The European Commission has launched the second Women TechEU call, following the success of the pilot project. This year, up to 130 deep-tech start-ups led by women will benefit from funding and business acceleration services to become tomorrow’s tech leaders.
The Women TechEU programme is one of several EU initiatives aimed at supporting and empowering women in technology and innovation, including the annual EU Prize for Women Innovators and the new Women Leadership Programme of the European Innovation Council (EIC). The aim is to create a more equal and prosperous European deep-tech ecosystem, thus reversing the course of women’s presence in the investment world, where they are still underrepresented. Today, women account for just 10% of patent applications in the European Union, and less than 15% of start-ups are founded or co-founded by women.
Thanks to the EIC Women Leadership Programme, in addition to a 75,000 euro grant, the finalists will receive:
- leadership mentoring and coaching;
- internationalization and business modelling;
- implementation strategy;
- market entry, fundraising and negotiating with investors.
Following the very encouraging response to the first pilot in 2021, the European Commission has doubled the budget to 10 million euro this year, which is expected to fund up to 130 companies. Applications must be submitted by 4 October 2022.
