Following the closure of the Women TechEU’s third open call on the 17 March 2025, the EU-funded scheme received a record breaking 1038 applications from 43 eligible countries, the highest number of submissions to date, demonstrating the growing demand for support among women-led deep tech start-ups across Europe.
After a thorough evaluation process 40 winners were selected, representing 13 countries, including 3 from widening countries.
Geographic Diversity of Winners
The latest selection round showcases start-ups from across a broad range of countries. The United Kingdom led with 9 winning start-ups, followed by France with 6, Germany and Norway with 4, Denmark and Türkiye with 3, Austria, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden with 2 each. A winner was selected from Belgium, Estonia and Greece. This wide-ranging representation underscores the consortium’s commitment to fostering innovation across diverse technological landscapes, including those from widening countries.
Sectoral Representation
Startups from a broad spectrum of sectors participated in the call. A majority of the selected winners – 50.0% – belonged to the “Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, including Big Data” category, on data-driven innovation across sectors such as manufacturing, and digital services. “Biotechnology, Life Sciences and Agritech” followed at 32.5%, while 15% of the winners were involved in “Sustainable Energy, Clean Technologies and Greentech.” Other notable sectors included “Advanced Materials” (10%) and “Internet of Things, W3C, Semantic Web” (10%).. Sectors like “Electronics and Photonics” (7.5%), “Advanced Manufacturing” (5%) and “Aerospace, Automotive and Remote Sensing” (2.5%).
DataHub
The Women TechEU DataHub has been updated to include detailed profiles of the third call winners. These start-ups represent a diverse range of deep tech innovations, offering insights into their technologies.
The platform provides an accessible way to explore the backgrounds of each selected start-up, helping increase visibility and encourage connections across the deep tech ecosystem.
You can explore the DataHub at https://datahub.womentecheurope.eu
Explore the Women TechEU Geo-Map
You can now visually explore where Women TechEU winners are based across Europe through our interactive Geo-Map. This feature offers a powerful way to see the geographic reach and diversity of the Women TechEU community at a glance.
Visit the website: https://datahub.womentecheurope.eu/map/
What’s next?
Following the conclusion of the third open call for startups, the Women TechEU consortium has already launched the fourth and final call which is set to close on 4 August 2025 at 17:00 CEST.
The insights gathered from the first, second, and third open call have been instrumental, prompting the project consortium to refine its engagement strategies. These strategies now focus on increasing participation from regions and sectors that previously saw fewer applications. By deliberately targeting these areas, the consortium aims to enhance diversity and broaden the impact of the upcoming calls, ensuring a more inclusive reach across Europe’s innovation landscape.
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) .
