The EU Prize for Women Innovators celebrates the women entrepreneurs behind game-changing innovations.

In doing so, the EU seeks to raise awareness of the need for more female innovators, and create role models for women and girls everywhere.

The prize is awarded to the most talented women entrepreneurs from across the EU and countries associated to Horizon Europe, who have founded a successful company and brought innovation to market. The prize is launched and managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, and the winners are chosen by an independent expert jury.

In the ‘Women Innovators’ main category, three prizes of EUR 100 000 each are awarded to the women who, in the opinion of the jury, have excelled in all award criteria and stood out amongst the other applicants. In the second category, one prize of EUR 50 000 is awarded to a promising ‘Rising Innovator’ aged 30 or younger.

To be eligible, the applicant must be:

• a woman
• an ordinary resident in an EU Member State (including overseas countries and territories), or a country associated to Horizon Europe
• founder or co-founder of an active innovative company registered at least two years before the submission deadline

In addition to the above, those applying for the Rising Innovator category must be aged 30 or younger at the start of the call year.

Applicants that have already received an EU or Euratom prize cannot receive a second prize for the same activities.

The eligibility criteria are set out in the Rules of Contest for this prize.

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