Boost Henne* is a student-driven organisation targeting female students who would like to explore what entrepreneurship and starting your own company means. Boost Henne is also part of Spark NTNU**, a free service for all NTNU students where they can register their idea and get a student mentor assigned to them that will help them reach the next step in bringing this idea to life.
Boost Henne was established following an NTNU study from 2018 that showed a clear imbalance in gender and entrepreneurship, as only 14 % of the students who applied for a student mentor from Spark NTNU were women. Since the establishment of Boost Henne, the share of female students using the mentorship offering increased to 24% in 2020 – a clear indication that the efforts implemented are having an effect.
Frøya Ventures AS will be part of a business network aimed at supporting the Boost Henne founders in taking their companies to the next stage, and will contribute with knowledge, networks and guidance from an investor perspective to strengthen women entrepreneurs. “Frøya Ventures will also contribute to relevant events and expose students to female role models they can identify with and be inspired by” says founder and managing partner Camilla Dybendal, who has been the main architect behind this partnership from the Frøya Ventures side. ”This is required”, state Åshild Hanne Larsen and Ann Christin Spone “as only 3 out of 10 founders in Norway are women, resulting in lost opportunities for value creation both at an individual and a societal level”.
“A partnership with Frøya Ventures is very interesting to us, as we have a shared vision of increasing the number of women entrepreneurs” says Mille Marie Isaksen, Head of Business Relations Boost Henne. “We really look forward to the collaboration and to the improvements and results we can achieve together.”
