Innovative Women Entrepreneurs: Experiences from Italy

Innovative women entrepreneurs undoubtedly represent an under investigated research area within entrepreneurship research to date. This paper fits into this scantly explored stream of research, enriching the academic discussion by analyzing how innovative women entrepreneurs deal with issues typically associated to “traditional” women entrepreneurs. In doing so, a literature review and an analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews, conducted in the time period 2022–2023 on a sample of 10 Italian innovative women entrepreneurs who were selected using purposive sampling, have been carried out in order to provide an overview of the features that characterize such entrepreneurs. Results show some interesting aspects in which innovative women entrepreneurs differ, at least in part, from women entrepreneurs involved in traditional sectors. Firstly, all the interviewed women have been pulled, rather than pushed, into entrepreneurship; secondly, the interviewed entrepreneurs do not perceive the high workload as something that can interfere with family responsibilities, but as a means of satisfaction and personal fulfilment. Finally, the majority of the interviewed women entrepreneurs were able to raise money by means of public funds, business angels, or specific competitions.