Women TechEU Open Call

The Women TechEU 2 EIC project is on a mission to ignite the potential of women-led early-stage startups in deep tech. 160 talented women entrepreneurs from across the European Union and Horizon Europe associated countries will be receiving direct support. With 75k€ grant (non-diluting finance) and a personalised business development programme, the project will be paving the way for these innovators to shine as leaders in deep tech innovation across Europe. This project is a continuation of the Women TechEU scheme that was first managed by EISMEA (European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency) from 2021 to 2023 and by another consortium during 2024 - 2026, and it has now become a fully-fledged cascade funding project that is run by an EU-wide consortium made up of different innovation ecosystem players, representatives of women entrepreneurs and also investors. During 2 years, the project will give out a total of 12 M€ in non-diluting finance in an open call with 4 different competitive submission deadlines In each submission deadline 40% of the funding is secured for startups coming from widening areas. Each cohort will then be also invited to use the menu of business development services that will be provided over a period of 6 months. Constant contacts and checkups of the KPIs that will be jointly developed by the entrepreneurs and their coaches will ensure that there is a smooth ongoing scaleup of their businesses, in order to prepare the winners to eventually also apply for the EIC Accelerator or Pre Accelerator scheme. Women TechEU programme This unique Women TechEU Programme offers: Service 1 - Women mentors (one meeting per month during 6 months). Service 2: Investor readiness. Service 3 - Export Readiness Check. Service 4 - Soft Skills Training. Service 5 - Sales Strategy. Service 6 - Environmental Impact Assessment. Service 7 - High Impact Events Service 8 - Peer-meetings. Service 9 - Perks programme and Community. At the moment of submission, the applicant will select her top three services that she would like to get from Women TechEU project. During the execution of the Programme of Services selected services from the EIC Business Accelerator Service will also be offered. Following the M3 Programme evaluation. At least 60% of the selected startups will move to a new phase called “Paving the way”. These startups have access to services meant to support their scaling-up: Service 10 - Fast Track to EIC Accelerator. Service 11 - Open Innovation and Corporate Access. Service 12 - Targeted meetings with investors. Service 13 – Community creation.

Submission The open call consists of two strands. The submissions will happen through the official submission Sploro’s platform, which is directly linked to the Women TechEU website. Only applications received directly through the online submission platform will be considered eligible. The submission process is divided into 2 strands: Eligibility strand . First step is verifying the eligibility of the startups: - Submission period: continuously running from 1 June 2026 to 13 July 2027 at 17:00 CEST Brussels time with weekly cut-offs for validation. First cut-off is the 30 June 2026 at 17:00 CEST. - Link for submission: online submission platform Full proposal strand . Only the eligible startups will be invited to submit the Full Proposal. This strand is continuously running with 4 submission deadlines for evaluation: - Opening: 15/07/2026 - Submission deadline 5: 16/09/2026 , 17:00h CEST*, Brussels time - Submission deadline 6: 14/01/2027 , 17:00h CET*, Brussels time - Submission deadline 7: 01/04/2027 , 17:00h CEST*, Brussels time Submission deadline 8: 08/07/2027 , 17:00h CEST*, Brussels time Both strands are supported by the following documents (all the documents will be available at Women TechEU website in due time): - Guidelines for applicants : cover all the information applicants need to know before applying. - Annex 1: the word template of the online application forms. The application forms are divided into different sections. - FAQ : document with the Frequently Asked Questions. This document will be updated periodically. - Eligibility strand - Online Form : to be completed via Sploro platform . The invitation to submit a full proposal will be sent directly only to eligible startups. Women TechEU also provides online info sessions. It is advisable to attend at least one of the upcoming online events: 1st InfoDay: 25 June 2026 at 10:00h CEST (Brussels time) 2nd InfoDay: 08 July 2026 at 10:00h CEST (Brussels time) 3rd InfoDay : 06 August 2026 at 12:00h CEST (Brussels time) 4th InfoDay: 15 September 2026 at 16:00h CET (Brussels time) 5th InfoDay : 10 November 2026 at 16:00h CET (Brussels time) 6th InfoDay: 12 January 2027 at 10:00h CET (Brussels time) 7th InfoDay : 16 March 2027 at 16:00h CEST (Brussels time) 8th InfoDay : 04 May 2027 at 10:00h CEST (Brussels time) Evaluation process The application process for Women TechEU is divided into 2 strands . First, applicants must verify their eligibility status, and once they are validated, they will be moved (if eligible) to the second strand, the Full Proposal strand. Eligibility check strand The eligibility strand opens on the 1 June 2026 and closes on 13 July 2027 at 17:00 CEST . Weekly cut-offs take place every Tuesday at 17:00 CE(S)T during the opening period, being the first one on the 30 June 2026 at 17:00 CEST. Applicants complete the eligibility form to verify compliance with the programme requirements. After submission, applications are reviewed against the following criteria: - Europe

Apply through the EU Funding & Tenders portal. UK organisations can take part in Horizon Europe on the same terms as EU members. Many calls need a group of partners from different countries.