Women Tech.EU initiative
Women Tech.EU initiative · HORIZON-CSA · Needs partners
What this call funds
This call funds a single consortium to run the Women TechEU initiative, which gives grants of up to €75,000 to early-stage women-led deep-tech startups across Europe. The consortium won't do the deep-tech work itself; instead it manages the application process, evaluates applicants, distributes at least 75% of its budget as sub-grants to selected startups, and provides networking, mentoring and promotion around the scheme. The goal is to close the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship and prepare women-led startups for future EIC Accelerator funding.
deep tech · sme scaleup · gender equality · social innovation
Who wins this
This suits an experienced consortium (e.g. innovation agencies, business support organisations, or EIC-network actors) skilled at managing cascading grant schemes, evaluation processes and startup support programmes, rather than a startup itself.
Could you win this call?
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The call in detail
- Funding model
- Budget-based — reimbursement of actual eligible costs
- Submission
- Single-stage submission (full proposal at once)
- Cut-off dates (4)
- 16 Sep 2026 · 14 Jan 2027 · 1 Apr 2027 · 8 Jul 2027
- Partners
- Required. The call asks for a consortium — a group applying together, typically 3+ organisations from 3+ countries.
- Support to third parties
- At least 75% of the total budget must go to financial support for third parties (women-led deep-tech startups), with a maximum of EUR 75,000 per third party.
- Also required
- The granting authority will fund a maximum of one project; third-party beneficiaries must be early-stage deep-tech startups founded or co-founded by women in top management, registered in an EU Member State or Associated Country for at least six months, and not having received substantial prior financial support.
- Eligible countries (45)
- Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, IL, TR, UA, RS, MK, ME, AL, BA, XK, GE, AM, MD, TN, NZ
Read the full conditions from the official call ›
General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout are described in Annex 2 (A. Admissibility) of the EIC Work Programme 2025. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries are described in Annex 2 (B. Eligibility) of the EIC Work Programme 2025. 3. Other Eligible Conditions are described in Annex 2 (General conditions for proposals) of the EIC Work Programme 2025. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex 2 (C. Financial and Operational Capacity) of the EIC Work Programme 2025. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex 2 (D. Award criteria) of the EIC Work Programme 2025. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex 2 (F. Procedure) of the EIC Work Programme 2025. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement are described in are described in Annex 2 (F and G) of the EIC Work Programme 2025. The granting authority can fund a maximum of one project. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants are described in Annex 2 (G.Legal and financial set-up of the grant agreements) of the EIC Work Programme 2025. The consortium will provide financial support to the third parties in form of grants. The consortium must allocate at least 75% of the total proposed budget to financial support to third parties. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 75 000. The grants aim to finance supporting activities of the selected companies such as evaluating and refining products/services, design, user experience, upgrading the business model, updating the business plan and growth strategy, finding partners and investors, market validation, etc. Specific conditions FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO THIRD PARTIES Where the specific call/topic conditions allow for financial support to third parties, the applicants must clearly describe in their proposal the objectives and the expected results, including the elements listed in the application template. The following conditions must also be fulfilled: projects must publish their open calls widely and adhere to EU standards of transparency, equal treatment, conflict of interest and confidentiality; all calls for third parties and all calls that are implemented by third parties must be published on the Funding & Tenders Portal, and on the beneficiaries’ websites; the calls must remain open for at least 2 months; if submission deadlines are changed, this must immediately be announced and registered applicants must be informed of the change; projects must publish the outcome of the calls without delay, including a description of third-party projects, the date of the award, the duration, and the legal name of the third party and country of establishment; the calls must have a clear European dimension. EIC Work Programme 2025
Who has won calls like this
No past winners are recorded for this call family yet.