23.07.2026
Fanny Giannou wins the Baden-Württemberg semifinal of the Female Founders Contest
In the News · Press Release
Fanny Giannou wins the Baden-Württemberg semifinal of the Female Founders Contest
Freiburg · July 21, 2026
Fanny Giannou, founder of Alithea Biotechnology GmbH, has won the Baden-Württemberg semifinal of the Female Founders Contest, held in Konstanz. With Alithea’s AI platform HLA-Compass for personalized cancer immunotherapy, Giannou convinced the expert jury and will represent Baden-Württemberg at the national final on September 10, 2026, at the Waschhaus Arena in Potsdam.
The Jury
Claire Siegert — Businettes Germany
Dr. Hauke Hansen — Lakeside Invest, AI.FUND
Julia Zimmermann — Eversion Technologies
Guido Sondern — farm e.V.
Antje Freyth — Unternehmer:innen für Gründer:innen e.V.
The jury evaluated innovation, market potential, scalability, team strength, pitch quality, and early traction across four highly competitive pitches. Alithea Biotechnology stood out by tackling a problem often overlooked in research: historical clinical trial data is frequently skewed by factors such as sex or ethnicity of study participants. Since any AI model is only as good as the data it’s trained on, this bias has direct consequences for how well cancer therapies work across different patient groups. HLA-Compass is built to close that gap.
“Alithea is not just a worthy finalist for Potsdam. She’s going there to win.”
— The jury
The jury also highlighted Giannou’s ability to communicate a highly complex topic with clarity and passion, alongside Alithea’s existing traction in revenue, awards, and network growth.
Along with her ticket to the national final, Giannou received €500 in prize money and a personal LinkedIn coaching session with Sofie Flurschütz.
The Female Founders Contest, initiated by the Business Angels Club Berlin-Brandenburg (BACB), addresses a persistent gap in startup funding:
2%
of venture capital goes to all-female founding teams
14%
of business angels are women
<19%
of startup founders in Germany are women
Through ten regional semifinals and a national stage in Potsdam, the contest connects founders with investors and a peer network — visibility and capital access that women-led startups too often lack.
Congratulations to Fanny and the whole Alithea Biotechnology team — see you in Potsdam on September 10.
#FemaleFounders#WomenInBiotech#AI#CancerImmunotherapy#Startups#HealthTech
