Women TechEU 2 EIC is an EU-funded project designed to support women-led early-stage deep tech startups from Europe. Through the programme, selected startups will receive €75,000 in non-dilutive funding, together with a personalised business development programme including mentoring, coaching and training.
The new Women TechEU 2 EIC call will follow a two-stage application process. Applicants must first complete the Eligibility Strand to verify that they meet the programme’s participation requirements. Eligible applicants will then be invited to submit a Full Proposal.
Women TechEU 2 EIC – Eligibility Strand
Opening date: 1 June 2026
Cut-off dates: Weekly cut-offs every Tuesday at 17:00 CE(S)T, Brussels time
First cut-off: 30 June 2026 at 17:00 CEST
Final cut-off: 13 July 2027 at 17:00 CEST
The Eligibility Strand is the first step in the Women TechEU application process. It is designed to confirm whether applicants comply with the programme’s eligibility requirements before progressing to the Full Proposal stage. Your Eligibility Letter will be sent to you no later than one week after the cut-off date to which you submitted your application.
If you receive your Eligibility Letter more than 15 days before the next Full Proposal submission deadline, you must submit your Full Proposal by that nearest deadline. If your Eligibility Letter arrives 14 days or fewer before the next Full Proposal deadline, you may submit at the following deadline instead. The four deadlines for the Full Proposal are:
- Submission deadline 5: 16 September 2026, 17:00 CEST (eligibility proposals received before 25 August 2026 should receive a reply by 1 September; if so they must submit for this deadline)
- Submission deadline 6: 14 January 2027, 17:00 CET
- Submission deadline 7: 13 May 2027, 17:00 CEST
- Submission deadline 8: 12 August 2027, 17:00 CEST
40 winners will be decided following each full proposal deadline as follows:
- Total per submission deadline: €3,000,000 (40 startups × €75,000)
- Reserved for widening areas per submission deadline: €1,200,000 (16 startups × €75,000)
- Open to all eligible countries per submission deadline: €1,800,000 (24 startups × €75,000)
Applicants are strongly encouraged to read the Guidelines for Applicants carefully before applying and to submit their eligibility application well in advance of the relevant cut-off date.
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Women TechEU targets early-stage women-led deep tech startups. In this section, specific criteria and conditions are outlined, establishing eligibility for potential
beneficiaries.These definitions are summarised below: please read the full guidelines for applicants before applying.
1. The founder or co-founder must be the woman and will (if selected) participate in the programme. We consider a woman co-founder if she acquired shares from the company within one year from the date of registration of the company.
2. Women leadership: Women legally recognised as founders or co-founders of the company (see above). The founder or co-founder of the company must also currently hold a top management position (CEO, CTO, CSO or equivalent) within the same company. It will be also required that women hold at least 25% of the shares in the CAP table (capitalisation table) of the company. When completing the CAP table if the founder or investor is a holding company owned by a single woman, please enter gender as woman, otherwise, select Organisation.
3. Established country: the applicant must be established in an EU Member State and their outermost regions or Horizon Europe Associated Country (this includes the UK).
4. Early-stage startup: • The legal entity must be registered for a minimum of six months and a maximum of five years at the time of the eligibility cut-off date they are submitting for.
You must not previously have been funded for the same activities by another EU Programme (e.g. previous Women TechEU initiatives or the EIC Accelerator).
Within Women TechEU, the term ‘woman’ refers to a cis or transgender woman who is legally defined as a woman. The means of verification will be the Identity Card or Passport issued by the country of their nationality.
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Deep tech innovation aims to provide concrete solutions to our societal problems by finding its source in a deep interaction with the most recent scientific and technological advances and by seeking to produce a profound impact in the targeted application areas.
Sectors, which are most fertile for deep tech applications are:
- Advanced connectivity, navigation and digital technologies
- Advanced materials, manufacturing and recycling technologies
- Advanced sensing technologies
- AI technologies
- Biotechnologies
- Energy technologies
- Quantum technologies
- Robotics and autonomous systems
- Space and propulsion technologies
Women TechEU welcomes applications from all deep tech fields of activity. Using technology and being a deep tech company are very different concepts. A startup which is adopting industry standard technologies or modifying content, materials, integration of existing components etc, does not meet the definition of a deep tech startup.
For way of example, the following are NOT deep tech:
- eLearning platforms where the content is the innovative part and not the technology
- eCommerce apps where the innovation is the business model/pricing and not the technology.
- Gaming apps which use industry standard components.
- Online information portals where the news and articles are the innovative component.
If your deep tech innovation includes AI, please note that the stage of development of your AI will be the determining factor of whether you are eligible or not for the Women TechEU programme.
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These are online information sessions organised by the Women TechEU team to explain in detail what the scheme is, how to apply, and some tips and tricks for developing a good proposal.
Please note that there will 8 total InfoDays, on the following dates.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