The origins of an entrepreneurial mind. Is it something you inherit? Nicole Junkermann, an investor, credits her father’s innovative attitude with inspiring her to pursue investments in innovative startups and industries.
There is a need for more female entrepreneurs. Only 2% of funding for start-ups in the United States in 2019 came from venture capital, according to a study done there. Many people, especially women, have had to overcome enormous obstacles in order to realise the dream of being an entrepreneur and bringing about positive social change. The situation is even more dire for women of colour, who receive only 0.2% of all venture capital funding.
Nicole Junkermann is a businesswoman and investor who is working to increase funding for startups run by women. She attributes her own fearlessness to her father’s pioneering spirit. Heinz Junkermann, born in Frankfurt in 1928, had a fruitful business career spanning multiple industries and made an incalculable contribution to post-war Germany’s commercial landscape, particularly through his achievements in the private banking, real estate, and jewellery industries during the decade of the 1960s, which coincided with the Federal Republic of Germany’s economic renaissance.His reputation as a reliable advisor was bolstered by the success of his private banking firm serving affluent customers throughout Germany and Western Europe.
In the early 1990s, he introduced his daughter to the industry, but she had been exposed to its fast-paced and dynamic nature for years prior, when she accompanied him to business meetings and often acted as his Spanish-speaking interpreter. Nicole thinks those years gave her a dedication to excellence in business, as well as the motivation to start her own company and see it through to success.
Nicole has also taken after her father in terms of her generosity; she consistently advocates for the safety and happiness of others around her. Nicole has been a member of the Tate Americas Latin American Acquisitions Committee with her own socially and politically driven eponymous art collection, The Nicole Brachetti Peretti Collection, since 2006. Heinz was a member of Rotary International, a global network promoting healthcare, education, and peace.
She is an early investor in Elvie, a pioneer in the Femtech industry, since she understands the value of supporting female entrepreneurs. And now, as she watches her own daughter develop, she hopes to replicate that for her by creating a kind yet challenging setting. She deserves a chance to succeed in a society where women business owners are treated fairly. This could happen sooner rather than later, especially now that over 20% of women are thinking about going into business for themselves.
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