On 5 September, the European Commission launched the fifth edition of the EU Prize for Women Innovators to award women entrepreneurs who have achieved outstanding innovations and brought them to market.
The first prize is €100.000, with second and third prizes of €50.000 and €30.000 respectively. A special prize of €20.000 will be dedicated to the Rising Innovator Award (30-years-old or younger) for an exceptional innovator at the beginning of her career.
Background
Europe urgently needs more innovators to stay competitive in the coming decades and to spur economic growth. Women are underrepresented in terms of creating innovative enterprises. This is an untapped potential for Europe, which needs to optimise all available resources to remain competitive and find solutions to our societal challenges. That is why the Commission created a Prize for Women Innovators in 2011 to increase public awareness of this issue and to encourage women innovators to exploit the commercial and business opportunities and become entrepreneurs.
The application guide can be found here.
