While in the US the visibility of women in technology startups is pretty well established, in Europe it’s suffered a little from the more general problem of the fragmented nature of the European tech scene. Things have improved slightly in recent years (at least that’s my impression, although who knows about the stats on the ground?), but it remains the case that there are far more men than women. So lifting the visibility of women in technology is no bad thing, especially if it encourages other women to pursue careers in tech startups, which are typically more about meritocratic, flat management that the traditional “IT” roles.
So it’s a welcome moment that the newly established Girls in Tech London group (@girlsintech_uk) has announced their pick of the Top 100 women in tech in Europe.
The group elected women from 19 different European countries (including the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Spain, Greece, Israel and Turkey) based on their leadership either locally or internationally as well as their contribution to tech and innovation.
The final list is unranked, so we’ve put it in alphabetical order (we’ll try to update with Twitter handles etc in due course):
Agata Mazur, Applicake/FutureSimple
Alisa Chumachenko, Game Insight
Amelie Faure, entrepreuer and startup mentor
Amit Knaani, ooVoo
Ann Marisa Freese, Pure Equity
Anne Sophie Pastel, Aufeminin.com
Avid Larizadeh, Boticca
Baiba Kaskina, CERT/SigmaNet
Barbara Labate, Risparmiosuper
Bindi Karia, Microsoft
Caitlin Winner, Amen
Catherine Barba, Cashstore.fr
Celine Lazorthes, Leetchi
Charlotta Falvin, TAT
Christine Karman, Stratix
Claire Houry, Ventech
Clare Reddington, iShed
Claudia Helming, DaWanda
Colette Ballou, Ballou PR
Constanze Buchheim, i-Potentials
Crsitina Galan, BitCarrier
Deborah Rippol, Startup Weekend
Demet Mutlu, Trendyol
Diana Saraceni, 360 Capital Partners
Eileen Burbidge, Passion Capital
Ela Madej, Applicake/FutureSimple/Credictive
Elaine Coughlan, Atlantic Bridge
Elena Masolova, Pixonic
Elizabeth Varley, TechHub
Erin Noordeloos, NBC Universal
Gali Ross, Razoss
Georgina Atwell, Apple
Helen Ryan, Creganna Tactx Medical
Helena Chari, TSN ICAP
Ingrid Lunden, TechCrunch
Irina Anghel, South East European Private Equity and Venture Capital
Jamillah Knowles, The Next Web
Jennifer Hicks, Forbes
Jessica Powell, Badoo
Joanna Shields, Facebook
Jude Ower, Playmob
Judith Clegg, Classhouse
Julana Chondrasch, Fashionism
Julie Sinnamon, Enterprise Ireland
Juliette Bellavita, tipsandtrip.com
Kathryn Parsons, Decoded
Kresse Wesling, Elvis & Kresse
Kristin Skogen Lund, Telenor
Lara Rouyes, Dealissime
Linda Summers, Skype
Liz Fleming, Venture Lab
Lydia Benko, Corporate Finance Partners
Marie Ekeland, Elaia Partners
Marina Tognetti, Myngle
Martha Lane Fox, Lastminute
Marina Kolesnik, Oktogo
Mel Exon, BHH Labs
Monika Garbaciauskaite, Delfi
Moran Bar, VentureGeeks
Natasha Friis-Saxberg, Gignal
Nathalie Gaveau, Shopcade
Natalie Massenet, Net-a-porter
Ola Sitarska, MyGuidie
Olivia Solon, Wired
Orit Hashay, Brayola
Paula Marttila, Startup guru and mentor
Rachel Bremer, Twitter
Raquel Iglesias, Totfan
Rebecca Barr, LivingSocial
Reshma Sohoni, Seedcamp
Robin Chase, Zipcar/BuzzCar
Sabine Fillias, Chasson Finance
Sandra Mesonero, Uniccos
Sara Ohlsson, DinnerHu
Sarah McVittie, Dressipi
Sherry Coutu, entrepreneur and investor
Simone Brummelhuis, Astia/TheNextWomen
Sofia Barattieri, Motilo
Sonali De Rycker, Accel Partners
Sophie Cornish, Notonthehighstreet
Stephanie Kaiser, Wooga
Sylvia Diaz-Montenegro, Leelo
Tiina Zilliacus, Gajarti Studios
Tine Thygesen, Everplaces
Tracy Doree, Llustre
Veerle Pieters, Duoh !
Verena Delius, Goodbeans/Panfu
Verena Delius, Young Internet
Viktorija Trimbel, Quantum Capital
Wendy Tan White, Moonfruit
The Judges included: Max Niederhofer (Accel Partners), Alex Farcet (Startupbootcamp), Patrick De Zeeuw (Startupbootcamp), Audrey Soussan (Ventech), Christian Thaler-Wolski (Wellington Partners), Paul Papadimitriou (Constellation Research), Marco Magnocavalo (Principia), Martin Kelly (IBM), Carl Sibersky (Poprigo), Cristobal Alonso (Bite Group), Oana Calugar (Neogen), Thibaud Elzière (Fotolia), Ciara Byrne (VentureBeat).
Part of the international Girls in Tech network, the new London chapter is backed by Google, Criteo and Eventbrite. An event in London today featured various speakers including those from Microsoft, NBC, Wired, Eventbrite, Uber, Just-Eat, StylistPick, Decoded, Shopcade, Seedcamp and more.
