_previewimage.webp)
The WIDE ANDCO social enterprise offers various programmes to improve gender equality, digital skills and entrepreneurship. Managing Director Marina Andrieu discusses priorities for 2025 and activities to support women entrepreneurs, including those in tech.
Luxinnovation
Yes, I have been involved in many initiatives and projects. What keeps me motivated is the persistence of the gender equality gap, in many areas: this is just not acceptable! I am also driven by the need to create a sustainable impact and make sure that other organisations and individuals can build on our experience and knowledge. I have seen many non-profit disappearing in the last couple of years: it’s a struggle to have your voice heard and to find resources to work with at the same time.
I strongly believe that gender equality is a part of the solution for many of the pressing problems on the planet. We know that there is a persistent gap: organisations and individuals need to better acknowledge the problem at their own level. But then the challenge of creating real societal shifts remains. Gender equality is too often presented as a business case but there are tremendous social benefits that it can bring, even into the most advanced economies. However, we need to be realistic. In a recent exchange of views at the European Parliament, I had the chance to also discuss the risks of the gender backlash in our societies, especially in the digital space.
We need to make sure that we are creating a positive environment to attract female founders. Women, especially the most educated ones, are well aware of the risk and opportunities created by AI and do not want to be excluded from it. We have many female researchers working on the topic in Luxembourg as well as a few founders developing ventures on the topic.
It is to keep supporting women entrepreneurs in Luxembourg, especially those developing startups and those using digital technologies to develop their businesses.
Another priority is to increase our capacity to help as many entrepreneurial projects as possible with our web development and prototyping, MVP, and no code services. On a personal level, I want to focus on supporting women entrepreneurs to access funding, as there are not enough women raising funds in Luxembourg.
We offer around 50 activities per year, mainly free of charge, thanks to our partners. In January, our first entrepreneurial sessions and Startup 101 session was a success with more than 20 people attending the training.
In February, we will run our next Digital Project Lab programme, a 2-week initiative that offers attendees the possibility to move from ideas to a first product. It’s a very useful session as we often see that there is no education around what it takes to build a product.
We are also happy to offer ad-hoc support hours to all female founders in the ecosystem, who have any questions on navigating governance, product and fundraising.
Do not build a product before talking to potential customers, always start with a prototype and a Minimum Viable Product. By reaching out to us, you can benefit from our decade long experience of working with female founders in Luxembourg.
