STEP USA Female Founders Program

STEP USA
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Participating Startups

Number of STEP
USA Alumni

U.S. Company
Foundations

VC Investment
Received

At GACC New York, we’re thrilled to unveil our STEP USA Female Founders Program. Designed to empower aspiring female entrepreneurs from Germany, our initiative aims to seamlessly integrate them into the dynamic and diverse startup scene of New York City.

Why New York City? It’s a melting pot of innovation and opportunity, offering unparalleled access to globally renowned organizations, influential associations, and lucrative investments. Here, female founders are embraced by a vibrant ecosystem bustling with creativity and collaboration, making it the ultimate playground for those aiming to thrive in a highly competitive business landscape. We connect you to relevant investors, business angels and players in the economic development sector focusing on female founders, as well as get you on stage for our STEP USA Pitch Night!

STEP USA Female Founders in a Nutshell

This 4-day startup program for female founders is designed to support woman entrepreneurs to successfully grow their business in the U.S. market. Our experts help you master your U.S. market entry step by step.

Access to Venture Capital

Present your startup to carefully selected venture capital investors and business angels focusing on female investments at our STEP USA Pitch Night. Learn how to effectively fundraise venture capital in the U.S.

Strategy Workshops and Mentoring

NEXT PROGRAMS

June 23 – 26, 2025 (STEP USA Female Founders Program) New York

INFORMATION

€3.600,- per startup for one person. Second person extra fee EUR 400.-
(max. 2 participants per same company

takes place in New York City

max. 10 companies per program

Unlock Your Potential: Discover the Benefits of the STEP USA Female Founders Program!

WhAt we Cover in STEP USA

Network Access to VC Investors, Clients, GACC NY Members, Startup Entrepreneurs & Local Accelerators
U.S. Economic Update, Doing Business with American Clients, Intercultural Skills
Legal Requirements, Tax Basics, Immigration Landscape, IP Law & VC Law
Sales Strategies, Marketing Workshops, Storytelling & Presenting Skills for a U.S. audience
Engaging with U.S. Investors, Pitch Training, Outreach to U.S. VCs
Getting the Stage at our STEP USA Pitch Night, Local Networking Events with Industry Focus

Why New York?

New York stands as a vibrant ecosystem for female founders due to its diverse and inclusive culture, fostering an environment where women can thrive in entrepreneurship. The city offers a plethora of networking opportunities, mentorship programs, and funding resources tailored to support women in business, facilitating their growth and success. Among them are Women’s Venture Fund (WVF), Women Entrepreneurs NYC (WE NYC), National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Female Founders Fund, Golden Seeds, and Hearst Lab – just to name a few.

Additionally, New York’s dynamic economy and access to global markets provide female founders with ample opportunities to scale their ventures and make a significant impact on industries across various sectors.

Our STEP USA female founders program is right for you, if you…

seek ways to expand your female VC network.
explore opportunities for your product in the U.S.
seek Venture Capital in the U.S.
target American customers.
consider establishing a U.S. subsidiary.
want to connect with top-notch industry contacts.

WHAT OUR STEP USA ALUMNI SAY ABOUT US

“In only 4 days, the STEP USA program gave us a detailed picture of the American market. It time sensitized us for the challenges of expanding our company to the USA. We can recommend the STEP USA program to anyone who wants to start a first field test for their company and build a solid base for an American business network.”

Jakob Höflich

Co-Founder & CCO,
Groovecat

“The STEP USA program gave us the unique opportunity to gain a deep insight into the American market and to understand its economic complexity and cultural characteristics. With the help of excellent contacts to already established New York startups as well as mentors, we have now been able to position ourselves successfully on the U.S. market. Absolutely recommendable!”

Oliver Kray

CEO, MyPostcard.com

“THE STEP USA program was a week of intensive U.S. market training. In addition to a business etiquette for U.S., numerous contents on legal, strategic and organizational topics were made accessible to us. STEP USA did an outstanding job in providing us with the right contacts to business partners, experts and mentors. It was possible to make many new connections and, above all, find orientation.”

Naomi Owusu

CEO, Tickaroo GmbH

“The STEP USA program was a blast!
As a German startup approaching the U.S. market, the STEP USA program was more than helpful for us. It gave us detailed insights into the legal and financial landscape in the U.S. and helped us to define our go-to-market strategy.
Moreover, we made very good connections to mentors, VC´s, customers and even to new friends.
Absolutely recommendable!”

Nicolas Neubauer

Managing Partner, Lhotse Analytics GmbH

“The STEP USA program helped us tremendously to prepare for our potential U.S. market entry by teaching us the most important facts in a very understandable way. As a STEP USA participant, you get the opportunity to build up an excellent business network in just 4 days. The GACC New York has strong partners on-sote, and the organization of the program was perfect. The entire cohort was extremely positively surprised and the learnings from the STEP USA program will be super helpful going forward.”

Lennard Schäfer

Co-Founder & COO, enduco GmbH

“STEP USA is a 4-day startup program designed to help startups enter the U.S. market. It is remarkably outstanding as the team provides insights into the markets, makes valuable connections tailored to the startup’s industry, and puts you really into the position to understand how to enter the American market the best way – all of that within just 4 business days! Having been on quite a lot of these programs, I recommend STEP USA to everyone who is interested in doing business in the U.S.”

Daniel Putsche

CEO, 021 Software GmbH

“The STEP USA program was completely different than what we had expected. Not only the team around the STEP USA program and GACC New York, but also the incredible locations, people and events organized around the program and the PITCH Night were truly mind-blowing.
Through the STEP USA Program we are on the verge of establishing a subsidiary in the USA.”

Maximilian Schlosser

Co-Founder, Picstagraph GmbH

“In my opinion, many startup programs are actually not worth attending. In case of the STEP USA program however, we were all highly surprised by the opposite! The GACC NY team organizing the 4 days does a great job, squeezing in as much value as possible. Personally, I recommend traveling to New York City and meeting everyone in person. I’d definitely recommend taking part in the STEP USA program!”

Andre Siegl

CEO, enduco GmbH

“The Step USA Program in New York was absolutely relevant and extremely rewarding. The fast-paced and dense schedule in combination with the social events provided the perfect framework to get to know the New York startup ecosystem as well as the American way of life. The whole trip was highly motivating and I can only recommend to take part in it! Dear GACC-Team thank you very much for making us feel so welcome!”

Felix Weger

CEO, Packwise GmbH

“You can read a lot of books and join classes on how to enter the U.S. market. For me, the best source for getting an understanding on how to successfully do business with American customers is connect to the right networks. The STEP USA program did exactly that for us. Thank you for 4 extremely valuable and fun days in New York!”

Marcus Stein

CEO, watttron GmbH

“I joined the STEP program after an intense 3 months stay in San Francisco and was amazed by the insights we received into the NYC startup ecosystem. By this I could compare the east coast with the west coast perfectly and gained priceless insights and networks for fund raising and market launch in the USA. I would recommend everyone this program who is interested in US market for first insights, market launch or fund raising. Thanks to the whole GACC and VentureOut team for the great organisation!”

Lennardt Hachmeister

Co-Founder & CEO, iotis GmbH

“Step USA is a 4-day educational program where I was able to learn a lot about entering the U.S. market, and also many best practices for my startup in general. I couldn’t recommend it any higher.”

Philipp Stoffers

CEO, Hepacura UG

“Participating in the STEP USA program was worthwhile for me in two ways: It not only provided important information on legal and organizational aspects of starting a business in the USA, it also gave a wonderful impression of the spirit that drives business people in New York and the U.S. — very inspiring!”

Stefan Harries

Managing Director, Friendship Systems AG

“As CEO of Evergreen, a digital sustainable asset manager, I am immensely grateful for having participated in the STEP USA program. The program provided a comprehensive and enriching platform for learning, networking, and understanding the intricacies of establishing a business in the USA, specifically from a German company’s perspective. An absolute “YES!” for entrepreneurs.!

Iven Kurz

CEO, Evergreen GmbH

FAQs STEP USA TRAVEL PROGRAM

By attending the STEP USA Travel program, you enter into a relevant network of U.S. market entry experts who will individually work with you. This enables you to save valuable time and money that otherwise you would have needed to do research and outreach. Additionally, you invest in security because you benefit from our more than 75 years of market entry experience that the GACC NY has gathered.

The STEP USA Travel Program is an on-site 4-day program filled with seminars, workshops, 1-on-1 meetings and lots of networking opportunities. During the course of the program, we provide you with hands-on mentoring for a successful U.S. market expansion. You will meet a wide variety of our mentors and partners who have extensive knowledge in their field and learn how to scale your business in one of the world’s most competitive markets. Most of our STEP USA Travel Programs take place in New York.

New York City, also known as Silicon Alley, is a special startup environment:

8.5 million inhabitants
2.3 million hold a bachelor‘s degree or higher
120 universities, producing 4.500 computer science majors annually
320.000 tech jobs
45 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in NYC
1.66 trillion US$ = gross metropolitan product in 2020
200+ angel investment und venture capital companies
9.000 startups in New York
28 billion US$ venture capital investments in tech companies 2021

On one night during the STEP USA Travel program, we organize the STEP USA Pitch night. During this exciting event, you will get on stage and pitch your company in front of a crowd of mentors, business partners, investors, and startup enthusiasts. For things to work out great for you, you will have access to individual pitch training, so you can present your startup in the best light possible.

For more than 75 years, the GACC NY has been offering expertise and enhancing growth opportunities to its members and partners. Our goal is to empower German entrepreneurs to successfully expand their U.S. businesses and further grow their German businesses.

EUR 3,600.- per company for the 4-day STEP USA Travel program for 1 attendee. If a second attendee from the same startup signs up for the STEP USA program, an extra fee of EUR 400,- applies.
Not included: flight & accommodation.
We also organize STEP USA programs for diverse German federal states that fund their local startups. Find out here about our upcoming programs.

STEP USA Female Founders Program