About
Funded under the European Innovation Ecosystems work programme of Horizon Europe, Women TechEU is a new initiative of the European Union. The scheme offers first-class coaching and mentoring to female founders, as well as targeted funding to help take their business to the next level. Women TechEU offers:
- Financial support to the company as an individual grant of EUR 75 000 to support the initial steps in the innovation process, and the growth of the company,
- Mentoring and coaching provided by the EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS), under the new “Women Leadership Programme”, which include dedicated networking and pitching events,
- The possibility to participate in dedicated activities organised by InvestEU and Enterprise Europe Network.
As of 2023, the Women TechEU scheme and related calls are organised by an external consortium. You will find more information on the WomenTechEU consortium's website and in the Horizon Europe European Innovation Ecosystems Work Programme 2023-2024.
Funding opportunities
The next call will be open in a few months. For further information, please check the WomenTechEU website.
Previous editions
The Women TechEU pilot scheme was launched on 13 July 2021 as a new EU scheme supporting deep-tech start-ups led by women and helping them grow into tomorrow’s deep tech champions. Under the Women TechEU pilot call, 50 promising deep-tech start-ups from the EU Member States and Associated Countries have received targeted funding and first-class coaching and mentoring.
After its successful pilot, in 2022, the Commission has launched a second WomenTechEU call, with an increased budget of 10 million euro. Another 134 deep-tech companies, founded by women, have been provided with financial support and mentoring services as a result. As of 2023, the Women TechEU scheme and related calls are organised by an external consortium.
Guidelines for applicants
The Women TechEU project organises info sessions for ongoing and forthcoming calls.
On 9 April and 7 May 2024, the project organised online info sessions for the first call in 2024. The slides and the recordings of the event are available on the Women TechEU website.
If you have any question about the application, check the Applicant Guidelines and FAQs here.
News
The first call launched by the consortium now in charge of the Women TechEU scheme received 820 applications from across 38 eligible countries.
On this international women's day, we are highlighting all the programmes managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency that support women innovators, entrepreneurs and researchers
Today, the Commission announced the results of the second call under the WomenTechEU scheme, targeting innovative European deep-tech companies founded by women.
The second edition of the Women TechEU call showed an increasing demand for funding targeting women-led deep-tech start-ups. On 4th October, the European Commission received 467 applications from 35 Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
A total budget of €33.5 million is available for creating more connected, inclusive and efficient innovation ecosystems that support the scaling of companies and spur innovation.