About
Deep tech accounts for over a quarter of Europe’s start-up ecosystem, with European deep tech companies now valued at a combined €700 billion and counting. Yet women remain largely underrepresented across this industry.
Founded on innovation in engineering and advances in science, deep tech start-ups tend to have longer R&D cycles, and often take more time and capital to build than other start-ups. Most could fail in their first years if they do not receive the right support and investment early on. Women in deep tech often face the additional hurdle of gender bias and stereotypes, particularly prevalent in sectors like technology.
Funded under the European Innovation Ecosystems work programme of Horizon Europe, Women TechEU is a brand 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.
Women TechEU pilot
The Women TechEU pilot scheme 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 will receive targeted funding and first-class coaching and mentoring.
Meet the Women TechEU pilot beneficiaries
Funding opportunities
Apply via the Funding & tenders portal
Deadline for submissions: 4 October 2022 17:00 (CET) .
Check the FAQs and find answers to the most common questions.
Who can apply
To apply, you must:
- Be a woman,
- Be a founder or co-founder of an early stage deep tech start-up, registered and established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country for at least six month at the time of the submission,
- Hold a top management position (CEO, CTO or equivalent) in the company.
News
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.
The European Commission launched today the second call of Women TechEU, with an increased budget of 10 million euro. This year, up to 130 deep-tech start-ups led by women will qualify for funding and business acceleration services to grow into tomorrow's female tech leaders.
The European Commission has announced additional €11.7 million to strengthen the European Innovation Ecosystems.
The European Innovation Council (EIC) launched today the ninth edition of the EU Prize for Women Innovators. The Prize celebrates the women entrepreneurs behind Europe’s game-changing innovations, to inspire more women to follow their footsteps.