Deadline: 15 November 2017
The European Commission is seeking applications for the fifth edition of its EU Prize for Women Innovators to award women entrepreneurs who have achieved outstanding innovations and brought them to market.
Prize Information
Four cash prizes will be awarded to the most innovative women entrepreneurs:
- First Prize: €100 000
- Second Prize: €50 000
- Third Prize: €30 000
- Rising Innovator: €20 000
Prize Criteria
- The originality and marketability of the developed product or service provided by the company of the contestant. Applications will be compared according to e.g. the number of patents/co-patents and trademarks.
- The economic impact – The economic impact of a product or service of the company for Europe is measured by the number of countries (inside and outside the EU) where the product or service is sold, and by the size of the turnover achieved with this service or product in 2015 and 2016.
- The societal impact – the societal impact of a product or service of the company for Europe. It will be measured by the number of jobs created and the potential of the service or product to help Europe in addressing societal challenges e.g. the ageing of the European population, global warming, clean water, renewable energy and resource efficiency.
- The impact and leadership role of the contestant. Contestants should explain how their role in the company influenced the success of the company and outline their potential to empower other women to be leaders and entrepreneurs.
Eligibility Criteria
- The participant must be a woman.
- The participant must be an ordinary resident in an EU Member State or a country associated to Horizon 2020.
- For Rising Innovator Award following applies: The participant must be a woman born as of 1 January 1987.
- The participant must be the founder or co-founder of an existing and active company which was registered before 1 January 2016.
- The annual turnover of the company was at least EUR 100,000 in 2015 or 2016 (EUR 50,000 for the category Rising Innovator).
- Either the participant as a natural person or the company founded/co-founded by the candidate have received or is receiving European or national funding for Research and Innovation or bank funding or alternative sources of financing such as private equity, venture capital, crowd funding through platforms or business angels
How to Apply
Interested applicants must apply online via given website.
Eligible Countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Iceland, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Ukraine, Tunisia, Georgia, Armenia.
For more information, please visit EU Prize for Women Innovators.