After discovering the most inspiring and active female market players in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, we are ready to delve into the CEE region further. Now the time has come to explore the business scene of Hungary and get to know the top 25 women entrepreneurs that shape the VC & startup ecosystem in Central and Eastern Europe.
So, without further ado, let’s meet them and get inspired!
Veronika Pistyur
General Partner, Oktogon Ventures & CEO, Bridge Budapest
Veronika Pistyur has been actively operating on the Hungarian scene for over 20 years. Currently, she assumes many different roles starting from the CEO of the Bridge Budapest, a Hungarian entrepreneurial NGO that aims to create an educational space for entrepreneurs. Veronika is also a General Partner at Oktogon Ventures, where together with her team, she looks for high-growth tech startups from the CEE region. Additionally, since 2020 as Board Member at Startup Hungary, she has focused on supporting the Hungarian community of tech companies.
Barbara Ming
Partner, Impact Ventures
Since the beginning of her career, Barbara Ming has been connected to the Hungarian VC ecosystem. She has graduated from the faculty of Law from the ELTE University in Hungry and was assuming the role of Legal Counsel at, among others, PBG FMC, a venture capital fund investing in IT and medtech early-stage startups from the CEE region. At the moment, Barbara is holding the position of Partner at Impact Ventures, a VC fund investing in social SMEs in Europe with growth potential.
Orsolya Csetri
Investment Director, OXO Ventures
Since the beginning of her career, Orsolya Csetri has been gaining experience in the finance and accounting sectors and in the Hungarian VC funds. She used to work in KMPG and DERY STUDIO as an Account Manager and as Music & Art Manager at O Management, where she was responsible for organizing music concerts. In 2020 she joined OXO Ventures, one of the leading tech investment companies in the CEE region. Additionally, she assumes the Chief Business Development Officer position at Machine Intelligence, a deep learning solutions provider.
Judit Lucz
CFO, Day One Capital
Judit Lucz has been present on the business scene for over 20 years, gaining experience in multiple companies. She graduated from legal and business studies in Hungary and Ireland, and soon after that, started her career as a registered tax advisor and chartered accountant. In the past, she held the position of Managing Director at the MEDCITY Egészségközpont, managing the startup phase of a private outpatient clinic center, defining marketing strategy, and supervising its execution. Since 2018 she has assumed the duties of the CFO at Day One Capital, an early-stage technology investor.
Noémi Szabó
Senior Investment Manager, Hiventures & Board Member, ROKSH
Noémi Szabó has graduated from the faculty of Business Development at the Cornvinus University of Budapest and since then she has dedicated her work to supporting the growing Hungarian VC & startup ecosystem. She assumed the Board Member position, among others, at the DreamJo.bs and ROKSH- an online platform offering shopping services from multiple stores. Additionally, Noemi is also a Senior Investment Manager at Hiventures, one of the largest CEE VC funds investing in innovative local businesses.
Julia Sohajda
Managing Partner, Vespucci Partners
Julia Sohajda actively supports the development of the Hungarian VC & startup ecosystem. As a Managing Partner at Vespucci Partners, she is searching for the seed and series A startups from Central Europe that have disruptive products and can achieve success in the global market. Julia also holds the Board Member position at Transcend, an automated software solution enabling engineering, construction, and technology companies to improve financial performance and accelerate digital transformation.
Éva Gergely
Investment Manager, Susterra Capital Partners
Eva Geargely is an experienced female entrepreneur as she has spent over 15 years in the international and Hungarian project finance and asset management sectors, assuming the Financial Auditor and Project Manager roles. After that, since 2018, she has been working in the Investment Manager position at Susterra Capital Partners, investing in water-related companies with evidence-based, cost-effective, and technologically innovative solutions.
Rita Andrássyné Farkas
CEO, HeatVentors
Rita Andrássyné Farkas has graduated from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. During her studies, Rita worked as an Engineering Trainee at GSK, where she was responsible for technical audits, while in 2016 she started the E.ON Graduate Program. Using all her experience in the thermal energy sector gathered during her studies, she has co-founded and currently assumes the role of the CEO at HeatVentors, the developer of the revolutionary thermal energy storage solution- HeatTank.
Dóra Pálfi
Co-Founder & CEO, imagiLabs
Dóra Pálfi has gained experience worldwide, as she has lived, studied, and worked in 10 countries, graduating from New York University Abu Dhabi and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. She is actively supporting the growth of the women entrepreneurs community. As a result, together with Beatrice Ionascu, she co-founded imagiLabs, an online edtech company that develops educational tools for women to encourage them to start coding. For her significant impact, Dora was listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 lists in Hungary and Europe.
Kinga Jentetics
Co-founder & CEO, PublishDrive
Since the beginning of her career, Kinga Jentetics has been connected with the marketing field, as she assumed the roles of Marketing Strategy Consultant at Zurich Insurance, and a Director of Sales and Marketing at Content2Connect, an ebook aggregator. Since 2014 she has been the CEO of PublishDrive, a software developer for publishers and authors who help to distribute and manage ebooks, print, and audiobooks in one place. Kinga Jentetics was nominated multiple times as one of the top women entrepreneurs, among others, in Forbe’s 30 under 30 and the Top 100 European Female Founders by The Hundert.
Hajnalka Hejja
CEO and Founder, Super Izzy AI
Hajnalka Hejja goal is to help people take care of their health through technology, that’s why she has co-founded the Super Izzy AI. This femtech chatbot offers personalized health advice for women, based on data collection and contextual understanding. In the past, she worked as a Marketing Manager at Omixon Biocomputing and as a Medical Reviewer at AstraZeneca. Additionally, she was an Independent Evaluator for the European Commission, being responsible for evaluating proposals from the private and public sectors in biotechnology, e-health, digital diagnostics, and big data sectors.
Mirtill Megyeri
Co-founder, Zyntern
Mirtill Megyeri graduated from the Social Science faculty at the Corvinus University of Budapest, and soon after that, she started her career in Hungary's business ecosystem. She has gained experience working, among others, at United Nations, KYAT Group, and Nestle. In 2017 Mirtill co-founded and is a Brand Expert at Zyntern, an internship and new graduate career platform with a mission to help companies match their training and job opportunities with Z and Y generation students and fresh graduate talents.
Barbara Varga-Baráth
General Manager, Green Fox Academy & Co-founder, ShareIT Lab
Barbara Varga-Baráth understands the importance of empowering women and gender equality. That is why she actively supports females to start their tech careers in the Green Fox Academy, where she currently assumes General Manager duties (in the past, Barbara was also the CEO). It is a coding school that enables non-programmers to educate themselves, thanks to the specially designed educational program. What is more, Barabra is also a Co-founder of ShareIT Lab, a non-profit organization supporting women in starting work in the IT sector.
Zsuzsa Kecsmar
Co-founder, Antavo
At the beginning of Zsuzsa Kecsmar’s career, she was dedicated to multiple radio stations where she was a Radio Producer and Shows Editor. After that, she worked for Forbes Business Council. In 2011 her life changed as she stepped on the startup journey by co-founding Antavo, the loyalty program management software for businesses having over 100 offices worldwide and global partners like BMW, KFC, Kathmandu, and Benetton Group. For her great contribution to the startup ecosystem, she was included on the Forbe’s 30 under 30 and named as one of the Top 100 European Female Founders by The Hundert.
Maria Balogh-Mazi & Anett Soti
Co- Founders, DreamJo.bs
Maria Balogh-Mazi is an experienced entrepreneur with almost ten years of experience in the project management sector. Together with Anett Soti, she is connected with the Hungarian startup DreamJo.bs- an online job posting platform, where since 2021, she has been assuming the role of the President.
Anett Soti’s heart beats for people as she has over eight years of experience in the HR and Marketing Business Intelligence sectors. She is an owner and Co-founder of HR fest, a Hungarian HR festival, and a Co-founder of the above-mentioned DreamJo.bs.
Dorka Horváth
Co-Founder & CEO, BOOKR Kids
Dorka Horváth has been present on the Hungarian business scene for over ten years. As a Lecturer at the Corvinus University of Budapest, she covers the topics of media and politics, the world of blogging, and communication. Dorka is also connected with Female EdTech Fellowship, an online platform gathering the business-focused network for the most promising women founders in European edtech. Since 2015 she has been a co-founder and CEO at BOOKR Kids, a reading-based edutainment tool with a mission to help kids acquire better language skills.
Kata Ludvig
Co-founder & CEO, baoba insurance
During over twelve years of active work Kata Ludvig has gathered her broad expertise in many well-established companies like Mercedes-Benz Hungária, Redbull Media House, The Walt Disney Company, and Google. Most of her interests are connected with the marketing sector. Kata has contributed to the development of the Hungarian startup ecosystem by Co-founding ThinkZee, a company providing fintech solutions for Generation Z and baoba insurance, a marketplace for geodata-driven coverages and ancillary products. In the past, she also assumed the CEO duties at FlightRefund, a Hungarian platform providing end-to-end flight assistance, like refunds for delayed or canceled flights.
Anna Bereczki
Co-founder, SMAPP LAB
Anna Bereczki has been very passionate about science at a very early age. At the age of 14, she started working on her own sustainable and environmental projects, and since then, her heart has begun to beat for the various science fields. In 2019 together with her friends, she founded SMAPP LAB, a Hungarian startup with a mission to provide a reliable pest monitoring system for farmers to protect their crops. Anna understands the importance of women entrepreneurs' development and that’s why she became an Ambassador of the Association of Hungarian Women in Science, an independent non-profit organization for supporting girls and women in science and technology.
Réka Bittera & Csenge Tassonyi
Co-Founders, Briefly
Reka Bittera has a vast experience in the Hungarian business scene. In the past, she has formed her career while working as an Accountant Manager at HPS Group Hungary and Application Project Manager at Saatchi & Saatchi. In 2019 together with Csenge Tassonyi, she co-founded the Briefly, where she currently assumes the role of the CEO.
Csengne Tassonyi gathered her experience while working for companies like Uber, Google, and Reprise Digital. Since 2019 she has been a Co-founder and COO at Briefly, a Budapest online platform helping businesses find freelancers and manage their administrative tasks.
Erzsébet Madaras-Koncz & Krisztina Lévay
CEO & CTO, Poliloop
Erzsébet Madaras-Koncz and Krisztina Levay founded the Poliloop startup, which aims to make non-biodegradable plastics microbially biodegrade, thanks to the specially developed plastics bacteria cocktail, consuming the plastic waste. Currently, Erzsebet is not only the Co-founder of the company but also assumes the CEO's duties.
Besides being a co-founder and CTO at the Poliloop, Krisztina Levay is passionate about different fields of science, as she has a Master's degree in Pharmaceutical Engineering. As she also understands the importance of sustainable development and production, believing that thanks to her work at Poliloop, it will be possible to encourage big companies to reduce plastic pollution.
Zsófia Tóth
Co-Founder & CEO, Volteum
Zsofia Toth is fascinated by the energy sector, so it is not surprising that soon after graduating from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, she has set up her own business- Volteum. This Hungarian startup specializes in electric fleet optimization software. Their planning application allows the users of the electric cars to plan their journey and map all the charing spots on their way.
Dóra Molnár
Founder, this is Redy
Dóra Molnár is passionate about business, as she started her first e-commerce business in 2016 at the age of 25. After that, she worked as a copywriter and freelancer, and finally, in 2017, she founded this is Redy company. This startup has developed period pants that women can use without tampons or pads. The idea behind it is to enable females to feel as comfortable as possible during an uncomfortable time. Dora Molnar was listed on the newest Hungarian 30 under 30 list published by Forbes magazine.
Luca Jakab
Founder & CEO, ArtConscious
Luca Jakab gathered her working experience in the marketing sector, culture, and art. She is passionate about innovations and having a social impact which resulted in setting up her own business- ArtConscious. This online marketplace aims to help Central and Eastern European artists, galleries, and designers gain exposure in the art & design industry and connect with a global audience. Additionally, Luca is actively working as a mentor and art consultant as her goal is to actively back and support young professionals and entrepreneurs at the beginning of their careers.
Eszter Ozsvald
Founder , Yoganotch & Notch
Eszter Ozsvald is an experienced founder who graduated from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics and New York University. She is the founder of two companies: Yoganotch & Notch. Notch is a hardware and software platform for motion analysis, developing a wearable technology to help improve and measure workouts. While, Yoganotch is a personal yoga assistant providing precise feedback using 3D motion, AI, and voice.
Alexa Zsófia Vas
Founder, Low Cost Robotics
Even though Alexa Zsofia Vas has just finished her Bachelor's studies, she has already contributed to the development and growth of the Hungarian startup ecosystem. As she is keen on engineering, Alexa constantly searches for new tech solutions - in 2018 she founded Low Cost Robotics, a company developing prosthetics for children between the ages of 6 and 16. Her creativity and engagement resulted in her winning the Social Impact Award in 2019 and being one of the TEDx lecturers. We keep our fingers crossed for further development!
Related Posts:
Top Women From VC and Startup Ecosystem In Slovakia (by Aleksandra Wirth, Vestbee)
Top Women From VC and Startup Ecosystem In Czech Republic (by Aleksandra Wirth, Vestbee)
Top 25 Women In VC From Central & Eastern Europe (by Milena Gontarek, Vestbee)
