Record number of applications for ninth edition of EU Prize for Women Innovators 2022

After all proposals have been evaluated, three winners in the ‘Women Innovators’ category will be awarded €100,000 each. To mark the European Year of Youth, three ‘Rising Innovators’ under the age of 35 will each receive €50,000.

Roughly three quarters of all applications this year were submitted to the ‘Women Innovators’ category, and one quarter to the ‘Rising Innovators’ category.

Women from 39 different countries applied for the prize, from across the EU and countries associated to the Horizon Europe programme for research and innovation.

A total of 41 applications came from the EU13 group of countries that have joined the EU since 2004, up from 23 the previous year. A further 28 applications were submitted by women in Associated Countries, including from Ukraine, Georgia and the Western Balkans.

The highest number of applications this year came from France, Spain, Germany and Portugal with 37, 32, 22 and 21 proposals respectively.

Eligible applications will now be evaluated from September through November. The final shortlist of finalists will be published in November, and the winners will be announced in December, at the European Innovation Council Summit.

In addition, the second call for proposals for the Women TechEU programme remains open until 4 October 2022. This year, up to 130 deep-tech start-ups led by women will qualify for funding and business acceleration services to grow into tomorrow’s female deep tech leaders.