In the interview, Uliana also emphasised the importance of networking and building new connections, both essential for growing a company and breaking into a male-dominated industry.
Could you briefly tell us about how you got started as an entrepreneur?
I like the automotive industry, I like cars – it is my big passion, and I like technology. When I decided to become an entrepreneur, I knew that I had to pursue something that I really liked, because you will face a lot of challenges and can only overcome them if you’re doing something you love.
After that, I thought: what is the biggest problem in the automotive industry? For drivers and even auto lovers, it is the parking.
So, when we started, we wanted to use a connected car technology to make the parking process easy and seamless. To achieve this, we created LetMePark, an aggregator of parking services with automated access, allowing payments with licence plate, ignition and reservation of parking spots, leveraging the connected car technology. This makes parking seamless and forgettable, because we get the information directly from the car and know the needs of the driver.
How did LetMeCharge begin?
While we were working on parking, I understood that charging is also a very big problem. It’s very fragmented, you have to have 50 apps to be able to charge your car.
Since we already had experience with aggregating parking, we decided that it was also necessary to aggregate charging solutions. So, LetMeCharge is an aggregated platform of charging apps and operators, soon more than 70 in one.
What makes your solution stand out from what’s already out there?
Our technology makes us different, and we were able to really focus on refining it thanks to European funding, but the other part is the human one. We understand user needs and problems, we implement and even try to propose solutions.
What is missing in the electric mobility industry is trust. We are afraid of travelling, we are afraid of how we're going to charge these cars because we don’t have enough information. So, this is exactly what we wanted to solve. Our technology provides assurance with public charging, with 24/7 support, with a charging management platform that provides the trust that this charger will work, even to businesses.
What has been your personal experience with accessing funding as a woman entrepreneur, and how has it shaped your business journey?
Fundraising in general is very difficult. I’m not sure about what it’s like in the rest of Europe but in Spain it is.
If it’s risk capital, then in Spain it sometimes feels like there is no capital and, especially, no risk. This is something that I’ve faced because we want to create innovative products in the connected car space, something new, not an existing product that you can immediately buy and sell.
But connected cars technologies are definitely here to stay, and this space is growing. I’m very sure about our vision, I think it will slowly adapt to people’s lives and one day you will not be able to imagine that your car will not be connected.
What specific challenges did you face in fundraising that you believe your male counterparts might not have, if any?
In addition to what I mentioned before, it was difficult to be a woman in the automotive world. We have some great Business Angels who see our potential and believe in me, but it was challenging.
Something that really helped us was Neotec Mujeres Emprendedoras, Plan Moves, Mastercard’s startup programme, but with VC, it was difficult.
When I started to work in the business world, I realized that a lot is driven by personal relationships and connections and that’s fine. But I also saw that there is automatically more trust placed in male figures.
How so?
So, there’s something going on an unconscious level and I can, for example, find out that a male entrepreneur who had a worse product, higher prices, got invited to three dinners and received the contract in the end. And I didn’t get the contract because I didn’t have the opportunity to build this relationship.
I think that, in our biggest contract, the fact that it was a women who pushed for it definitely played a part.
I started to see some bias, but I also don’t want to believe that’s it’s 100% true. I am also going to work as I think a man should to try to generate the same trust, but I think that we still have to do some work on establishing that women are no worse than men in business.
What advice would you give to aspiring female founders?
We definitely need to believe in ourselves more. We need to be more confident or to play more confident. I often see that when a woman doesn’t know something she says that she doesn’t have experience and doesn’t know anything, while men will play it like they know everything and naturally have more trust in themselves.
It’s not about overselling; it’s about believing in ourselves. At the beginning, I often wondered “how can I be an entrepreneur if I don’t understand this?” or “how can I be an entrepreneur if I’m not very good at finance?” I think that sometimes women lack confidence, and even when we are still developing it, we still have to play confident, because it converts people and influences how they read us.
And we also need to take more risks, which men also tend to do. I naturally like to be on the safe side, but I’ve convinced myself to do it by asking myself: what’s the worse than can happen?
So that’s it: have more confidence and take more risks.
About the WomenINvestEU Matchmaking on Impact-Driven Businesses
Why do you think initiatives like WomenINvestEU Matchmaking events are important for entrepreneurs?
I would say that initiatives like this are very necessary to support women launching our startups. Being surrounded by people who can serve as role models creates a sense of confidence. You think “if they can do it, and they are so advanced, I can also do it”. So, initiatives like this are very important.
What motivated you to apply to participate in the matchmaking event? Were your expectations met?
I decided to apply because it is essential to network and to pitch several times to show your company and your technology. You can go to an event, you meet an investor, and maybe he or she will not invest in your company but will put you in contact with another investor or another potential partner. So basically, I applied to make new connections and expand my network.
I didn’t have very high expectations. My expectation is always to network and make more contacts. I can say that we are already starting discussions with a few investors who attended the event. We are in contact with them, and let’s see where it takes us.
What would you say to entrepreneurs who may be considering applying for upcoming matchmaking events?
I would say to apply to different events and participate in as many opportunities to pitch your company as you can, to have more visibility and create connections. I would definitely recommend applying to WomenINvestEU Matchmaking events as there is already a network of investors, who can be interested in your company.
About the EmpowHerMent Stories
WomenINvestEU is publishing regular stories on women entrepreneurs, women in leadership roles in the investment sector and representatives of wider organizations on gender-focused investing.
Thorough these stories, we are celebrating the achievements of remarkable women at all levels of the supply chain and inspiring you on your journey to raise capital or become a gender-conscious investor.
About the WomenINvestEU Matchmaking Events
As a part of its effort to expand the gender-focused investment ecosystem across Europe, WomenINvestEU is organizing online matchmaking events to connect women-led startups with members of its European Network of Gender-Conscious Investors.
Representatives of women-led startups, as well as startups with women in C-level positions, can apply for the chance to participate in these events through regular open calls. The selected startups will also receive pitching support on strategic topics, in order to prepare for their interactions with the gender-conscious investors in attendance.
Visit our Events page and stay tuned for upcoming opportunities.
Details
- Publication date
- 9 December 2025
- Author
- Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs