factorymaker won the pitch competition at the InnovateHer Investor Summit in Cagliari, Sardinia. Co-founder and CPO Julia Reisinger pitched the platform to an audience of investors and women founders from Europe and Silicon Valley.
A Summit for Women-Led Companies
The InnovateHer Investor Summit brings together investors, including venture funds, family offices and limited partners, and women founders from Europe and Silicon Valley. The 2026 edition took place at the University of Cagliari. It was hosted by CREA UniCa, organised by Nuleep and funded by the Regional Planning Center of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia. InnovateHer was founded in 2024 by the University of Cagliari and Prospera Alpha Ventures. Eight startups were selected to pitch in the competition. The winner receives an equity investment from Prospera Alpha Ventures, together with introductions across the summit’s network.
We’re honoured by the recognition. It belongs to our co-founders Maria Zahlbruckner and Julia Reisinger and the entire factorymaker team building the future of industrial facility planning every day.
Congratulations to our fellow finalists
The standard was high and it was good to share the stage with so many ambitious and successful women. Pankhtech (Ria Rustagi), PredictMe (Sofia Lerm), Bunce (Favour Umanah), TasteTown (Luise Krist), Inclustera (Denisa Deakova), AVALTAR Tech (Barbora Valtarová) and BLOS Platforms / Maura (Laura Merling). We were also glad to meet Jeklin Kim of Gemgem Therapeutics, winner of InnovateHer San Francisco.
A Big Thank You to the Organisers
Thank you to CREA UniCa and the University of Cagliari, Nuleep, Prospera Alpha Ventures and the Regional Planning Center of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia for a warm welcome and a well-run summit.
More about the summit: InnovateHer Investor Summit.
