The Swiss bank's awards program, aimed at female entrepreneurs, is an example of the way in which wealth managers are trying to showcase their efforts to appeal to HNW women.

UBS has announced a shortlist of 10 entrepreneurs to enter its 2022 Female Founder Award, an example of how banks are seeking to align themselves with businesswomen as an increasingly important client segment.

The Zurich-listed bank’s award – the second iteration of the awards program – recognizes women in the fields of financial and enterprise technology. 

The shortlisted women are: 
Alice Nawfal, co-founder of Notabene (US); Caecilia Chu, CEO at YouTrip (Singapore); Danielle Lawrence, co-founder of Freyda Limited (UK); Khusboo Jha, founder aof BuyProperly Limited (Canada); Inga Mullins, CEO at Fluency Group Ltd. (UK); Nadine Mezher, co-founder of Sarwa (UAE); Lubomila Jordanova, CEO at Plan A (Germany); Natalia Mykhavlova, CEO of WeavAir (Canada); Paulina Grnarova, CEO at DeepJudge (Switzerland); and Sapir Hadad, co-founder of FinityX (Israel).

The winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000 and the opportunity to join the 2023 cohort of Project Female Founder, a four-month investor readiness, networking, and mentorship program created by UBS. The award is in collaboration with UBS Next, the firm’s venture and innovation unit.

The award’s ceremony will be broadcast live on UBS’s LinkedIn channel at 1300 GMT, tomorrow (3 February).

“The caliber of applicants we’ve received for this year’s award, shows the true impact that women are making in the fields of financial and enterprise technology,“ Emma Wheeler, head of women’s wealth at UBS Global Wealth Management, said. “The funding gap that exists between women entrepreneurs and their male counterparts is stark and, sadly, this reality is even greater for women of color and those in developing countries.”

In 2021, UBS published a report entitled: The funding gap: Investors and female entrepreneurs, which examined why the funding gap discrepancy exists and identified how to shrink it. 

“Research suggests that women who receive funding, develop businesses that outperform their male counterparts,” UBS said.

Boston Consulting Group says that equal participation in entrepreneurship would raise global GDP by 3 to 6 per cent, boosting the economy by up to $5 trillion.