Ongoing

Women TechEU 2 EIC

DeepTech
WomenLed

FOSTERING INCLUSIVE INNOVATION BY SUPPORTING WOMEN-LED STARTUPS ACROSS EUROPE’S DEEP TECH SECTORS AND REGIONS

Women TechEU 2EIC is an EU-funded initiative dedicated to empowering women-led deep tech startups across Europe. By combining non-dilutive funding with tailored business support, mentoring, training, expert guidance and access to valuable networking opportunities, the programme helps female founders accelerate their growth, scale internationally and strengthen Europe’s deep tech innovation ecosystem.

Grant agreement: Nº 101268687

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Duration
05.2026–
05. 2028

Programme badge
Horizon Europe

Project Budget
€15M

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Project Overview

The Challenge: Women-led deep tech startups across Europe face systemic barriers to funding and visibility, limiting Europe’s innovation potential. Women represent a small fraction of deep tech founders despite their talent and capacity to drive breakthrough innovations in critical sectors.

Our Objective: Women TechEU 2 EIC selects and supports 160 women-led deep tech startups from EU and Horizon Europe associated countries. Through an open call with 4 submission deadlines (2026–2027), each selected startup receives a €75,000 non-dilutive grant and a tailored 6-month business development programme, preparing them to apply for the EIC Accelerator and other EU funding opportunities.

Innovation & Impact: A Cascade Funding model combining non-dilutive grants, bias-reducing evaluation normalisation, and 40% of budget reserved for widening-area startups. Expected to deploy 12M€ and support 160 startups, directly strengthening gender diversity in European deep tech.

Sploro’s Role in the Project

Sploro plays a key role in the strategic execution of the project, leveraging its expertise in:

Coordination

Strategic coordination, consortium governance, EC reporting and overall project implementation.

FSTP Management

Management of the full open call process and distribution of €12 million to 160 startups.

Exploitation Management

Coordination of exploitation activities to ensure the long-term use and impact of project results.

Results and Expected Impact

Economic Boost

€12 million in non-dilutive funding will be distributed to 160 women-led deep tech startups, with each company receiving a €75,000 grant to support early-stage development and attract further private investment.

Market Impact

The programme prepares 160 women-led startups to access competitive EU funding schemes, including the EIC Accelerator, while strengthening their market presence across strategic deep tech sectors.

Ecosystem Impact

The project connects 160 startups with 15 consortium partners, investors, corporates, business angel networks and innovation hubs, while building a lasting Women TechEU alumni community.

Societal Impact

By reserving 40% of funding for startups from widening areas and requiring women to hold significant ownership and leadership roles, the project tackles gender and geographic inequalities.

Tech Impact

Startups at TRL 4–6 receive mentoring, investment readiness services and ongoing performance monitoring to accelerate their technologies towards market readiness and future EIC support.