Following the closure of the Women TechEU’s project first Open Call on the 20 May 2024, the EU-funded scheme received an impressive 820 applications from 38 eligible countries. After a thorough evaluation process 40 winners were selected, representing 16 countries, including 6 from widening countries.
Geographic Diversity of Winners
The call saw an incredible diversity in the winners, with startups representing a range of countries. Germany led with 7 winning startups, followed by France with 5, and the United Kingdom, Norway, and Spain with 4 each. Other winners hailed from Portugal (2), Denmark (2), Estonia (2), Ireland (2), and single winners from Austria, Cyprus, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Sweden, and Armenia. This geographic spread reflects the consortium’s ongoing efforts to promote deep tech startups from a variety of regions, including widening countries.
Sectoral Representation
Startups from a broad spectrum of sectors participated in the call. A majority of the selected winners – 57.5% – belonged to the “Biotechnology, Life Sciences, and Agritech” category, demonstrating strong innovation in health, agriculture, and life sciences. “Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (including Big Data)” followed closely at 40%, while 20% of the winners were involved in “Sustainable Energy, Clean Technologies, and Green tech.” Other notable sectors included “Advanced Materials” (15%), “Advanced Manufacturing” (12.5%), and “Electronics and Photonics” (10%). Sectors like “Communications and Networks, including 5G/6G” (7.5%), “Internet of Things and W3C Semantic Web” (7.5%), “Robotics” (5%), “Web 3.0, including Blockchain, Distributed Ledgers, NFTs” (2.5%), “Aerospace, Automotive and Remote Sensing” (2.5%), and “Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Metaverse” (2.5%) also featured among the winning startups. It should be noted that within this category, companies were able to indicate multiple sectors of operation, meaning that these figures do not represent an exact one-to-one correlation between the number of companies, sectors, and percentage of companies within sectors.
DataHub
To highlight the achievements of these innovative startups, the Women TechEU consortium has created a dedicated data hub showcasing the winners and their projects. This platform provides detailed information about each winning startup, facilitating connections and promoting visibility within the deep tech community. Explore the DataHub.
What’s next?
Following the recent closure of the OC #2 for startups, the Women TechEU consortium is set to launch two additional calls over the next 1.2 years, with each selecting 40 beneficiaries. Each selected startup will receive a €75,000 grant (non-dilutive funding) alongside a personalised business development programme, which includes mentoring, coaching, and targeted training. With this robust support, the programme aims to empower more women-led startups in the deep tech space.
The data from first open call has provided valuable insights, and the project consortium is already implementing strategies to engage more startups, especially from regions and sectors that saw fewer applications. By targeting these areas, the consortium aims to increase diversity and impact in the upcoming calls.
For stakeholders interested in collaborating to promote the Women TechEU scheme through a physical or virtual activity, the consortium encourages reaching out to the dedicated Events team at eventswomentecheurope [dot] eu (events[at]womentecheurope[dot]eu).
For more information
All relevant details, including eligibility criteria, can be found on the Women TechEU website. Interested applicants are encouraged to consult the Guidelines for Applicants and the FAQ section for more information.
For any questions regarding the Women TechEU scheme, please contact the official Helpdesk Team at helpdesk
womentecheurope [dot] eu (helpdesk[at]womentecheurope[dot]eu).
