You are an independent or a founder in Paris and you are looking for other women to talk to about clients, pricing, growth or simply the loneliness of the job. The networks exist, but they are not alike: incubators, membership-fee organisations, informal clubs, chamber of commerce programmes. Here are the ones we were able to check, what they offer, and how to choose.
In brief
- For an innovative project: Les Premières Île-de-France or Willa, two incubators open to women and mixed teams.
- For a modest fee and local meetings: Femmes des Territoires, at €80 a year.
- For a young business: the “Boost Entrepreneurs au féminin” programmes run by the Île-de-France chambers of commerce (CCI), around €600 to €800 depending on the département.
- Bouge ta Boîte, often mentioned in comparisons, went into compulsory liquidation in July 2025.
- Women’s networks and mixed tables are not mutually exclusive: they meet different needs.
Before choosing: four questions
A network should be judged on what it brings you at your current stage. Ask yourself these questions:
- Where are you at? Idea, launch, first year, established business.
- What are you looking for? Structured support, business referrals, peers, training.
- What rhythm can you keep up? A meeting every fortnight is not the same as one event a quarter.
- What budget? From a few tens of euros a year to several hundred for a programme.
The networks we checked
Les Premières Île-de-France
Les Premières describes itself as the first national network of incubators for women and mixed teams, active since 2003. Its Île-de-France branch is based in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. It offers support programmes: training, peer-coaching workshops, coaching. Prices are not published on the federation’s home page: you have to ask for them.
Who it’s for: women founding innovative or impact-driven businesses, not only in technology.
Willa
Willa is the former Paris Pionnières, renamed in March 2018. At the time, the City of Paris presented it as the first incubator for women entrepreneurs in innovation in France and in Europe. The Île-de-France Region supports it: the grant voted in 2024 provides for supporting 500 women and creating more than 150 young companies led by at least one woman.
Who it’s for: start-up founders and mixed teams, mainly in innovation.
Femmes des Territoires
A national organisation supporting women who start businesses, Femmes des Territoires works through local branches (it reports around a hundred) and also offers webinars and an online mutual-support platform. The fee is €80 a year, €40 for people on minimum social benefits. The Île-de-France Region lists its regional branch among the networks it supports. Check the website for the branch closest to you.
Who it’s for: women starting businesses at every stage, on a tight budget.
PWN Paris, entrepreneurs’ club
The PWN Paris network runs an informal club for women entrepreneurs, with monthly group mentoring mornings, meetings with experts, workshops and round tables. The price is not given on the club’s page.
Who it’s for: entrepreneurs who want to learn from peers and experts, within a wider network of women professionals.
Action’elles
Active since 1994, Action’elles offers business referral clubs for companies aged zero to three years, practical workshops and peer-coaching workshops. A comparison published in 2024 mentions a presence in Île-de-France and membership from €170 a year; check the current rate with the organisation.
Who it’s for: women starting businesses who want a framework for exchanging referrals from the very first years.
Chamber of commerce programmes
The Île-de-France chambers of commerce (CCI) offer “Boost Entrepreneurs au féminin”, a support programme for women running companies less than three years old:
- CCI Hauts-de-Seine: eight group workshops, mentoring, one-to-one sessions, running from November 2026 to April 2027, €600;
- CCI Val-d’Oise: a workshop every fortnight in the morning, from December 2026 to May 2027, €800;
- CCI Paris: a ceremony held on 10 March 2026 at Place de la Bourse celebrated the 2026 cohort.
Who it’s for: women running a young company registered in the département concerned.
What about Bouge ta Boîte?
This women’s business network, organised in local circles, still appears in many articles. Its compulsory liquidation was ordered on 16 July 2025 by the commercial court in Rennes. Do not rely on the old prices that are still circulating.
Why a mixed table also has its place
A women’s network offers a space for peers to discuss subjects that do not always come up elsewhere. That is valuable. But your clients, partners and suppliers are not all women.
The sociologist Mark Granovetter showed that useful information often travels through distant acquaintances, who move in different circles from yours. The more varied your circles, the more different opportunities you see go by.
That is Tablez Club’s approach: mixed dinners and lunches, with 6 to 10 guests, put together according to what each person is looking for (clients, partners, a way out of isolation). A table is never left to chance: you meet people whose work complements your own. Nothing stops you from doing both: a women’s network for peer support, a mixed table to widen your circle. The way it works is explained on the how it works page.
Frequently asked questions
Which network should an independent woman starting out in Paris choose?
If you have an innovative project, look at Les Premières Île-de-France or Willa. If you are mainly looking for peers and have a limited budget, Femmes des Territoires has the lowest fee we were able to verify. For a company less than three years old, the CCI programmes offer a structured framework over several months.
Do women’s networks accept mixed teams?
Some do. Les Premières and Willa explicitly support women and mixed teams. Peer clubs, on the other hand, are generally for women only. Read the conditions of each organisation.
Are Tablez Club dinners for women only?
No. Tables are mixed and put together around goals, by application. The balance of each table is decided when it is put together, depending on who has signed up.
Sources
- Les Premières, national federation: https://www.lespremieres.com/
- Les Premières Île-de-France, organisation profile: https://www.jeveuxaider.gouv.fr/organisations/7529-les-premieres-ile-de-france
- City of Paris, “Paris Pionnières devient Willa”, March 2018: https://www.paris.fr/pages/entrepreunariat-feminin-paris-pionnieres-devient-willa-et-lance-un-manifeste-5601
- Île-de-France Region, grant for the Willa incubator: https://www.iledefrance.fr/tous-les-services/ma-region-pres-de-chez-moi/territoire/smart-region/211952-subvention-pour-lincubateur-willa
- Femmes des Territoires: https://www.femmesdesterritoires.fr/
- Choose Paris Region, networks for women entrepreneurs, October 2025: https://www.chooseparisregion.org/news/paris-region-thriving-hub-international-women-entrepreneurs
- PWN Paris, entrepreneurs’ club: https://www.pwnglobal.net/c/pwn-paris/articles/f3db8be6-598e-ef11-8473-000d3abf01f7/entrepreneurship
- Le Blog du Dirigeant, Action’elles, February 2025: https://www.leblogdudirigeant.com/action-elles-reseau-accompagnement-femmes/
- Indépendant.io, networks for women’s entrepreneurship, May 2024: https://independant.io/6-reseaux-qui-dynamisent-lentrepreneuriat-feminin/
- CCI Hauts-de-Seine, Boost Entrepreneurs au féminin: https://www.entreprises.cci-paris-idf.fr/web/cci92/boost-entrepreneurs-au-feminin
- CCI Val-d’Oise, Boost Entrepreneurs au féminin: https://www.entreprises.cci-paris-idf.fr/evenements/boost-entrepreneurs-au-feminin-0
- CCI Paris, “L’accélérateur de réussite au féminin”, 10 March 2026: https://www.entreprises.cci-paris-idf.fr/evenements/laccelerateur-de-reussite-au-feminin
- Le Journal des Entreprises, liquidation of Bouge ta Boîte, 17 July 2025: https://www.lejournaldesentreprises.com/article/fin-de-laventure-pour-bouge-ta-boite-placee-en-liquidation-judiciaire-2124074
- Granovetter, M. S., “The Strength of Weak Ties”, 1973: https://doi.org/10.1086/225469