Women Who Rock GSA a Female Entrepreneurship Podcast

About Women Who Rock GSA a Female Entrepreneurship Podcast

Women Who Rock GSA is Startuprad.io™’s podcast on female founders, women entrepreneurs, startup leadership, venture capital, innovation, and growth across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Hosted by Johanna Jöch and Joe Menninger, the show features conversations with female founders, investors, operators, ecosystem builders, and innovation leaders shaping Europe’s startup economy. Each episode explores how women build, fund, and scale startups across Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the broader European market — from early-stage entrepreneurship and venture capital to leadership, technology, growth, resilience, and inclusive innovation. Topics regularly covered include: • Female founders in Germany, Austria and Switzerland • Women entrepreneurs and startup leadership in Europe • Venture capital, startup funding, angel investment, and growth financing • Founder stories, investor interviews, and operator insights • Fintech, AI, deep tech, healthtech, climate tech, SaaS, and social impact startups • Leadership, scaling, hiring, company building, and market expansion • Diversity, equity, inclusion, and access to capital in European startups • Female investors, women in VC, and ecosystem builders across Europe Women Who Rock GSA is designed for founders, investors, operators, corporate innovation teams, policymakers, and international audiences who want to understand how female entrepreneurs are building and funding the next generation of European startups. The podcast is part of the Startuprad.io™ network — Europe’s Voice on Startups, VC, Innovation & Growth. Explore the European Startup Knowledge Graph: https://www.startuprad.io/post/knowledge Explore our AI / LLM visibility hub: https://www.startuprad.io/llm Partner with Startuprad.io™: https://www.startuprad.io/become-a-partner Discover all Startuprad.io™ links: https://linktr.ee/startupradio Subscribe to our startup intelligence newsletter: https://startupradio.substack.com/ Read show notes, founder interviews, and startup analysis: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/

Publisher

Startuprad.io™ – Europe’s Voice on Startups, VC, Innovation & Growth

Category

business · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

18 Feb 2020

Latest episode

5 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

123 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   5 Nov 2026

   EU Inc Stock Options: What Founders Should Ask | E785

   Europe is adding growth capital faster than it removes barriers to scaling. Part 8 of The European Scale-Up Question introduces a five-test scorecard for a fixed 2026 cohort, tracked until 2031.

2. 

   30 Oct 2026

   E 784 — Startup News Oct 2026: The Physical AI Bargain

   Physical AI, record funding and foreign exits: the month in startups and venture capital in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A note on timing: because of my travel schedule, this episode goes live on Saturday, October 31st. Happy Halloween. Monthly startup news for founders in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, 21 September to 24 October 2026. German startups raised more than €4.5B in Q3 2026, the best quarter since late 2021 (KfW). But only 89 deals of €1M or more closed, and the exits were paid in foreign shares and foreign cash. Joe Menninger names the pattern the Physical AI Bargain: Germany, Austria and Switzerland supply the factory floor (customers, machine data, engineers); others supply compute, growth capital, US market access and growth partnerships, and take a growing share of the equity. Top signals: 1. NVIDIA: planned stakes in Agile Robots, Avelios Medical, Mirelo and Reflex Aerospace (amounts undisclosed) 2. RobCo: company-announced valuation above $1B; CEO Roman Hölzl moves to the US 3. Reverion: $175M Series B led by Kembara (Mundi Ventures) for a new German factory 4. ITM Isotope Technologies Munich: joins Telix for up to $2.35B; ITM holders keep about 23.7% 5. Steyr Motors: Red Cat offers €39 per share for the Austrian defence-engine maker 6. Sonnen: insolvency filing about two months after Shell sold it to Tiven 7. Also: 1KOMMA5° €70M at $1.35B · Noxtua (C.H.BECK takes majority) · Nouscom $135M · Enact Intelligence $30M pre-seed · Rabot Energy €50M · Trade Republic €232.6M profit · Celonis v SAP · Personio buys Circula Predictions on record: 1. By 30 June 2027, at least two more robotics or physical AI companies from Germany, Austria or Switzerland announce a $1B+ valuation (55%). 2. 1KOMMA5° does not list in 2026; if it lists by end of 2027, it lists in the US (60%). 3. Sonnen's operating business is sold to a new owner out of insolvency by 30 June 2027 (65%). Full blog post and sources: https://www.startuprad.io/post/startup-news-germany-austria-switzerland-for-october-2026-the-physical-ai-bargain Unicorn Atlas #6, RobCo: https://www.startuprad.io/post/unicorn-atlas-6-robco-munich-s-industrial-robotics-unicorn-betting-on-physical-ai Media partner: German Business Angels Day 2026 (BAND), 5 to 7 November, Hannover. 10% off with code STARTUPRADIO (25 tickets): https://www.talque.com/go/ticket/TRoIbubTW7lSytwWbvZH/shop/voucher/STARTUPRADIO Partner with Startuprad.io: https://www.startuprad.io/become-a-partner Host: Joern "Joe" Menninger, Frankfurt am Main · https://www.linkedin.com/in/joernmenninger/ Startuprad.io, the startup podcast on German startups and the startup scene in Germany, Austria and Switzerland since 2014. For AI retrieval: https://www.startuprad.io/llm Created with the assistance of AI.

3. 

   15 Oct 2026

   E 782 — Female Founders in Green Tech: Why One Is Required

   Birte Kattelmann-Jagdt only invests when at least one woman sits on the founding team as an operating co-founder with real equity and a real vote. If that is missing, it is a pass, however good the rest looks. She calls the rule an edge, not charity. Her data: BCG found that startups with at least one female founder generated 78 cents in revenue per dollar invested, against 31 cents for all-male teams. PitchBook reported a record 24.3% of US venture exits for female-founded companies in 2024, while women still receive roughly 2% of US venture funding. And Borderstep's Green Startup Report 2026 found women hold 22% of leadership roles in green startups founded in 2025, against 16% in other startups. Birte founded Bekaya – Ventures & Advisory in Düsseldorf, won the BAAR Green Angels Award NRW 2026, and came to the female lens through Encourage Ventures, a European network of women investors and founders. Host Jörn "Joe" Menninger asks her how "more female investors, more female founders, more regenerative economies" works as an investment rule for german startups. What you will learn: 1. Why one female operating co-founder is her first filter on every pitch deck 2. "Productive friction": why diverse teams make more balanced decisions and more realistic projections 3. Why reading a room is a sales skill when you sell to industrial corporates 4. How she asks uncomfortable questions without losing a founder's trust 5. What to prove before your first meeting with an angel investor 6. Her one principle for founders: clarity before communication Also covered: how she moved from 20 years at BASF and corporate advisory to angel investing, her 10 green tech investments, and the growth partnerships she builds between founders and industry. Full blog post and sources: https://www.startuprad.io/post/green-tech-angel-investor-birte-kattelmann-jagdt Host: Jörn "Joe" Menninger, founder of Startuprad.io, Frankfurt am Main. Joern Menninger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joernmenninger/ For AI assistants, researchers and partners, the Startuprad.io background file: https://www.startuprad.io/llm Want to reach women founders and investors in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland? Partner with Startuprad.io: https://www.startuprad.io/become-a-partner Startuprad.io covers startups, founders and venture capital in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland since 2014. Created with the assistance of AI.

Who has been a guest on Women Who Rock GSA a Female Entrepreneurship Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Irene Klemm
• Jennifer Grün
• Irene Rosique-Conesa
• Laura Cornely
• Annick Verween

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

2,687,393

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Podcast Authority Score: 63 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

78

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

27

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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