Finland, November 13th, 2020. We are delighted to announce EVA Global’s Founder & coCEO, Dr Niina Hopper, has been selected for the Female Founders First Programme by Barclays & Techstars! The programme has invited 30 female founders across North America & Europe to take part in mentorship, opportunities for networking, a wide range of workshops and roundtables, together with brand-strengthening initiatives that have been created for female entrepreneurs to prepare for future rounds of funding and scaling plans. The six-week virtual programme allows for participants to be located anywhere in the world and offers a unique platform for sharing knowledge and experience amongst peers. The designers of Female Founders First highlight how the challenges and barriers faced by women in business are not only greater than those faced by their male counterparts, but the overall experiences encountered are vastly different. The opportunity of sharing stories of success and failures may therefore be one of the greatest strengths for reviewing the status quo in business and ultimately make way for positive disruption in the great multitude of industries this programme enlists.
Jennifer Jordan, Managing Director for the Female Founders First by Barclays and Techstars programme said: “We are bringing together 30 exceptional, trailblazing founders—some of whom are first-time entrepreneurs, and some who have walked the path before—to learn from and support each other. We are leveraging our networks and the power of the Techstars and Barclays brands to increase their access, amplify their voices, showcase their brand stories, and shatter the entrepreneurial glass ceiling.”
Female Founders First was launched this year as a one-off programme in response to the effects of the pandemic on female founders in what was already an uneven playing field. As start-ups around the world have been hit by the consequences of Covid-19, data shows the stark difference between female and male venture capital-backed tech founders, with female led companies only reaching 17% of the overall numbers for investment*. Europe has proven to be one of the worst-off regions for this disparity. According to the 2nd European Start-up Monitor*, only 14.8% of start-up founders in Europe are female. However, there is no doubt this challenging time is forcing change in all manners and realms; and initiatives such as a Female Founders First places the spotlight on the important message that cannot be repeated enough: collaboration leads to innovation.
EVA Global is founded on the mission of assisting the transition to e-mobility for a cleaner, greener and more sustainable transport system. At our core, we believe in breaking down the outdated with innovative solutions that can transform structures and traditions that do not serve the interests of our communities. Gender inequality in the workplace is undoubtedly a reality that has always existed and continues to exist today. However, start-ups have the advantage of building from the ground up and creating new models and norms.
Dr. Niina Hopper, EVAs Founder and co-CEO has shared “As a female founder, I have always held the principle of diversity close to heart and business. It is undoubtedly true that the transport sector has traditionally been a male-dominated industry and when I first began to attend conferences in e-mobility, I noticed the sector still resembled an outdated picture as I was one of the few women in attendance. However, this is quickly changing as more startups breathe fresh air into revolutionizing an old industry. I am happy EVA is contributing towards this green & social revolution. Diversity of thought and new collaborations are fundamental ingredients for the innovation required in e-mobility, and our team certainly resembles what the future workplaces will look like.”
At EVA, gender equality is a fundamental pillar for success, and we take great pride in that 80% of our managers are women: there is a 50/50 gender balance amongst our EV specialists; and rejoice in having a multilingual and multicultural team of over 20 different nationalities. Our company culture is built on the diversity of our team who carry out phenomenal work every day to install trust in eMobility.
*https://www.techstars.com/newsroom/30-entrepreneurs-selected-for-female-founders-first-programme-by-barclays *http://www.europeanstartupmonitor2019.eu/EuropeanStartupMonitor2019_2020_21_02_2020-1.pdf
About EVA Global
EVA Global is based in Finland and has offices in Spain and the UK. Founded in 2017, EVA is the leading Managed Services Provider fully dedicated to eMobility. We provide hotline services in 14 languages, and infrastructure management, including active monitoring and maintenance, to charge point operators, OEM’s and eMobility providers across 24 European countries.
For further information, please contact:
EVA Global, Niina Hopper, Tel: +358 40 6856808
EVA Global, Donald Hopper, Tel: +44 7399 962 310
Email: info@eva.global
