth if women also acquire the skills needed to become an investor and become competitive in this area as well. A number of promising new businesses can be created this way that can achieve considerable success even when entering the international markets. From this point of view, it is indeed particularly positive news that in our survey almost a third of those interested in “angel career” were Hungarian, although more than 60% of them are not even entrepreneurs yet. According to the survey, the Hungarian ladies wish to become angel investors - our goal, however, is to make this wish come true” – concludes PUSKÁS Ágnes.

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About the WINGATE project

The members of the consortium for the WINGATE project in Hungary that are SKC-Consulting Kft. and Women/Business/Angels Association won a tender from the EEA and the Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation in the amount of EUR 1,824,320. Other partners are the Serbian Venture Network (SEVEN), the Romanian National Association of Entrepreneurs (ANAA) and the Norwegian Kvinner i Business (KIB). Their goal is to create a green, competitive and accepting environment for entrepreneurs in Central and Eastern Europe. The WINGATE project is designed for this purpose to support women entrepreneurs in the region. The website of the project is in English, but the surveys, events, study materials and trainings will also be available in Hungarian.

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by Péter Nyári

Gender equity – major impact on GDP in the future

Gender equality has strong, positive impacts on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capital which grow sover time.

By 2050, improving gender equality would lead to an increase in European Union (GDP) per capital by 6.1 to 9.6%, which amounts to €1.95 to €3.15 trillion.

Compared with labour market and education policies, gender equality policies have a strong impact on GDP. For example, a recent study showed that improvements in educational attainment across EU Member States would lead to a 2.2% increase in EU GDP in 2050.

 

The estimated GDP impacts of increased gender equality vary considerably across Member States, depending on the present level of achievement of gender equality.

Countries with more room to improve gender equality have much to gain. On average, improved gender equality in these countries is expected to lead to an increase in GDP of about 12% by 2050.

The best performing countries in the area of gender equality have already achieved good levels of gender equality and therefore already enjoy some of the associated economic benefits. However, further improvements in gender equality can generate additional economic gains even in these Member States, often reaching around 4% of GDP.

Overall, improved gender equality could boost the long-term competitiveness of the EU economy.

Wingate means more than a project, it means a community!

In 2021 we want to promote as much as possible the female entrepreneurship, to develop a platform with all the functionalities and to launch it on the market from all the partner countries.

Join us and participate in programs which attracts business angels, investors and women entrepreneurs who know that this is the way to success!

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by Péter Nyári

What is to know about the Wingate project

The main objective of the WINGATE project is to increase the number of successful women enterprises (especially in the innovation sector) and to support their competitiveness.


Project Grant Amount:
EEA and Norwegian Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation: EUR 1,824,320
Countries covered by the project: Hungary, Moldova, Norway, Serbia, Romania.
The duration of the project: 01/07/2020-30/06/2023.


Project partners:

Project goals

Due to the digital reforms, the challenges posed in the global economy provide an opportunity for the Central European region to reduce its business disadvantage through a new, innovative programme specifically targeted at the development of women enterprises. In male-female entrepreneurship, long-known stereotypes serve as the basis for collaborations. However, not only these factors make the path of women owned enterprises bumpy, but access to resources is also more difficult for this gender. Another industry problem is the low number of entrepreneurial investors (whether venture capitalists or angel investors) who are willing to invest in a business opportunity expecting to boom.

The aim of the WINGATE project is to support women entrepreneurs through trainings, events and a sensitisation process, which tools are also provided the same way to potential investors.

To this end, an international consortium has been set up, in which Hungarian, Serbian, Romanian and Norwegian partners share their experience and knowledge to implement an unparalleled online platform that can help women enterprises in the region to succeed, regardless of their size.

On the WINGATE platform, both novice and advanced (even those considering entering the international market) female entrepreneurs can gain useful knowledge through the available curricula and trainings, not to mention the cooperation opportunities provided by the interface. A further aim of the project is to provide space for businesses to attract external resources.

On the platform, it is possible to connect and cooperate with investors, more precisely with angel investors.

Project stages:

  • needs assessment until 15/02/2021
  • platform-, curriculum development
  • conducting trainings and events

Our goal is to support women entrepreneurs, employees and angel investors as effectively as possible with the results of the project.

Their preferences are the guiding principles, they serve as the basis for the further phases of the project.

 

Thanks to the WINGATE project....

...the presence of women in the innovation sector may increase internationally,

...the competitiveness of women-led businesses may increase,

...women enterprises can gain support in accessing finance,

...the sensitisation of relevant decision makers towards women enterprises may be achieved,

...we may achieve the involvement of active investors in the development of women owned enterprises,

...a regional network development can take place,

...we can gain international recognition,

...a significant increase in the number of 'angel investors' in the sector is possible.

by Péter Nyári

The Norwegian Fund provides grants for the development of Hungarian women entrepreneurs

Under the name WINGATE, a business incentivisation project has been launched in Hungary, which aims to increase the number of successful women enterprises in the region. The project benefits from a € 1,824,320 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation, of which nearly 40% can be spent on the realisation of domestic goals.

The international consortium will primarily train women entrepreneurs and angel investors from the provided resources, develop curriculums and create an online platform to build their community.

Supporting women enterprises is also a timely task because the coronavirus epidemic has had a particularly negative impact on sectors with a higher share of women enterprises. According to the International Trade Center’s SME Competitiveness survey, 64% of women enterprises worldwide say the crisis has substantially hit their 2020 performance.

Due to the well-known challenges in the region, the organisations participating in the consortium want to increase the participation of women in innovation at the international level, and offer support to improve the competitiveness of this group of entrepreneurs. Therefore, it is also an important goal for entrepreneurs to get in touch with institutional as well as angel investors and thus have access to adequate financial resources.

The project aims to provide answers to real problems and needs, so as a first step it assesses the needs of the region, including Hungarian women entrepreneurs, with the help of an anonymous questionnaire. Based on the feedback received in this way, curricula will be developed that will become available in the third phase, in the form of various trainings. Those interested can expect primarily business and management content, but they will also be able to apply for skills development trainings. Of course, all knowledge sharing and networking events will be free thanks to the aforementioned funding background.

“WINGATE is not just about helping those who already have a business. It will also offer training to women who are currently employed or inactive, who are still in the brainstorming phase and are thinking about how to start a business or how to be successful. However, the goal is to think in terms of an innovative business, product, or even a novel business model.” - said Ágnes Puskás, the Hungarian leader of the project.

What are women owned enterprises?

In addition to self-employed women, the target group of the project is companies with at least 51% female ownership and at least one woman among the company's managers.

About the WINGATE project

The consortium formed for the WINGATE project, whose members in Hungary are SKC Consulting Kft. and the Women/Business/Angels Association, won a tender, and a support of EUR 1,824,320, at the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation. Other partners are the Serbian Venture Network (SEVEN), the Romanian National Association of Entrepreneurs (ANAA) and the Norwegian Kvinner i Business (KIB). Their goal is to create a green, competitive and inclusive entrepreneurial environment in Central and Eastern Europe. To this end, the WINGATE project is designed to support women entrepreneurs in the region. The project website is in English but all surveys, events, curricula and training in Hungary will be available in Hungarian.

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by SKC_Norway_Admin

Finding quick solutions remains a necessity in 2021!

At the end of the year, we take a step back and look at what 2020 has meant for the local ecosystem and its representatives, entrepreneurs and those who supported them - from challenges and lessons learned (and they were in full swing this year), to successes and moments of celebration.

For many entrepreneurs, 2020 was like a kind of atypical entrepreneurship. "Use everything you know. Forget everything you know and start over. Find solutions overnight. Forget solutions that don't seem to work as fast."
However, those who survived in 2020 they were the ones who knew what adaptability and rethinking the business meant in unprecedented conditions.
The pandemic only accentuated and hastened some trends that were already there, as happened in other areas. The online and this Do It Yourself that more and more people are turning to, has opened up a new opportunity, which many were thinking about, but they never seemed to find time to deal with it.

What do you have to do in extreme situations? Try to always keep your head clear.
After all, that's about entrepreneurship - a long line of solutions to all kind of problems.

This year the problem we all had to solve was this pandemic, with effects of all kinds - from health to financial and psychological. Every entrepreneur needs clarity to really run a business, especially in times of crisis. Every entrepreneur needs to know where to sit in order to see things as clearly as possible and be able to lead, no matter what field they work in.
Don't complain, don't panic. Breathe, find the solutions.
There is an old saying: “There are at least two solutions to any problem”. Find them !!!!

Author: Andreea Negru- Wingate Communication Manager (Romania)

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#FundforRegionalCooperation

by SKC_Norway_Admin

The entrepreneur woman in a new stage of economic development

The number of women involved in entrepreneurship is growing year by year and this is a positive thing if we think that important steps are being taken to achieve equal opportunities and equal treatment between women and men worldwide, although the world's economies have been hit by the pandemic crisis. In order to overcome these barriers, there are required education and digital literacy as a key process in the area of digital technologies of which we are part of. More and more states are looking for support solutions for their economies, and Romania makes no exception. An example in this sense is the WINGATE project - "Together for a green, competitive and inclusive Europe", a project funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation, which  debuted in Hungary and has its second conference in Romania, enjoying the presence of Her Excellency, the Ambassador of Norway in Romania, Mrs. Siri Beate BARRY. The purpose of this project is to increase the number of women entrepreneurs in the project partner countries: Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Moldova and Norway.

"Even though it is not a member of the EU, Norway is cooperating and wants to help the EU to face current challenges and make the most of its potential. Through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation offered by Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, we contribute to reducing economic disparities and strengthening cooperation. From 2015 until now, grants worth 2.8 billion euros have been offered, of which 502.5 million euros have been offered to Romania ", said the Norwegian Ambassador in Romania, praising the implementation of such a project at the level of several EU states members.

The project is a transnational one and involves exchanges of experience between the participating countries in order to develop a platform to encourage women to become actors in the economy.

Cristina CHIRIAC, President of National Association of Entrepreneurs ANAA (Romania) stated that "Entrepreneurship is an essential vector of economic growth and development: it creates new enterprises and jobs, opens new markets and stimulates new skills and abilities."

Almost 40% of the associates of companies that are active today in Romania are women. Business women are increasingly visible in the rankings of success. Their contributions are highly valued in all fields, from education and health, to civic activities, culture, entertainment, sports or politics.

The President of ANAA (National Association of Entrepreneurs) spoke about the priorities of the European Union after the pandemic: “a stronger Europe that becomes green, digital and more resilient. This implies a Union in which there is no place for racism and discrimination, where the role and place of women in economic development is appreciated and encouraged. I believe that this can be achieved if all states promote gender equality and facilitate the entry of women into entrepreneurship. I want Romania, as a member state of the European Union, to be on the list of members that implement public policies to encourage women entrepreneurs, and to contribute as much as possible to economic growth and diversification of the areas of competence within innovative sectors.’’

For her part, Agnes PUSCAS, SKC Consulting's lead project manager, states that: “Following the experience we are going through and due to the pandemic situation, we realized that it is very important to develop our resilience to shocks, a goal that we set out to do it within the WINGATE project. Other very important aspects are digital transformation, sustainability and inclusion. These are the long-term trends we need to work on for the future. "

As markets become more volatile and industries more and more innovative, business leaders need new growth strategies, focused on people, education and digitalization. The world in which we live has more and more virtual interactions with a major impact on the economies of the World: the impact of technology on human labor and the income distribution; adapting tax systems to the digital age; the role of technology in providing basic services for disadvantaged social strata and widespread access to continuing education, in order to create a workforce adapted to the digital age.

Nicoleta MUNTEANU, Vice President of National Confederation for Female Entrepreneurs CONAF (Romania), spoke about “Global studies that show that there is a discrepancy between the current skills of employees and the needs of employers generated by new technologies. Digital technologies, innovation and artificial intelligence are the new challenges for entrepreneurs, and companies need to adopt the digital technologies needed to reinvent their own business models in order to be competitive in these times of crisis ”. In this sense, she believes that there is a need to “create a fiscal framework that stimulates the development of the digital economy, the establishment of virtual headquarters, expanding the network of venture capital investment funds and flexibilizing the conditions of participation of startups in public projects that have as an object the development of useful applications on public platforms are some concrete measures to help build a business environment based on technological innovation and access to digital solutions ”.

Although statistics show that the COVID-19 pandemic had a disproportionate impact on the businesses owned by women around the world, 87% of them stated that they felt a strong negative impact. However, according to the same studies women have a degree of adaptability to change. much higher. Obviously, depending on the economic development of a state, they can adapt faster or slower, but they always manage to face the challenges.

Eszter SZABO president of the Women / Business / Angels Association - Hungary, economist and business professor at Budapest Business School, supports the importance of women entrepreneurs and business angels. "Western European countries have only 30 years of experience in the market economy, living until then in socialist countries with planned economies so we have to work hard to help those who want to become entrepreneurs or business angels. Also, it is extremely important that at the same table there are women entrepreneurs and women business angels to generate development and growth ", she declared during the WINGATE conference.

According to the latest published ranking, Norway is among the top countries in the world in terms of opportunities for women. "Norway has a woman-led government and a large number of women ministers, the next successor to the throne will be a woman and over 50% of private companies have women in middle management and an even larger number in state-owned companies, but only 16% of large companies listed on the stock exchange are run by women, which is a barrier that cannot be crossed too easily, but there is a rule that in the Boards of large companies there are at least 40% women”, says Marit H. SILSETH, Kvinner I Business project manager, from Norway. However, the evolutions are disproportionate if we analyze the figures from the countries participating in the project. While Norway leads in the ranking with a high standard of living for women and a high participation of women in business due to legislative measures and the impact of gender diversity on the economic performance of companies, the same cannot be said about the Republic of Moldova.

Sabina CRIGAN, Partener at Gateway&Partners, said: “Unfortunately, only 1 in 5 companies run by women are export-oriented. In Moldova the number is even lower, only 1 in 10 companies doing international business are run by women ".

In the Republic of Moldova, almost 70% of SMEs have reduced their income, there are companies that operate with less than 20-30% of the income they had in 2019, some do better but that depends a lot. "Unfortunately, this crisis has shown us that a large number of entrepreneurs do not have enough financial, digital, access to finance or budget strategy knowledges, so business communities that offer mentoring and support projects are very important", says Liliana BUSUIOC, executive director of the Alliance of Small and Medium Enterprises of Moldova.

To increase the number of women entrepreneurs and their influence in the economy of each state requires cooperation, strong partnerships, exchange of experience, reinventing the economy by adapting to current trends, interconnection and transparency and last but not least transnational cooperation.This was one of the main conclusions of the WINGATE “Together for a Green, Competitive and Inclusive Europe” debate.

The event is part of the WINGATE project and aims to help women entrepreneurs and business angels in their growth and development.The project partners are: SKC-Consulting (Hungary) lead partner, Serbian Venture Network (Serbia), Women Business Angels (Hungary), Kvinner i Business (Norway) and the National Association of Entrepreneurs (Romania), which also covers the Republic of Moldova.

The Wingate project is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation.

#WINGATE

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by SKC_Norway_Admin

Mobilising hidden resources for economic recovery and innovation

The potential of women as entrepreneurs and business angels

For the first time, Norway, Serbia, Romania, Hungary and Moldova have an opportunity to further build their unique region specific model of women's engagement in economic development through new companies. On 9 November 2020 the WINGATE project held its first online regional Forum. It was the first event of a series of seminars, forums and trainings co-financed by a three-year-grant from the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation. Throughout the WINGATE project Women/Business/Angels Association and its partners will continue to develop this new model of how to grow the number of women in innovation decision making as business angel investors and/or as entrepreneurs. This phenomenon is very much needed in this region with only 30 years history of market economy. The project will strongly engage stakeholders via regional conferences and potential angels through pilot trainings.

The Forum was opened by Trine Skymoen, the Norwegian Ambassador to Hungary. It was followed  by a panel of the partners of WINGATE. Women/Business/Angels Association addresses potential angel investors engaging stakeholders from Hungary and from the CEE region, the Serbian Venture  Network targets innovative start-ups from Serbia, the National Association of Entrepreneurs covers  female-led small enterprises from Romania and Moldova, while Kvinner i Business engages  entrepreneur women in Norway in the coordination of SKC-Consulting from Hungary.

At the end of the Forum, Taira-Julia Lammi, CEO of ABB Hungary Kft. and Advisory Board member  of Women/Business/Angels summarised the Forum’s key takeaway. „Innovation is at the heart of  today’s global economy. Non-profits need to work on innovation capacity building across the borders  mobilising hidden resources for economic recovery and innovation. I am happy that WINGATE,  and especially Women/Business/Angels I am involved in, received this long-term grant” - said Ms  Lammi. “This partnership will get this region’s innovation capacity and economic growth far if the  partners will find strong stakeholders and invested entrepreneurs to work with regional support,” said Aleksandar Bijelic, the MD of the Serbian Venture Network.

Check out and share #CEEforInnovationHub, #CoCreatingTheEconomicFuture, #WBAngelsCEEClub, #Wingate. Need more information? Please write to  womenbusinessangels@gmail.com or for interview call +36 30 251 4417

The WINGATE project is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway  Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation.

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by SKC_Norway_Admin