Female entrepreneurs experience proven more and different thresholds than men with their own BV. The gap is already visible when considering starting a company and only grows wider with each further step in the entrepreneurial journey. In order to turn the tide by improving the entrepreneurial climate for women, no less than 45 parties recently signed Code-V.
“Although we in the Netherlands are often proud of our competitive economy, at the same time there is a lot of untapped potential,” says initiator Chantal Korteweg, Director Social Impact & Inclusive Banking at ABN AMRO. “Research shows that equal entrepreneurial opportunities for women guarantee significantly more job growth, innovation, sustainability, greater financial resilience and an estimated 139 billion euros growth of the Dutch economy.”
One alliance
No fewer than 65 organisations – a mix of governments, financial institutions and interest groups – recently joined forces with their signatures as a single alliance behind Code-V. According to Korteweg, the idea originated from a working group of public and private parties that have worked together intensively in recent months. “Our goal is to improve the female entrepreneurial climate in the Netherlands by identifying barriers, making interventions and investing in female entrepreneurs.”
Investing in female entrepreneurs
In line with Code-V, ROM InWest also sets its own goals to improve the female entrepreneurial climate in the North Holland region. Nieboer: “We recently invested in four female entrepreneurs and that is not all. Mother Teresa once said that she could not change the world, but could only throw a stone in the water and watch the ripples spread. By signing Code-V, we at ROM InWest are doing our bit to help those ripples. With the ultimate goal of fully inclusive entrepreneurship.”
