Prime Highlights:
- 40 women-led start-ups across Europe receive funding and support to grow their deep tech innovations.
- Winners get a EUR 75,000 grant along with mentoring, coaching, and a tailored business development program.
Key Facts:
- The selected start-ups come from 20 European countries, showing the project’s commitment to inclusivity.
- The majority of winners work in biotechnology, life sciences, agritech, and sustainable energy, with others in advanced materials, manufacturing, quantum computing, and robotics.
Background:
Europe is giving women entrepreneurs a major boost in the deep tech sector. The EU-funded Women TechEU project recently announced the winners of its fourth and final open call, selecting 40 early-stage start-ups led by women to receive support and funding to grow their innovations.
Each winning start-up receives a EUR 75,000 grant without giving up any equity, along with a personalized business support program that includes mentoring, coaching, and targeted training.
The program is designed for women founders or co-founders in top management positions, who must own at least 25% of their company to be eligible.
Among the winners, 35% are in biotechnology, life sciences, and agritech, 17.5% in sustainable energy and clean tech, and others work in advanced materials, advanced manufacturing, quantum computing, cybersecurity, electronics, IoT, and robotics.
The start-ups come from 20 European countries, reflecting the project’s commitment to inclusivity. France has seven winners, followed by the UK with five and Spain with four. Other countries represented include Germany, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Romania, Austria, Belgium, and more.
Detailed profiles of the winners are available on the Women TechEU DataHub, which enhances visibility and encourages collaboration among women-led deep tech start-ups. The current Women TechEU project will end in May 2026, but a new initiative is planned to continue supporting women innovators in deep tech next year.
