Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2025

Pushing all the right buttons: the network empowering female entrepreneurship

Business Planet heads to Italy to look at an online community that’s inspiring women to start, run and grow successful businesses.


Bonfanti Brothers have been making beautiful buttons for more than 70 years. Here quality really does matter. The company’s products can be found in retail outlets, such as haberdasheries and specialist craft and wool shops, all over the world.

Founded by their grandfather, Sister’s Serena and Chiara Bonfanti help run the small business of around 40 people, with their father and uncle.

Eventually they will take charge of the day-to-day running of the company but they're already making their mark, modernising the business, especially with regard to digitalisation.

Chiara (right) and Serena Bonfanti (centre) speak to Business Planet about their family business.


"We are doing our best to provide our customers always with bespoke solutions," explains Serena, while Chiara says: "[We're] also digitalising our communication with new channels in order to reach, support our customers, agents and distributors."

To expand their network, the sisters joined a local business association for female entrepreneurs in Turin called APID. It put them in touch with WEgate, an online hub dedicated to helping women in business.

"WEgate is an online gateway, that as an entrepreneur gave me the chance to enrich my personal skills, attending mentoring programme webinar training courses. But I’m also a person involved in a local business association and thanks to this we can share ideas, we can do networking activities, access to EU funds and share best practices," Serena says.

"WEgate is an online gateway. That as an entrepreneur gave me the chance to enrich my personal skills."


Gender funding gap


Building a business, whatever your gender, can be tough. But research does show women do face some specific hurdles, most notably access to finance.

For instance, it’s estimated while women create around one third of all businesses in Europe, female founders, in sector’s such as tech, only get about 2% of all venture capital.

More broadly, there is growing concern the pandemic has hit women-owned firms especially hard, given that these companies tend to be in sectors disproportionately affected by lockdowns.


In a bid to address some of these challenges, the WEgate network offers a range of services to help women in business.

"WEgate is a platform. It’s a place of trust where women entrepreneurs can find information and support on how to start and grow their businesses, for instance how to get finance and funding but also it’s a place to get inspiration and to celebrate female entrepreneurship," WEgate's Project Manager Eva Merloni says.

She adds, "entrepreneurship has no gender. Many entrepreneurial needs are exactly the same for men and women. However, women face specific challenges, such as access to finance and finding a good work life balance, that allows them to start and run a company."

Business Planet speaks to Anne Ravanona, Founder & CEO of Global Invest Her


Business Planet spoke to Anne Ravanona about the challenges facing female entrepreneurs.

_“WEgate is a go to platform created by the European Commission in partnership with other organisations on the ground serving women entrepreneurs. And the objective of the platform is to be the kind of go-to space if you're a woman entrepreneur in Europe, and you want to learn about all the different resources available to you in your country and internationally when you're building your business, funding your business, and to kind of connect with other women entrepreneurs. So it's a go to space. We are many organisations who are part of it, who are serving and supporting female founders. And in Europe, we absolutely do need to bring all that together. There's so many resources out there. So you need to have a one-stop-shop to know where to look. So WEgate is a great tool for that.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Dutch government falls as far-right leader Wilders quits coalition
Harvard Urges US to Unfreeze Funds for Public Health Research
Businessman Mauled by Lion at Luxury Namibian Lodge
Researchers Consider New Destinations Beyond the U.S.
53-Year-Old Doctor Claims Biological Age of 23
Trump Struggles to Secure Trade Deals With China and Europe
Russia to Return 6,000 Corpses Under Ukraine Prisoner Swap Deal
Microsoft Lays Off Hundreds More Amid Restructuring
Harvey Weinstein’s Publicist Embraces Notoriety
Macron and Meloni Seek Unity Despite Tensions
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Newark Mayor Sues Over Arrest at Immigration Facility
Center-Left Candidate Projected to Win South Korean Presidency
Trump’s Tariffs Predicted to Stall Global Economic Growth
South Korea’s President-Elect Expected to Take Softer Line on Trump and North Korea
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Ukraine Executes Long-Range Drone Strikes on Russian Airbases
Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election
Study Identifies Potential Radicalization Risk Among Over One Million Muslims in Germany
Good news: Annalena Baerbock Elected President of the UN General Assembly
Apple Appeals EU Law Over User Data Sharing Requirements
South Africa: "First Black Bank" Collapses after Being Looted by Owners
Poland will now withdraw from the EU migration pact after pro-Trump nationalist wins Election
"That's Disgusting, Don’t Say It Again": The Trump Joke That Made the President Boil
Trump Cancels NASA Nominee Over Democratic Donations
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OnlyFans for Sale: From Lockdown Lifeline to Eight-Billion-Dollar Empire
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Hegseth Warns of Potential Chinese Military Action Against Taiwan
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Bond Market Faces Pressure from Rising Debt
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Taylor Swift Gains Ownership of Her First Six Albums
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
Russia's Fossil Fuel Revenues Approach €900 Billion Since Ukraine Invasion
U.S. Justice Department Reduces American Bar Association's Role in Judicial Nominations
U.S. Department of Energy Unveils 'Doudna' Supercomputer to Advance AI Research
U.S. SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Binance Amid Regulatory Shift
Alcohol Industry Faces Increased Scrutiny Amid Health Concerns
×