Mentorship

Part of our Empowering Equity commitment for diversity and inclusion

Mentorship

Part of our Empowering Equity commitment for diversity and inclusion

The Empowering Equity Mentorship and Mentorship+ programmes aim to support aspiring and early career female fund managers by providing advice and connecting them with more experienced peers.

This is a joint initiative of the EIF, the EIB, and the European Union under the #InvestEU Advisory Hub. Together we want to make the EU ecosystem more diverse. This is why we are helping new generations of fund managers enter the industry.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ Get a one-off answer or advice to your question about venture capital, private equity, and private credit investing ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ Use our dedicated form to submit a query and get an expert advice back from our mentors ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

START HERE

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ Get access to a 9-months programme with our experts in the venture capital, private equity, and private credit market ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ Read the terms of reference and benefit from a mentor accompanying you on your journey ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

MORE INFORMATION

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ Get a one-off answer or advice to your question about venture capital, private equity, and private credit investing ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ Use our dedicated form to submit a query and get an expert advice back from our mentors ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

START HERE

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ Get access to a 9-months programme with our experts in the venture capital, private equity, and private credit market ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ Read the terms of reference and benefit from a mentor accompanying you on your journey ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

APPLY HERE

Meet the mentors

Simona Gemeneanu

Partner at Morphosis Capital

Co-founder of Morphosis Capital – a growth fund focused on SMEs in Romania - Simona has over 20 years of experience in private equity, finance, strategy, and M&A roles in Bucharest, Paris, and London. An inspiration to many women fund managers.

Barbara Ellero

Partner at Anthilia Capital Partners

In Anthilia since 2013, Barbara pioneered the private debt market in Italy. Before joining Anthilia, she spent nearly 18 years in corporate finance in leading investment banks, developing extensive experience in advisory and private capital.

Marie Bursaux

Investment Director at Eiffel Investment Group

Marie joined Eiffel Investment Group in 2019, from Aviva Investors where she worked as a portfolio manager within the Private Debt & Real Assets platform, looking after financing and restructuring of corporates, infrastructure, and assets financings.​

Deepali Nangia

Partner at Speedinvest

After starting her career as an investment banking analyst, she moved to investing in growth-stage financial institutions and finally turned to the venture world as an angel investor in female-funded technology companies.

Eleni Bathianaki

Managing Partner, Halcyon Equity Partners

Eleni is Managing Partner at Halcyon Equity Partners, a Greek private equity fund managing over €180M. With 25 years of experience in investment banking, strategic advisory, and private equity, she was previously a founding Partner at EOS Equity Partners and held senior roles at Piraeus Bank and Morgan Stanley.

Zoe Chambers

General Partner at Frontline Ventures

Experienced in investment banking and corporate law, Zoe has been working with B2B software companies at pre-seed and seed stages in Europe and at growth stage in the US.

Filip Dames

Founding Partner at Cherry Ventures

Before becoming an investor, Filip built and scaled multiple ventures. He first founded a digital marketplace for art and collectibles, then joined the founding team of Zalando, where he focused on product, business development, and international expansion. He is especially drawn to founders pushing the frontier of technology - from AI to deep tech and breakthrough products. Filip partners with visionary teams like The Exploration Company, robeauté, and Proxima Fusion to help turn bold ideas into the next generation of category-defining companies.

Ben Blume

Partner at Atomico

Ben is a Partner on the investment team at Atomico, where he leads investments in AI-driven enterprise automation across functions, and vertical solutions for complex, real-world industries, including platforms that combine software and hardware. Ben has a strong interest in sectors like manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare, where impact is tangible and measurable. Atomico partners with ambitious tech founders at the earliest stages through to IPO.

Bettine Schmitz

Partner at Auxxo Female Founders

Tine is a believer in the unharnessed potential of female founders. She previously worked as a strategy consultant, product manager, accelerated nearly 100 companies at Axel Springer Plug and Play and has made nearly 20 angel investments. A trained mathematician, Tine loves to crunch numbers, preferably in her weekly focus sessions. Out of these sessions Tine loves to spend her time cooking and eating with family and friends, on her road bike or on her yoga and meditation mats.

Dan Lupu

Venture Partner at Earlybird

Dan Lupu is a Venture Partner with Earlybird, focused on investments in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Dan’s Romanian roots give him regional familiarity which he combines with extensive local and international connections. Using a boots-on-the-ground approach, Dan sees great opportunities to identify and support early-stage startups to overcome the scarcity of growth capital. He has built up a distinctive portfolio connecting Eastern European technical excellence with global markets and capital. Prior to his current role, he was a Partner with Earlybird Digital East Fund, where he invested in the likes of UiPath, Minit, Photoneo/Brightpick, FintechOS, DCSPlus, FITE etc.