Just 13 of the companies on this year’s Sifted 100, a leaderboard of France and Southern Europe’s fastest-growing startups by revenue figures, were founded by women. Notably, three of them made it into the top 10.
The gender gap is particularly stark in certain sectors: only one of the 21 fintechs featured on the list was co-founded by a woman, and there is no female founder representation at all in the deeptech category — a space that’s associated with AI and machine learning technologies and heavy R&D investment. This supports similar findings that just 7% of deeptechs are founded by all-women teams, and only a quarter of the AI workforce in Europe is made up of women.
Here are the women who have launched and scaled some of France and Southern Europe’s fastest-growing companies.
Salma Bakouk — Sifflet
Sector: B2B SaaS
2025 rank: 4
Role: cofounder and CEO
Salma Bakouk is the cofounder and CEO at Sifflet, a platform that helps organisations keep tabs on the quality, reliability and lineage of their data. Before launching Sifflet in 2021, Bakouk worked as an executive director at investment bank Goldman Sachs. She holds degrees in commerce and mathematics.
Delphine Groll — Nabla
Sector: Healthtech
2025 rank: 5
Role: cofounder and COO
Delphine Groll is the cofounder and chief operations officer at Nabla, an AI assistant which helps doctors automate clinical documentation and reduce administrative workload. Groll has launched two startups before founding Nabla in 2018: monthly subscription healthy foodbox service Gretel, and communications agency APc Startup. She’s also led communications at digital media publication Aufeminin, and media and e-commerce company My Little Paris.
Karly Alves Ribeiro — Sheerme
Sector: Consumer
2025 rank: 6
Role: cofounder and chief operations officer (Brazil)
Karly Alves Ribeiro is cofounder and chief operations officer for Brazil at Sheerme, a platform that lets users find, book and pay for wellness and beauty services while earning cashback. Before founding Sheerme in 2021, Alves Ribeiro worked as a finance associate at delivery app Zomato and launched Reveal Portugal, a publication promoting Portuguese culture and real estate. She also began angel investing in November 2024.
Silvia Wang — Serenis
Sector: Healthtech
2025 rank: 11
Role: cofounder and CEO
Silvia Wang is cofounder and CEO at Serenis, a mental health platform which connects users with licensed therapists for video consultations and therapy plans. Before founding Serenis in 2021, Wang launched Prontopro, Italy’s largest local service marketplace. In 2024, she also launched a management software platform for psychologists, Gesto, where she serves as cofounder and CEO.
Danila De Stefano — Unobravo
Sector: Healthtech
2025 rank: 27
Role: founder and CEO
Danila De Stefano is founder and CEO at Unobravo, a startup which matches users with therapists for remote psychology sessions. Before founding Unobravo in 2019, De Stefano had built up a variety of experiences within mental health services: working as a support worker and case worker at charities, a researcher at universities and a self-employed online psychologist.
Kenza El Ghadouini — Onepilot
Sector: B2B SaaS
2025 rank: 32
Role: cofounder and chief human resources officer
Kenza El Ghadouini is cofounder and chief human resources officer at Onepilot, a startup helping businesses to optimise their outsourced customer care services by enhancing the operations of human agents with automation. Before founding Onepilot in 2021, El Ghadouini led operations at mineral water supplier Les Eaux Minérales d’Oulmès, food delivery startup Foodora and door-to-door dry cleaning service Cowash.
Maria Alvarez — Barkibu
Sector: Fintech
2025 rank: 33
Role: cofounder
Maria Alvarez is the cofounder of Barkibu, a fintech which offers digital pet insurance and AI-powered veterinary services for dogs and cats across Spain. Before joining Barkibu in 2020, Alvarez held management roles at Google, was vice president of marketing at fintech CoverWallet and founded pet tech company Rufus Pets.
Patricia Seoane — Barkibu
Sector: Fintech
2025 rank: 33
Role: cofounder and CPO
Patricia Seoane is cofounder and leads on product at Barkibu. Before founding Barkibu in 2011, Seoane worked at Madrid-based modelling agency IDI Models.
Nadia Neytcheva — Doctorsa
Sector: Healthtech
2025 rank: 35
Role: founder and CEO
Nadia Neytcheva is founder and CEO of Doctorsa, a platform which connects travellers and expats with local doctors for 24/7 online medical consultations. Before founding Doctorsa in 2020, Neytcheva worked in consultancy, research and operations, and had also founded Doctors in Italy, a Rome-based clinical practice and accompanying digital platform for travellers seeking healthcare.
Emmanuelle Sanchez — Amenitiz
Sector: B2B SaaS
2025 rank: 57
Role: cofounder and CRO
Emmanuelle Sanchez is the cofounder and chief revenue officer at Amenitiz, a Barcelona-based startup offering all-in-one management software for independent hotels, B&Bs and property managers. Before founding Amenitiz in 2018, Sanchez was no stranger to startups, having previously founded a leisure and wellness platform and a wedding management app.
Erika De Santi — Weroad
Sector: Consumer
2025 rank: 61
Role: cofounder and chief of experience
Erika De Santi is cofounder and chief of experience at Weroad, a travel startup that organises group adventure holidays for young adults. Before founding Weroad in 2017, she worked as a travel agent in Verona, and then in product and marketing at digital marketing agency Wish Days.
Laure Betsch — Fairly Made
Sector: Climate tech
2025 rank: 63
Role: cofounder
Laure Betsch is cofounder at Fairly Made, a SaaS platform which helps fashion brands trace, measure and improve the environmental and social impact of their products. Before founding Fairly Made in 2018, Betsch worked in the management and development of products for fashion retailers like high-street shop & Other Stories, and helped coordinate supply chain operations for Sl Sourcing.
Camille Le Gal — Fairly Made
Sector: Climate tech
2025 rank: 63
Role: cofounder, co-CEO and CPO
Camille Le Gal is cofounder, co-CEO and chief product officer at Fairly Made. She has five years of experience in the luxury and handicraft sector at brands like Louis Vuitton and Chanel. She’s also an angel investor in female-founded projects.
Lucia Cinque — Whitelab Genomics
Sector: Healthtech
2025 rank: 75
Role: founder and chief of staff
Lucia Cinque is founder and chief of staff at Whitelab Genomics, a startup which uses AI to accelerate the development of genomic medicines. Before founding Whitelab Genomics in 2019, Cinque led product and innovation at a variety of biotechs and pharmaceutical companies such as Genomic Vision, Endodiag, Apricity and Wörwag Pharma.
Roberta Bursi — Insilico Trials
Sector: Healthtech
2025 rank: 89
Role: cofounder and chief scientific officer
Roberta Bursi is cofounder and chief scientific officer at Insilico Trials, a SaaS solution using AI and computational models to simulate preclinical and clinical scenarios to accelerate the development of drugs. Before founding Insilico Trials in 2019, Bursi worked in clinical development for research institutes and pharmaceutical companies, and had also launched PharmaD3 Consulting, to help the biopharmaceutical ecosystem develop drugs faster and more affordably.
Startups were only eligible if they were founded in or after 2010, could provide at least three years of revenue data (with a minimum of €50k in the first year and €500k in the most recent) and be private and independent
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/women-founders-france-se/
