Bari hosts event to address female entrepreneurship gap

The Unstoppable Women network, part of StartupItalia, will hold an event at the University of Bari Aldo Moro on October 29. The initiative, titled ‘Quando i numeri non tornano’ (When the numbers do not add up), aims to foster connections between universities, research, startups, and the local territory to address the disparity in female entrepreneurship.

While women represent nearly 60% of Italian graduates, they account for only 11.4% of female-led innovative startups in the province of Bari. Nationally, female-led innovative startups represented 13.6% of the total in 2024. Despite this gap, female-led startups in Puglia have seen significant growth, tripling between 2016 and 2024 with a 203.7% increase, outperforming the national average of 121.2%.

Supported by main partner ING Italia, the event takes place in Bari, which serves as the 2026 Capital of Business Culture.