EU backs 100+ women-founded deep tech startups

The European Fee has introduced the outcomes of the second spherical of Women TechEU — a programme designed to assist women-founded deep tech startups scale.  

The spherical, which has a finances of €10m, noticed purposes from 467 women-founded deep tech startups from throughout Europe, 134 of which have been chosen to take part. It follows on from a profitable pilot in 2021 which featured 50 startups.

The startups chosen for the second spherical will now every obtain a person grant of €75,000. The feminine founders can even be supplied mentoring and training underneath the European Innovation Council (EIC) Women Leadership Programme, and be afforded entry to EU networking alternatives.   

The startups function in 16 totally different deep tech sectors, and have developed options starting from new medical medication and carbon seize applied sciences, to digital studying and autonomous robotics. 

Among the many individuals is Sweden-based Norbite, which makes use of bugs to recycle plastic waste, Netherlands-based Agurotech, which digitises farming utilizing AI, and Lithuania-based Inobiostar, which has developed a waste paper-based materials for eradicating oil spills.  

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“By combining progressive concepts, feminine entrepreneurship, and wonderful analysis and growth, this 12 months’s firms chosen for WomenTechEU will contribute to enhancing the standard of life for the residents of the EU and past,” said the European Innovation Council.

Deep tech makes up over 1 / 4 of Europe’s startup ecosystem, with European deep tech firms valued at a mixed €700bn in 2021. 

But girls stay chronically underrepresented: final 12 months solely 3% of VC funding in European deep tech went to women-founded startups. 

These inequities are prevalent throughout the business, however magnified within the deep tech sector. Deep tech startups are inclined to have longer R&D cycles, and require larger capital outlay than conventional startups, which makes it even harder for women-led and women-founded groups to scale up.    

This isn’t simply dangerous apply, it’s additionally dangerous for enterprise. In accordance with consulting agency McKinsey, the European tech ecosystem will solely be capable to stay aggressive if it manages to draw and retain extra feminine expertise. 

And traders appear to agree: “Variety of thought, opinion and creativity is crucial for our deep tech ecosystem to thrive,” stated Christina Franzeskides, deep tech investor at Lakestar, within the 2023 European Deep Tech Report. 

“To that finish, we should try in the direction of inclusivity, throughout all backgrounds and genders, for the area to succeed in its full potential,” she added. 

The European Fee believes that giving women-founded startups the correct help and funding early on will help bridge deep tech’s gender hole, and strengthen the ecosystem as an entire.