Building Bridges: How Carina Klaffl Is Reshaping Europe’s Tech Ecosystem
The former co-CEO of Female Founders reveals how strategic relationship-building became her superpower.
Written by: Paige Bennett
Introduction
When Carina Klaffl speaks about the future of European tech, there's an unmistakable conviction in her voice — the kind that comes from someone who has spent years witnessing both the immense potential and the glaring gaps in the ecosystem she calls home.
The numbers tell a stark story: In 2021, only 1.1% of all VC funding in Europe went to women-only startups, and just 8% went to mixed-gender teams. Even more telling? One-hundred percent of female founders polled by Antler VC say the European investor ecosystem is biased against women. But here's where it gets interesting — VC management teams composed mostly of women outperform men-only teams by 9.3 percentage points in IRR.
As former co-CEO of Female Founders, Carina was overseeing a community that has grown to over 82,000 entrepreneurial women across Europe, but her journey to this role reveals a deeper story about how strategic relationship-building can become a force for systemic change.
Since our first conversation with Carina, her vision has continued to expand and evolve, and Female Founders has grown from a promising organization to one of Europe's most influential platforms for female entrepreneurship, with their Grow F program now recognized as one of Europe's top accelerators for female founders.
The organization’s alumni have collectively raised over €35M from prominent investors including Credo Ventures, HTGF, Cusp Capital, Capital T, and Plug & Play.
Recent success stories underscore the impact of Carina's approach: Finmarie became the first online investment solution made by women for women in Europe, backed by HTGF; and Renoon, a conscious fashion shopping platform, secured funding from San Francisco-based 500 Global.
"Gender diversity is one of the biggest untapped opportunities that we see in the tech ecosystem," Carina explains. "For us, tech and entrepreneurial women equals an equal future."
It's a philosophy that has guided her transformation from partnerships professional to ecosystem architect, building bridges where others saw insurmountable walls.
The journey behind the vision
A great passion for entrepreneurship led Carina to her former role as co-CEO of Vienna-based startup Female Founders, a growing community of entrepreneurial women in Europe whose vision is to reshape the economy and empower females in tech and innovation. The organization aims to solve two of the biggest pain points in the European tech ecosystem: access to funding for female-led ventures and access to female talent.
Prior to that role, Carina led Female Founder's startup accelerator, Grow F, for over a year and a half — collaborating closely with 79 female-led ventures and guiding them toward becoming investment-ready.
Carina's professional background includes driving sales and business development for several startups in Vienna and Amsterdam. She formerly held the title of Head of Partnerships at Pioneers, one of the first platforms in Europe to bring together startups, investors, and corporations.
We spoke with Carina to learn more about the origin of her career, the curriculum and vision for Female Founders, the trends she sees in the VC industry, and what’s next for Carina.
Working in partnerships
HubSpot for Startups: How did your experience working in partnerships prepare you for your work as co-CEO at Female Founders?
Carina: For me, the drive to working in partnerships and business development either for startups or startup ecosystem players was always a strong belief that with technological solutions we can change the world for the better. In partnerships, you learn a lot about building relationships which is crucial for the role of a CEO for the relationships you have with your employees, shareholders, and external stakeholders. At Female Founders we also see ourselves as strong community builders — bringing various important stakeholders together.
The curriculum and vision: from accelerator to investment powerhouse
HSFS: What type of women make up the target audience for Female Founders?
Carina: Any woman that either wants to start a tech startup herself or wants to make a career in the European startup and tech ecosystem — that's who we are actively addressing with our programs and events. Specifically, in our startup program we work with first-time founders that often lack a network within the ecosystem.
HSFS: What can women hope to learn in the Grow F accelerator program?
Carina: Grow F is designed for startup founders that are looking to raise their first institutional rounds will learn how to drive the fundraising process and negotiate terms, and get hands-on insight into all materials necessary for their fundraiser — ranging from bullet-proof pitch decks to financial plans. Moreover, they will not only be connected to their peers and a mentor but also to our wider community including Europe's leading early-stage investors. The Grow F program was named one of "Europe's Top 8 Accelerators for Female Founders."
Rising stars: the next generation of impact-driven startups
The annual Female Founders Experience conference showcases the most promising gender-diverse startups across Europe. The most recent conference concluded in May 2025, while the 2024 edition featured 30 innovative companies selected from over 250 applications, highlighted in their "Rising Startups Report."
These startups span critical sectors:
- ClimateTech leaders like resourcly (Germany), building AI-based shared inventory for circular supply chains
- HealthTech innovators such as The Blue Box (Spain), which developed a urine-based breast cancer test outperforming mammography
- FemTech pioneers including Hormona (U.K. & Sweden), revolutionizing hormonal health through AI and at-home testing
- Impact-driven solutions like Phaeosynt (Germany), producing plant-based antibodies as sustainable alternatives to animal-derived options
The data reveals telling patterns: 73% of these startups are B2B, with Germany leading at 40% of companies, followed by Austria (23%) and the U.K. (10%).
Success stories
HSFS: What have been some of the biggest success stories from individuals/companies who have completed the Female Founders accelerator program?
Carina: It's hard to pick one individual success story. To date, our Grow F alumni have raised a total of over €35M including VC funds like Credo Ventures, HTGF, Cusp Capital, Capital T, Plug & Play, Trind, and many more. We are very proud of their progress and are sure that we will hear more about the companies as they continue to grow. Many of the alumni have used the program to formulate their future vision and also start their own companies.
The market reality: challenges and opportunities
HSFS: What are some of the biggest challenges you faced during your time as a CEO?
Carina: Two of my major challenges involve balancing different aspects. The first one is about finding the fine line between concentrating internally on the team and their development and supporting them on their journey, while at the same time having your eye on the external world and further developing the organization — building and maintaining relationships with external stakeholders. Being a small business with now 20 team members, it is always a balancing act between Operations and Strategy. It often requires refocusing and setting the right priorities.
In addition to those two challenges that are universal, the current market environment is something that is always on my mind. Many of the founders in our ecosystem are affected by the slowdown of investments and have to find ways to extend their runway.
Trends in the VC Industry
HSFS: What are some of the trends you're seeing in the startup and venture capital world? Do you think the percentage of female founders will increase in the coming years?
Carina: The current investment landscape is very challenging for startups, scale-ups, and investors. While there was a 30% funding decline for male-only and female-only teams, the funding decline for mixed teams was only 11% according to Atomico's State of European Tech 2022 report. That is interesting because it proves the point that gender-diverse teams are more resilient.
LP's are no longer just interested in pure ROI, but also push ESG topics. So most VCs are now looking into DEI strategies for their own fund and also expecting this from their portfolio companies.
Fund F: putting money where the mission is
The Female Founders organization has experienced a time of great transformation in the past few years. First, a new CEO, Natascha Fürst has taken the helm with a goal to strengthen partnerships and continue growth.
Female Founders has also made a game-changing move into venture capital with Fund F, a €28M fund specifically designed to back gender-diverse founder teams. The fund focuses on pre-seed and seed stage technology startups with at least one woman on the founding team and equal representation on the cap table, writing tickets up to €600K.
Fund F targets startups developing products with positive impact on humanity, specifically in ClimateTech, HealthTech, FemTech, FinTech, and HR Tech. The fund is backed by institutional investors including aws (Austria Wirtschaftsservice), RLB Steiermark, and founders from successful companies like Runtastic and Busuu, with over one-third of its investors being women.
Looking forward: patterns of success and future vision
In the time since our first conversation, Carina's insights about the patterns that drive entrepreneurial success have been validated by the achievements of Female Founders' alumni. Through her work with hundreds of female-led startups, she has developed a keen understanding of what separates successful ventures from those that struggle.
"Founders that are eager to learn, take on feedback and are able to adapt to changing market requirements have a greater chance of succeeding," Carina said.
This perspective continues to shape how Female Founders creates what she describes as "a safe place for entrepreneurs to share concerns, fears, or challenges," recognizing that vulnerability and openness to feedback are actually strengths in the entrepreneurial journey.
As the European tech ecosystem continues to evolve, Carina sees two major trends shaping the future: an expanded focus on diversity beyond gender to include ethnicity and other dimensions, and the growing importance of impact investing alongside traditional ROI considerations. These trends represent validation of the approach Female Founders has taken from the beginning — that building a more inclusive ecosystem isn't just morally imperative, it's also better business.
Success is not just imminent but already evident in the growth of Female Founders and the tangible impact on female leaders succeeding in their careers across the continent. Through programs, events, consulting, and now investment, Carina has built the infrastructure that will enable the next generation of European entrepreneurs to succeed regardless of their background — creating new pathways to capital, networks, and opportunities where none existed before.
Author: Paige Bennett
Paige is a freelance editor and writer with nearly a decade of professional experience covering marketing, sales, and lifestyle content. Her work appears on the main HubSpot blogs, Business Insider, Better Homes & Gardens, Reader's Digest, and more. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Ohio University, specializing in gender studies and sustainability. Fun fact: as of this writing, she has sustained a 1,200+ day meditation streak (we can only imagine what her Duolingo streak must be!)
