June was one of those months where everything seemed to happen at once.
We welcomed a brand-new Horizon Europe project, celebrated the final chapter of a three-year journey, spent time on the road with partners across Europe, and opened the next edition of Women TechEU. Along the way, we also joined key conversations around women-led innovation and HealthTech at the EIC Summit, connecting with partners from Open Horizons, Women TechEU and EVOLVE2CARE.
Together, these moments made June feel especially active. Here’s a look back at what happened across Skills4Valorisation, PQ-REACT, Open Horizons, Women TechEU and EVOLVE2CARE.
3-4 June | Brussels
Some months have a moment that sets the tone. June had one right at the start.
On 3 and 4 June, the EIC Summit 2026 brought together more than 2,400 people from across the European innovation ecosystem in Brussels. Miguel García, Alberto Sierra and Virginia Gómez were there, representing Sploro across three different projects: Open Horizons, Women TechEU and EVOLVE2CARE.
But the conversations began even before the Summit officially opened. The day before, Virginia attended a meeting with ecosystem players to map out collaboration opportunities across Open Horizons, Women TechEU and EVOLVE2CARE. It was exactly the kind of exchange that does not always appear on the official agenda, but often shapes what comes next.
That same collaborative energy carried into the Summit itself. At the EUnicorner, EVOLVE2CARE partners ran two panels on living labs and HealthTech innovation, with Miguel and Alberto attending both sessions.
We have already shared our full reflections on the Summit separately, but one thing stood out: seeing Sploro represented across different corners of the European innovation ecosystem was a good reminder of how connected this work can be, even when each project tackles a different challenge.
18-19 June | Pamplona, Spain
That sense of connection continued later in the month, this time from Pamplona.
Skills4Valorisation officially launched on 1 June, and less than three weeks later, on 18 and 19 June, the consortium gathered at Sploro’s home base for its first in-person kick-off meeting.
For us, hosting the start of the project here made the launch feel even more meaningful. Waiting to welcome everyone were our awesome colleagues Małgorzata Olszewska, Mikel Apesteguía, Natalia Cabezas and Alberto Sierra, who spent two days hosting partners from MWCB, EurA and SCE as the consortium aligned its vision, reviewed the work packages and began building the relationships that will carry the project over the next three years.
The project sits very close to what Sploro does best. Skills4Valorisation is a Horizon Europe project focused on helping Knowledge and Technology Transfer Offices (KTOs/TTOs) across Europe do their jobs better, bridging the gap between excellent research and real-world impact through training, mentoring, open calls and an AI Innovation Companion Tool.
Sploro coordinates the whole initiative, leading on open call management, the mentoring programme, and ethics and data management. Over the next 36 months, the consortium will reach more than 500 participants across five countries and distribute €500,000 in cascade funding through two open calls.
It was a strong beginning for a project built around impact, collaboration and practical support for innovation. And starting it at home made it feel like the right kind of first step.
Skills4Valorisation was also present in another important conversation this month. Virginia Gómez attended a European Commission workshop in Brussels with around 60 TTOs, KTOs, Venture Builders and innovation professionals. The session focused on creating venture builder roles in universities and research organisations.
For Skills4Valorisation, this kind of exchange matters. The project is built around strengthening the people and structures that help research move closer to the market, and this workshop connected directly with that mission.
Skills4Valorisation is a Horizon Europe project coordinated by Sploro that strengthens the skills and capacities of Knowledge and Technology Transfer Offices (KTOs/TTOs) across Europe, helping them turn research results into real-world innovation and market impact.
11 June | Bucharest
On 11 June, PQ-REACT held its final event, “Beyond the Algorithm: The Road to Quantum-Safe Europe”, in Bucharest. Our PQ-REACT experts, Marina Ortega and Mikel Apesteguía were there for Sploro, joining consortium partners, researchers, policymakers and OC#2 winners to close out a project that has spent three years laying the groundwork for a quantum-safe Europe.
We gave the event its own dedicated post, so we will not retread it here. But it was one of the key moments of the month: a full, focused and substantive day that felt like the ending the work deserved.
Still, the event was not only about looking back. PQ-REACT officially closes in August 2026, and its results will continue beyond that date: 21 scientific publications, seven Key Exploitable Results and a community of grantees ready to keep pushing the work forward.
Beyond the Algorithm was more than a closing event — it was a launchpad. The tools, frameworks and partnerships built through PQ-REACT will continue to shape Europe’s quantum-safe future well beyond the project’s end.
The project’s 8th newsletter also dropped on 8 June, bringing that same closing-stage momentum together in one place. It covered the Key Exploitable Results, the Bucharest event, new Training Pills for open call winners and the 21-publication milestone. Give it a read!
PQ-REACT is a Horizon Europe project developing a post-quantum cryptography framework for energy-aware contexts. Learn more at pqreact.eu.
17-18 June | Athens
Open Horizons also had a month of transitions, with one group reaching the end of its journey and another moving into its next phase.
Cohort 1 wrapped up with Demo Days, a private showcase where five women-led deep-tech startups presented their pilot outcomes to corporate partners after months of real collaboration. Five completed pilots, five teams that went the full distance.
At the same time, seven startups from Cohort 2 moved from the Inception Phase into the Piloting Stage. They now begin five months of hands-on work with their corporate partners, turning early planning into practical collaboration.
Beyond the cohort activity, the project also kept moving across the ecosystem. OC#3 applications are now under evaluation, and Open Horizons was present at both the EIC Summit in Brussels and BEYOND Expo in Athens.
In both spaces, meetings with startups, research organisations and innovation intermediaries helped keep the conversation going around women-led deep tech, corporate collaboration and ecosystem-building.
Supporting women innovators requires more than funding — it requires visibility, connections, and a strong ecosystem. The EIC Summit demonstrated the power of European collaboration in creating those opportunities.
Open Horizons is a Horizon Europe project supporting deep tech and digital startups through cascade funding and structured corporate collaboration. Learn more at openhorizonsproject.eu.
11 June| Warsaw
That focus on women innovators also carried into Women TechEU, which entered a new stage of its own in June.
The 2026–2028 iteration of Women TechEU is officially open for business, and the month gave it a strong send-off.
On 11 June, our wonderful Małgorzata Olszewska represented the Women TechEU team at the Women in Tech Summit in Warsaw, hosted on the stand of project partner Fundacja Polka XXI wieku.
The event brought the programme closer to thousands of women professionals, entrepreneurs, researchers and investors at one of Europe’s most visible gatherings in this space. It was a fitting first stop for a programme designed to support women leading deep-tech innovation across Europe.
With the Summit behind us, attention turned to the programme itself. On 25 June, Women TechEU hosted its first Info Day for the new iteration, giving prospective applicants the opportunity to learn more about the programme and what it can offer.
For many, it marked the first step towards joining the next cohort. A quiet milestone, but an important one all the same.
June also brought recognition closer to home. A press release announcing Sploro’s role as coordinator of Women TechEU was picked up by Navarra Capital, putting the project on the regional map and giving the numbers the space they deserve: a €15 million budget, 15 beneficiary partners from 12 countries, 14 associated partners across Europe, and a mission built around breaking down real barriers for women entrepreneurs in deep tech.
Seeing Pamplona named alongside a flagship European programme is the kind of thing that does not get old.
Women Tech EU is a European initiative supporting women-led startups in deep tech. Learn more at womentecheurope.eu.
Across all these projects, June was a month of movement: new beginnings, closing chapters, active ecosystems and teams preparing for what comes next.
Undoubtedly, July will keep that momentum going. PQ-REACT enters its final weeks, Skills4Valorisation settles into its first full working rhythm, Open Horizons moves deeper into the OC#3 evaluation while Cohort 2 pilots get underway, and Women TechEU keeps building momentum with a new cohort of applicants finding their way to the programme.
More coming next month!
