Huge Thing, established in 2012 by the SpeedUp group, continues to encourage female founders in Poland and Ukraine. The Female Founders Fundraising Academy is now accepting applications for its second instalment. The participants may find more details about the initiative and apply on the Huge Thing website.

Who can apply?

  • Female founders with Polish or Ukrainian citizenship.
  • Have experience in running their own business.
  • Have a startup that is ready to scale.

What does the second edition of the Female Founders Fundraising Academy offer?

Huge Thing finished the initial round of this program in May, assisting 15 women in the development of their companies, including BinderLess, Aimars, and Pocket IP. The next round of applications began in August, and the second edition of the Female Founders Fundraising Academy is planned to begin in October.

The eight-week program intends to give female entrepreneurs the skills and information they need to successfully obtain capital for the growth of their startups. In the course of the education program, they will obtain:

  • Expert guidance from experienced investors and entrepreneurs.
  • Practical fundraising skills including investment agreements, negotiations, valuations, and business model preparation.
  • Individualized support from mentors for goal achievement.
  • Extensive networking for access to VC investors and business angels.
  • Live Demo Day in Warsaw for founders to present solutions.

Fifteen startups from various market sectors and stages of development participated in the first edition of the academy.

"As BinderLess, we've been present on the Polish market for several years. My goal in participating in the first edition of the academy was to gain knowledge that I could apply to strengthen our position in the national market and prepare for international scaling. Both the workshops and the mentoring support were highly practical in the real world, which is undoubtedly a significant value of this program," remarks Aleksandra Owczarek, CEO of BinderLess, who is creating a cutting-edge platform for organising construction documentation and who attended the inaugural Female Founders Fundraising Academy.

About the program

  • This project, devoted to entrepreneurial women from Poland and Ukraine, focusses on enhancing founders' business skills and providing them with the tools they need to efficiently acquire financing and rapidly expand their businesses.
  • Startups led by women are underserved, raising only 1.8% of total capital invested in venture-backed startups in 2023. Huge Thing, in collaboration with Visa Foundation, has launched a series of free programs to support female founders from Poland and Ukraine. These include the grant-based program Female Pre-Accelerator and the Female Founders Fundraising Academy, which has opened its recruitment. Despite the changing market trend, there is still a need for initiatives to support entrepreneurial women in their journey.

“When designing our programs, we emphasized practical knowledge from experienced experts. In addition to a series of workshops, participants in our academy can expect mentoring, the opportunity to build a broad international network, and access to the Female Founders Club," Maria Tyka-Majewska, Senior Program Manager at Huge Thing, states.

  • The academy offers practical fundraising knowledge, including capital acquisition planning, brand communication, investor preparation, startup valuation development, and understanding legal aspects.