Empowering Startups Through Cascade Funding: Sploro at PODIM 2025
06 May 2025
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March has been an incredible month at Sploro, filled with milestones that highlight our commitment to innovation, entrepreneurship, and, most importantly, empowering women in deep tech. From celebrating International Women’s Day with a powerful video featuring the amazing women at Sploro to announcing the second cohort of the EmpoWomen Programme, we have reinforced our belief that support and action for women in innovation must be constant. This commitment was also reflected in our podcast episode featuring Marta Fernández, coordinator of EmpoWomen, and Neide Viera, CEO of IPLEXMED, who provided insights into the initiative, shared their experiences, and discussed the current lack of representation of women entrepreneurs.
When we say we’re committed to empowering women in innovation, we truly mean it. March was packed with meaningful actions. At MWC and 4YFN, Sploro participated in key panels, including one led by Virginia Gómez, focusing on women in deep tech. Just a week before closing the third Women TechEU Open Call, we traveled to Malta for the Consortium Meeting, where, alongside our partners, we engaged in open discussions, collaborative planning, and renewed our energy to keep empowering women across Europe.
Next, we took fourteen extraordinary women-led startups from the second EmpoWomen cohort to Hello Tomorrow Paris, providing them with a global platform. At Transfiere, Virginia led a panel on women in deep tech, and we wrapped up the month at the Open Horizons Kick-Off in Bratislava, continuing our mission to break barriers for women in innovation.
All of this for one purpose: to ensure that women-led innovation continues to thrive, break boundaries, and create lasting impact across industries.
March was also a month of major funding opportunities and new tools. We launched new funding programmes, including the EVOLVE2Care and SPADE Open Calls, offering startups and researchers opportunities in health and smart agriculture. At MWC, we introduced the Cascade Funding Beneficiaries Map, a new tool on our Cascade Funding Hub that helps stakeholders navigate funding opportunities more efficiently. We also hosted Cascade Funding Info Day #19, focusing on rural-urban innovation and providing key insights into sustainable regional development.
Our involvement in key events and strategic collaborations further strengthened our impact. At MWC and 4YFN, we engaged in deep tech innovation panels and startup showcases alongside Kronis. Our CEO, Miguel García, was a speaker at Lebanon Connect, helping startups from Lebanon and Europe access EU funding opportunities. In Düsseldorf, Germany, we participated in the R&I Europe 2025 event, exploring new R&D collaboration opportunities. Additionally, we reinforced our commitment to cutting-edge technologies by engaging in the PQ REACT Consortium Meeting in Pamplona, focused on quantum technology innovation.
March was a testament to our mission: to foster an inclusive, innovative, and well-funded ecosystem where startups, researchers, and women-led initiatives thrive. As we move forward, we remain committed to expanding these efforts and ensuring even greater impact.
