The participation of women in Startup SuperNova is increasing year by year

The innovation environment in Iceland is in full bloom this season. The environment has prospered and matured, which can be seen most clearly in how many entrepreneurs attend events, workshops, lectures and conferences related to innovation. 

Women entrepreneurs have been catching up quite a bit in recent years and have successfully received good coverage in the main media in the country and abroad. The participation of women in business accelerators at KLAK-Icelandic Startups has also steadily increased. 

"It is very pleasing to see an increase in applications from female entrepreneurs to the Startup Supernova accelerator that KLAK is managing and is preparing these days. Throughout the years, the percentage of applications from women has been around 20%, but last year the percentage was 36% and this year it is around 40%. This is hopefully an indication that women are increasingly focusing on innovation in the field of scalable technical solutions" says Ásta Sóllilja Guðmundsdóttir, manager of KLAK - Icelandic Startups.

Digital HR solutions feature prominently in applications in this year's Startup SuperNova, which has seen a diverse group of startups from the early years of the accelerator and many different innovative solutions to various problems.  

"It's always difficult to choose from such a great group of candidates as this year. We are currently reviewing applications and will offer 10 startups to the business accelerator when that work is finished. In that case, we plan to have a barbecue party on July 20 on the balcony on the fourth floor of the Gróska ideiahus with a view of the fountains. It will be a happy hour for the startups, but everyone will give a one-minute elevator pitch in front of the accelerator's sponsors and other aspiring entrepreneurs”, says Ásta Sóllilja.

Startup SuperNova is a joint project of KLAK - Icelandic Startups and Nova with the support of Huawei, who have encouraged individuals to continue and not give up midway by offering workshops, KLAK VMS mentoring sessions, lectures, presentation training, media relations and events where knowledge is shared from entrepreneur to entrepreneur. 

Image: Renata Bade Barajas, co-founder of GreenBytes gave a lecture in Gróska's festival hall at the Masterclass Startup SuperNova at the end of June.