Grant for women leading deep tech startups

The Women TechEU programme targets women-led early-stage deep tech startups. Applicants must meet specific requirements related to ownership structure, company registration, and technology maturity.

Key eligibility requirements include:

• the company must be founded or co-founded by a woman;
• a woman must hold a top management position (CEO, CTO, CSO, or equivalent);
• women must own at least 25% of the company's shares;
• the startup must be established in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe associated country;
• the company must be registered for a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 5 years at the time of application;
• the applicant must qualify as an SME.

Eligible startups should also:

• have raised less than €1 million in equity funding;
• have reached the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) stage;
• operate in the deep tech sector and develop technology-driven innovations.

Examples of eligible deep tech fields include:

• artificial intelligence;
• biotechnology;
• energy technologies;
• quantum technologies;
• robotics and autonomous systems;
• space technologies;
• advanced materials, manufacturing and recycling technologies;
• advanced sensing technologies.

For AI-based solutions, eligible projects are expected to be at the model development, training, testing, or refinement stages. Projects limited to concept development, dataset collection, or algorithm development are considered too early-stage for the programme.

The Women TechEU programme supports women founders and entrepreneurs leading early-stage deep tech startups. The initiative is designed to strengthen innovation capacity and help startups prepare for future growth and investment opportunities.

Supported projects include those that:

• develop technology-driven innovations based on scientific or engineering advances;
• address challenges requiring research, technological development, or complex engineering solutions;
• operate at Technology Readiness Levels TRL 4–TRL 6;
• demonstrate the potential to create significant impact within their target application areas.

The programme welcomes applications from a broad range of deep tech sectors, including:

• artificial intelligence (AI);
• biotechnology;
• energy technologies;
• quantum technologies;
• robotics and autonomous systems;
• space and propulsion technologies;
• advanced materials, manufacturing and recycling technologies;
• advanced sensing technologies;
• connectivity, navigation and digital technologies.

In addition to funding, selected startups will receive a six-month tailored support programme, including business development services, expert mentoring, and personalised development KPIs designed to support sustainable growth and scaling.

Applications for the Women TechEU programme must be submitted exclusively through the official Sploro online platform. Submissions sent by email or through any other channel will not be accepted and will be automatically disqualified.

Main application steps:

1. Review the programme guidelines and eligibility requirements.
2. Complete the Eligibility Form.
3. Prepare the application using the template provided by the programme.
4. Submit the application through the Sploro platform and save all required information.
5. The application undergoes an eligibility verification process.
6. Within one week after the relevant cut-off date, applicants receive a notification regarding the eligibility assessment and, if successful, an invitation to proceed to the next stage.

Additional requirements:

• All applications and supporting documentation must be submitted in English.
• Information provided must be complete, accurate, and truthful.
• Applicants whose proposals are deemed ineligible may reapply, with a maximum of three resubmissions allowed.
• Applicants are strongly encouraged to attend the programme’s online Info Days and submit their proposal at least two days before the deadline.

Within the Women TechEU 2 programme, all applications undergo an eligibility screening process to verify compliance with the programme requirements before moving to subsequent evaluation stages.

Key eligibility criteria include:

• all mandatory application fields must be completed in English;
• the applicant must be a legally established entity;
• the organisation must have been registered for at least six months by the relevant eligibility cut-off date;
• the organisation must be no more than five years old;
• the applicant must be established in one of the eligible countries;
• the company must meet the definition of an SME.

Additional eligibility requirements include:

• the company has raised less than €1 million in equity funding;
• the startup has reached a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) stage;
• the startup is founded or co-founded by a woman;
• a woman holds a senior management position (CEO, CTO, CSO, or equivalent) at the time of application;
• women own at least 25% of the company shares;
• the proposal has not previously received funding through Women TechEU or the EIC Accelerator;
• none of the founders or employees are currently working for Women TechEU 2 EIC project beneficiaries.

Based on the provided excerpt, no scoring methodology or points allocation is specified. The information relates solely to the eligibility verification stage used to determine whether applications can proceed to further evaluation.

The following may be required during the review:

• The company’s incorporation documents.
• The capital table.
• Supporting documents regarding the ownership structure and compliance with the criteria.

Applicants to the Women TechEU programme are required to comply with the programme rules and Horizon Europe obligations throughout both the selection process and project implementation.

Key legal requirements include:

• Applicants must not have any conflict of interest during the evaluation process or project implementation. Any circumstance that may affect impartiality will be assessed by the consortium.
• Women TechEU consortium partners, affiliated entities, employees, and subcontractors are not eligible to submit proposals or receive funding through the call.
• Applications may be disqualified if a conflict of interest is identified.

Regarding data protection:

• Personal and organisational data are processed in compliance with GDPR (EU Regulation 2016/679).
• Contact, professional, and application-related information provided by applicants may be collected and processed for evaluation and programme management purposes.
• Data may be shared with consortium partners, funding authorities, evaluators, auditors, and other authorised bodies in accordance with programme requirements and EU regulations.
• Confidential project information must be protected during project implementation and for five years after the completion of the sub-grant project.

Applicants also retain rights over their personal data, including the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, and objection.