EEN2EIC - Funding for Female Tech Entrepreneurs
Even as the number of women in STEM continues to grow, there remains a significant disparity in the number of female tech founders in Europe. In Germany, only 20% of all tech founders are women, and they account for less than 5% of all VC deals in Europe. The EU’s new initiative, EEN2EIC, aims to close this gap by providing valuable support to female founders looking to apply for the EIC accelerator.
The EIC Accelerator is the EU’s premier funding program for innovative start-ups and SMEs. Successful applicants can benefit with up to €2.5 Million of equity-free grant funding, and up to €10 Million equity investment, presenting a golden ticket for Europe’s most promising innovators to bring their disruptive technologies to the market and rapidly scale their business.
With an extensive proposal procedure, high level of competition, and complicated financial arrangements, approaching the EIC Accelerator alone is a daunting prospect for many companies, but fear not! NRW.Europa’s experienced and neutral funding advice team is ready to help you with your application.
Pre-Requisites
- You have an innovative, game changing product, service or business model that could create new markets or disrupt existing ones in Europe and even worldwide.
- Your product has reached at least TRL 5 and can reach TRL 8 within the next 24 months.
- Your business has the potential to scale up and you are committed to doing so.
- You need substantial funding to reach market readiness, but the risks involved are too high for private investors alone to invest.
- Your product has a strong European dimension and contributes to European strategic goals.
- Your company has a woman in the founding team or in a leading role within the company.
- You are located in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Your Opportunity
Blended Financing up to a total of €12.5 Million, consisting of both a grant and investment comoponent, to cover both technological development and market entry. The blended financing consists of:
- Grant financing up to €2.5 Million with a 70% funding rate to reach TRL 8 within 24 months.
- Equity investment from €1 Million up to €10 Million to support market deployment and upscaling (TRL 9) within a 7-10 year timeframe
Thematic Focus
The EIC Accelerator is open to any thematic topic and any field of technology through its open call.
Additional budget is allocated for a number of EIC Accelerator Challenges:
- Advanced Materials for Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Systems
- Alternative Concepts and Key Enabling Technologies for Fusion Power Plants
- Biotech for Regenerating Agricultural Soils
- Boosting the European Critical Raw Materials value chain
- Deep Tech for Climate Adaptation
Application Process
Deadlines
Short proposal: anytime, evaluation starts every first Tuesday of every month, feedback within 4-6 weeks
Full proposal: 7th January, 4th March, 6th. May, 8th July, 2nd September und 4th November 2026
Pitch und Jury Interview in person in Brussels - Tentative Dates:
- For the January und March Cut-Offs: 18-22 May 2026
- For the May und August Cut-Offs: 19-24 October 2026
- For the September und November Cut-Offs: 15-19 February 2027
Available Support
Our experienced team of funding advisors can support you throughout the application process with cost-free, direct advisory services, starting with:
- Introductory workshop:
- Overview of programme requirements.
- Definition of project scope and suitable financing structure
- Identification and formulation of Europe-centric aspects, technical risks, and business roadmap.
- Tips & coaching on the phase 1 application (short proposal), the written questions as well as the pitch deck and pitch video.
- Feedback/clarification of questions/tactical issues.
- Review of the draft short proposal.
If the first phase application is successful:
- Proposal workshop for phase 2 (full proposal).
- Joint editing and suggestions for the proposal.
- Jury interview training and practice sessions.
Are you Europe’s next deep-tech unicorn? Then reach out to us to get started on this unique opportunity!
Contact:
Cornelia Schwizer
ZENIT GmbH / Enterprise Europe Network
for Nordrhein-Westfalen NRW.Europa
Phone: 0208 30004-16
E-Mail: cs@zenit.de
Further Information and Links:
Disclaimer: This support is funded by the EEN2EIC Project, Horizon Europe Grant Agreement 101075818, which is part of the European Innovation Council, and by the Enterprise Europe Network. The level of support available is limited to the advisory services listed above and comparable actions.