On the occasion of International Women's Day on 8 March, with the motto ‘Rights. Justice. Action.’, the SRH Gründer-Institut is sending a clear message.
Heidelberg, 6 March 2026
Entrepreneurial thinking is a key skill for the job market of the future – whether in starting your own business, working for yourself or driving innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises.
Nevertheless, recent studies show that women continue to be underrepresented in start-ups. According to the ‘Female Founders Monitor 2025’, the proportion of women founding start-ups in Germany is only around 18.8% and has even fallen slightly compared to the previous year. This means that valuable ideas, perspectives and innovation potential remain untapped.
This is where the Start-up Institute of the education and healthcare provider SRH comes in. Since 2010, it has been supporting founders on their path to self-employment and entrepreneurship – from the initial idea to its realisation.
A particular focus is on the EXIST Women programme, which specifically supports women in the early stages of setting up their businesses. In addition to financial support, the programme also offers individual coaching and structured guidance in developing viable business models.
"Female entrepreneurs often underestimate their ideas or doubt their own entrepreneurial skills. With our structure and strong network, we at the SRH Start-up Institute can make a real difference. Entrepreneurial activity is a skill that can be developed," encourages Prof. Bernhard Küppers, who heads the Start-up Institute based in Heidelberg.
Together with more than 50 partner companies, the SRH Start-up Institute offers the opportunity to test and realise innovative ideas in practice on the market through its strong network.
The results are impressive: More than 30 female founders have been specifically supported at the SRH Gründer-Institut with the EXIST Women scholarship, and more than half of these scholarship holders have since founded their own companies. This has even enabled six of the female founders to receive the large EXIST start-up scholarship.
The EXIST Women programme is aimed specifically at all women who think entrepreneurially or want to start their own business – regardless of their industry or starting situation. This brings the motto of International Women's Day to life: rights create opportunities. Justice means access to resources. Action means actively supporting female founders as they take the step into self-employment.
Because true equality arises when all interested founders, male and female, are given economic power to shape their own futures.
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