Female Founders Finale👏 🏆

Five weeks.  

Forty female founders.  

Four Universities.  

Six finalists. 

One winner. 

The Female Founders programme is a collaboration bringing together four Birmingham universities to support and showcase female entrepreneurial talent from across our city. Due to exceptional demand, we welcomed fifty people to the first session, with seventeen being University of Birmingham (UoB) students/graduates. 

The programme brought together innovative women in the region over a six-week programme of practical workshops. A community was developed where participants gained the knowledge, tools, and inspiration to turn their ideas and passions into viable commercial ventures. 

A shortlist of finalists pitched to win a share of a £4,000 prize fund. Each university nominated a finalist, with additional wild card options being agreed upon by the institutions. The University of Birmingham had two students in the final, Serena Berko and Audrey Berling after they showed commitment and creativity throughout, well done both! Audrey was crowned the winner of Female Founders 2025. Congratulations Audrey for an excellent pitch and engagement throughout the competition. Audrey commented that the programme was: 

“Such an amazing experience to pitch my business start-up to a wonderful panel of investors and judges. Thank you so much for believing in me and giving 6 women the platform to be heard. Women-led businesses are incredibly important. I will never forget the amazing, 40 brilliant women I worked alongside throughout. 
 
This win was emotional, coming after a string of tough losses and questioning if I am capable. But as I try to practice what I preach to my students, if you work hard enough at something, get up after setbacks, and remain slightly crazy enough to believe anything is possible, you can achieve more than your wildest dreams.” - Post | Feed | LinkedIn 

 

Female Founders will be back in Autumn 2026. Express your Interest here. Who knows where this journey will take you?