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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

This prize aims to celebrate and recognize outstanding women entrepreneurs from across the EU and Horizon Europe associated countries who have transformed their innovative ideas into disruptive solutions benefiting people and the planet. It seeks to boost public awareness, create strong role models, and inspire more women and girls to pursue innovation. - Target Recipient: Individual women (natural persons) who are founders or co-founders of a company or organization. - Target Company Size: Not specified, but involved in developing disruptive innovations. - SECTOR-AGNOSTIC with a strong preference for innovations in 'deep-tech' and 'STEM' (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields. - Geographic Scope: Applicants must legally reside in an EU Member State or a country associated with Horizon Europe. The applicant's company/organization must also be established in one of these countries. - Key Filtering Criteria: Must be a woman, founder/co-founder of a company registered for at least two years, and residing/established in eligible countries. - Grant Frequency: This is an annual prize.

Financial Structure

This is a prize, not a grant to cover project costs.
The maximum prize amount per winner is EUR 100,000.
Three prizes are expected to be awarded for the Women Innovators category.
Total budget allocated for the Women Innovators category is EUR 220,000.
Prize money will be paid to the winners after the award ceremony, once all required documents have been submitted.
There are no matching fund or co-financing requirements as this is a prize.
Winners are subject to checks, audits, and investigations by EU bodies (Awarding Authority, European Commission, OLAF, EPPO, and European Court of Auditors).
The prize can be withdrawn, and payments recovered, if false information, fraud, ineligibility, or serious breach of obligations are discovered.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicant Requirements

Must be a woman (natural person). This includes cis women and transgender women legally defined as a woman.
Must be legally residing in an EU Member State or a country associated with Horizon Europe.
Must be the founder or co-founder of a company or organization. Self-employment is not accepted.
Cannot have previously received an EU or Euratom prize for the exact same activities.
Must register in the Participant Register as a 'natural person' and be validated by the Central Validation Service.
Joint applications by a group of applicants are not accepted; each individual must apply separately.
Applicants eligible for multiple prize categories can only apply to one category.

Company/Organization Requirements

The company or organization must be established in an EU Member State or a country associated with Horizon Europe.
The company or organization must be registered or incorporated at least two years before the call year (meaning before January 1, 2023, for the 2025 call).

Exclusion Criteria

Applicants (or persons with unlimited liability for their debts/those essential for award) who are subject to an EU exclusion decision or in situations such as bankruptcy, grave professional misconduct, fraud, corruption, breach of social security/tax obligations, or serious deficiencies in complying with prior EU obligations cannot participate.
Entities subject to EU restrictive measures or certain EU conditionality measures (e.g., Hungarian public interest trusts established under Hungarian Act IX of 2021) are not eligible.

Application Process

Application Deadlines and Submission

Application Deadline: September 25, 2025, at 17:00 CET (Brussels time).
All applications must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System. Paper submissions are not permitted.

Required Documentation and Materials

Application Form Part A: Contains administrative information about the applicant (natural person), to be filled in directly online.
Application Form Part B: Contains the technical description of the application. A template must be downloaded, completed (max 15 pages), and re-uploaded. Evaluators will not consider additional pages beyond the 15-page limit.
Mandatory Annexes/Supporting Documents: Templates must be downloaded, completed, and re-uploaded.
An inspiring video message: Max 90 seconds in duration and no more than 100MB in size. It should be uploaded as a .zip file.
Applicants may be asked for further documents at a later stage (e.g., for legal entity validation, bank account validation, ethics review, declaration of honour, proof of legal residence, company details).

Review Process and Timeline

Applications will undergo a formal evaluation by a jury.
If more than 500 applications are received in a category, a pre-selection panel will review them to select the top 500 for jury review.
Evaluation Period: October 2025 - February 2026.
Information on Results and Awards: February - May 2026.
Selected applicants (up to six best-ranked per category) may be invited for a hearing with the jury in Brussels (or remotely).

Support and Assistance

Applicants can find detailed guidance in the Online Manual and Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
Support is available through the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), IT Helpdesk, and European IPR Helpdesk.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated by a jury against the following criteria, with individual and overall score thresholds: Breakthrough Innovation

Focus on whether the applicant's company or organization is developing a breakthrough innovation.
Strong emphasis on innovations in 'deep-tech' and 'STEM' fields.
Requirement to demonstrate what makes this innovation 'breakthrough' compared to existing solutions.
Maximum 10 points, minimum 6 points.

Impact

Assessment of whether the innovation addresses a real need or challenge.
Expectation of significant benefits for people and/or the planet.
Demonstration of how the company's or organization's current performance and growth drives positive socio-economic and/or environmental impact (e.g., in terms of wellbeing, education, profit, job creation).
Maximum 10 points, minimum 6 points.

Inspiration

Evaluation of the applicant as an inspiring leader and a role model.
Consideration of the applicant's pivotal role in the success of their company or organization.
Requirement to highlight efforts to promote gender balance within their company/organization or beyond.
Advocacy for innovative initiatives that positively contribute to gender equality (e.g., in access to finance, networks, product design, education, and gender-responsive innovation).
Maximum 10 points, minimum 6 points.

Scoring and Selection

Overall Threshold: 18 points out of 30 total.
Applications must pass both individual (6/10) and overall (18/30) thresholds.
The prize will be awarded to the applications ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd with the best scores.
Tie-breaking: In case of tied scores, Criterion 2 (Impact) will be weighted by 2, and Criterion 3 (Inspiration) by 1.5.
Jury assessment is based on Application Form Part A, Part B, and the submitted video.
Up to six best-ranked applications in each category may be invited for a hearing with the jury (can be remote).

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory and Legal Compliance

Applicants must adhere to general EU financial regulations and comply with non-exclusion rules (e.g., no bankruptcy, fraud, or grave professional misconduct).
Must not be subject to EU restrictive measures or certain EU conditionality measures, which would render them ineligible to receive the prize.

Intellectual Property (IP) and Data Use

The awarding authority does not obtain ownership of the results produced in the context of the prize.
The awarding authority has the right to use non-sensitive information, materials, and documents (e.g., pictures, audio-visual content) provided by the winners for information, communication, dissemination, and publicity purposes.

Communication and Visibility Obligations

Prize winners are required to promote the prize and its results.
All communication activities (e.g., media interviews, press statements) must acknowledge EU support, display the European flag (emblem), and include a specific funding statement and disclaimer.
The emblem must remain distinct and cannot be modified or used for exclusive appropriation.

Checks, Audits, and Investigations

Prize winners are subject to checks, audits, and investigations by the awarding authority, European Commission, European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), and European Court of Auditors (ECA).

Special Considerations

This prize primarily targets individual women innovators rather than organizations, celebrating their entrepreneurial achievements and positioning them as inspiring role models.
The focus is on fostering gender equality and inclusion within the innovation ecosystem.
The prize emphasizes the importance of disruptive innovation, particularly in deep-tech and STEM areas, that delivers significant impact for society and the environment.

Grant Details