ifempower

Multiplier Event 2021

Virag Zsar
Virag Zsar
Fanni Bobak
Fanni Bobak

Concept of Multiplier Event aimed to present and to discuss findings of ifempower in-depth research on female entrepreneurship and about special influence of COVID-19 crisis. The keynote speech on the the report about female entrepreneurs in the time of COVID19 was delivered by Head of Divison for International Cooperation from Hetfa, Ms. Virág ZsárThe second keynote speech on the findings of ifempower in depth research (IO1) and introduction of ifempower project was delivered by Ms. Fanni Bobak, senior international expert. Talks towards information presented by the Lead Partner were conducted by another Hetfa representative, Ms. Zsuzsanna Angyal. Showcasing the ifempower training schools was another important part of the first day speeches and it was presented by Dr. Erzsébet Fanni Tóth, lecturer at Sigmund Freud University. Session about online toolkit presented by Ms. Ana Cristina Fernandes from Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação (SPI) was mainly addressed to students who were eager to access it as soon as possible. Audience of the event was made up from professionals invited by the project partners. Location of the invitees varied from Brazil to Azerbaijan. An intensive online campaign was conducted in order to promote this beautiful initiative which is ifempower.

Zsuzsanna Angyal
Zsuzsanna Angyal
Erzsébet Fanni Tóth
Erzsébet Fanni Tóth
Ana Fernandes
Ana Fernandes

Pitch Section

Pitch Section. Students, participating at ifempower Winter School, presented their business concept to our international jury:

  • Eszter Szabó (Hungary) – Founder and first President of Women/Business/Angels (2017). With more than 15 years’ experience of Corporate Communications, PA & GR at regional executive level in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) with GE (1996-2015) and with the government. Honorary Professor at Budapest Business School. Since 2016 member of Krynica Economic Forum’s Program Council (Poland) and co-chair of the Hungarian Female Leadership Roundtable.
Eszter Szabo
Eszter Szabo
María Nieto Fajardo
María Nieto Fajardo
  • María Nieto Fajardo (Spain) – As a manager and entrepreneur, she has participated in the start-up, restructuring, professionalization and development of companies in sectors as diverse as FMCG, international distribution, real estate, healthcare and renewable energies. She has experience as a consultant in conceptual and economic feasibility analysis, design of the organizational structure and business processes, identification of strategic partners, designs of implementation actions, creation of international commercial networks and in-company trainings.
  • Katalin Czirjék (Romania) – Community builder, event organizer, public speaker, entrepreneur. Founder of Transylvanian Women Entrepreneurs, and Vice-President of Transylvanian Art and Trade.
Katalin Czirjék
Katalin Czirjék

Four winners of the pitching session were awarded:

  • “Best Innovative” award went to Ana Isabel Rodriguez Martinez from AEFPA Spain. Her business idea is based on an online tool for networking durint or after events and answers the question “how to retain the real value of the networking events and exchanging business cards?”.
  • “Best pitch” award went to Sara Mariottini whose idea of business is based on a scientific method for measuring customer satisfaction by data driven solution to analyze social digital behaviour.
  • „Audience award” went to Anabella Bagoly from Sapientia University of Romania. She aims to establish an association to connect children with elderly people, including all vulnerable layers of society.
  • “Best Business Plan Award went to Petra Böhm from Corvinius University of Budapest. She will open a speciality coffee bar and impressed with detailed planning on developing this business.

For more information about the winning ideas, please visit this page.

Roundtable discussion

Roxana Stefania Boboruta
Roxana Stefania Boboruta

Roundtable discussion “How does the idea become a business?” was moderated by Roxana Boboruta, project manager of the hosting partner Steinbeis. This session was a demo, mainly addressed to students, on how business talks go in general when it is about asking support to specialized organizations. 2 experts answered general questions gravitating towards chances to get support (financial included) or professional mentorship for developing ideas presented during pitch session.

Jürgen Raizner
Jürgen Raizner

Guests of roundtable discussion:

  • Clara López Pliego – specialist in strategic planning, consultant and manager of innovation projects on behalf of Barrabés.biz from Spain
  • Jürgen Raizner – founder and director of Steinbeis centers from Bucharest, Vienna, Uzhhorod and Stuttgart.
Clara López Pliego
Clara López Pliego

During this session was very valuable to hear if or how the ideas presented by ifempower students are competitive enough for successful integration in the the complexity of digital transformation, if they qualify to benefit from different (and specialized) open innovation programs or different mentorship or consultancy for further strategic market planning. Was also valuable to hear which are the first steps to jump from idea to business action and what networks and EU programs are available for developing these ideas.