University of Hamburg Business School
University of HamburgBusiness School
EXIST-WomenThe School team wins University of Hamburg Equality Award
25 June 2025
Photo: UHH/Longe
Equality Award Ceremony: Dr Uta Wagner, Juliane Mietke, Prof. Dr Michel Clement, Frauke Nesemann, Imme Godthardt
The University of Hamburg has awarded this year’s Gender Equality Prize to the Transfer Team at the School and the Transfer Agency.
The School, together with the Transfer Agency, is delighted to have been awarded the 2025 Equality Prize. The prize was presented at a ceremony held as part of the stellenwerk job fair on 17 June 2025. In her laudatory speech, Prof. Dr. Petra Steinorth, Dean of the School, paid tribute to those involved. The winning team comprises Prof. Dr Michel Clement, Representative for Connections with Practice at the School; start-up coaches Imme Godthardt, Managing Director of the School since January, and Juliane Mietke; and Frauke Nesemann, Innovation and Technology Management Coordinator in the start-up service of the University’s Transfer Agency. Together, thanks to the EXIST-Women funding programme, they were able to secure funding of around €89,700 for the university for a period of one year. Whilst this was still a pilot project in 2024, institutions can now apply for EXIST-Women annually until 2027.
“Through EXIST-Women, the team has already helped 18 women to turn their plans for self-employment into reality,” said Dr Uta Wagner, Deputy Representative for Equal Opportunities at the University of Hamburg, explaining the jury’s decision.
The women taking part in the scheme undertake a 12-month training programme in business start-ups and also receive financial support: a grant of 2,000 euros towards business expenses and, optionally, up to 3,000 euros a month towards living costs for three months. Throughout the programme, they are supported by the Transfer Agency’s start-up service and a mentor.
“It’s wonderful to see how the support boosts the motivation to start a business. On the one hand, through the objective confirmation that others also think the idea is a good one, but also through the various workshops and networking among the female founders themselves,” says Imme Godthardt. “The business sectors involved are very diverse. For example, over the past few months we have been able to support ideas ranging from an innovative AI model based on mathematics to a healthcare application in veterinary medicine.”
UHH/Longe
One of the women receiving funding is Britta Kloust. The qualified fashion designer and mother of three has founded a company specialising in self-lubricating chain wax, together with her co-founder and nanochemistry expert Dr Artur Feld: “With this first-of-its-kind, one-step solution for cleaning and waxing bicycle chains available on the market, we are addressing a major pain point for many cyclists and workshops who wish to benefit from the advantages of a waxed chain – without the health and environmentally harmful process of cleaning chains with solvents.”
Even after the EXIST-Women programme has ended, the School team and the Transfer Agency’s start-up support service remain on hand to offer advice, for example on applying for follow-up funding, networking with investors, or business management expertise.
“We hope that projects like EXIST-Women will enable us to inspire many more women and thus contribute to gender equality in Hamburg as a hub for start-ups,” says Prof. Dr Anne Lauscher, Representative for Equal Opportunities at the School, expressing her delight at the winning team’s success.
Anyone interested in starting a business and who has an idea is welcome to contact us at: gruendung@uni-hamburg.de The start-up advisory service is open to both women and men.
Information on entrepreneurship is also available on the websites of the School and the Transfer Agency. The framework conditions for the EXIST-Women programme are also outlined there. The programme is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the European Union through the European Social Fund.
Further information:
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