Women TechEU Open Call for Women-Led Deep Tech Start-ups

¿De qué trata esta convocatoria?

The call funds women-led early-stage deep tech start-ups with a €75,000 grant and a six-month business development programme. It targets start-ups in the EU and Horizon Europe associated countries.

¿Qué financia esta convocatoria?

Scope

Women TechEU supports women-led early-stage start-ups in deep tech. In total, 160 women entrepreneurs from the EU and Horizon Europe associated countries are to receive a non-dilutive grant of €75,000 and a personalised business development programme, preparing them to apply later to the EIC Accelerator or Pre-Accelerator.

Budget

The total budget is €12,000,000, split into €3,000,000 per submission deadline to fund 40 start-ups each time. At each deadline, 40% of the budget (€1,200,000) is reserved for start-ups from widening areas.

Programme of services

Over six months, each cohort can use services including women mentors (one meeting per month), investor readiness, an export readiness check, soft skills training, sales strategy, environmental impact assessment, high-impact events, peer meetings and a perks and community programme. Applicants choose their top three services. After the month-3 evaluation, at least 60% of start-ups move to a "Paving the way" phase with a fast track to the EIC Accelerator, open innovation and corporate access, targeted investor meetings and community building.

Application process

The call has two strands. In the eligibility strand, start-ups complete an eligibility form and receive an eligibility letter within a week of the cut-off; non-eligible applicants may reapply up to three times. Eligible start-ups are then invited to the full proposal strand.

Evaluation

Full proposals are checked for language and completeness, then for flags (not grant survivors, growth-oriented, interested in scaling and raising investment, with an IP policy). Up to 350 applications per deadline go to two external evaluators who score excellence, impact and implementation, with normalisation of scores. An ethics review, a final decision and legal validation follow before signature of a sub-grantee agreement. At most two resubmissions are allowed in the full proposal strand, and appeals may be lodged within seven calendar days of the results.

¿Cuándo termina el plazo?

14 de enero de 2027 (70 días)

Eligibility strand runs from 1 June 2026 to 13 July 2027, 17:00 CEST, with weekly cut-offs on Tuesdays at 17:00 Brussels time. Full proposal deadlines: 16 September 2026, 17:00 CEST; 14 January 2027, 17:00 CET; 1 April 2027, 17:00 CEST; 8 July 2027, 17:00 CEST (Brussels time).