Ana Barjasic on entrepreneurship, gender and widening participation in EU innovation

On International Women’s Day 2024 the European Innovation Council published an interview with Ana Barjasic. Barjasic is an entrepreneur, angel investor, policy adviser and ecosystem builder. She founded Connectology, a boutique firm that runs entrepreneurship and investment readiness projects and invests in early stage companies. She also serves on the EIC Board and on advisory bodies in the Global Entrepreneurship Network. The conversation touches on her personal journey, the persistent barriers women face in deep tech and investment, and the EIC initiatives aimed at narrowing the gender and geographic gaps in European innovation.

From curiosity to entrepreneurship

Barjasic attributes her path to entrepreneurship to cultural influences and a personal preference for independence in time, location and thought. She says curiosity drew her into early stage innovation in several emerging European markets and into roles with organisations such as the European Business Angel Network and the World Bank. Those experiences, she says, gave her practical insight into ecosystem development across EMEA and informed her decision to become an entrepreneur and investor.

Achievements and public roles

Barjasic lists several milestones. She highlights her appointment to the EIC Board as both an obligation and an opportunity to influence participation of less represented countries in EIC instruments. She also notes selection as an Obama Leader Europe and recognition among Europe’s top 100 influential women in startups and venture capital by EU Startups in 2024 and 2025. Across these roles she says she channels network access and first hand experience to policy and programme design.

Gender bias in tech and practical responses

Barjasic is blunt about gender bias. She rejects framing female success as exceptional and says women still face additional hurdles in technology and investment. Her practical advice to young women is to combine aspiration with rigorous preparation. That means clear market and financial understanding, constant learning, attentive listening, and deliberate network building. She stresses resilience when facing setbacks and the value of demonstrating consistent quality to earn credibility.

EIC work on widening participation and gender balance

Barjasic is active in the EIC Board’s Widening Countries Working Group. The working group has recommended concrete actions to increase participation of innovators from widening countries. Barjasic says the group’s work has been challenging but necessary to broaden Europe’s innovation base. She also presents cautious optimism on achieving gender balance across EU research and innovation over coming decades, while noting that programmes alone are not enough without systemic changes.

EIC Women Leadership Programme explained

The EIC Women Leadership Programme or EIC WLP is a targeted skills and networking scheme for women researchers and entrepreneurs connected to EIC and EIT funded projects. The programme mixes cohort training, personal mentoring, business coaching and networking events. It seeks to raise visibility of women innovators and create peer cohorts and alumni networks for ongoing support.

Programme elements include weekly two hour training sessions led by experienced trainers, thematic modules on negotiation, pitching and leadership, mentor matching with experienced CEOs and investors and personalised business coaching. Alumni join a LinkedIn group and may access speaking and pitching opportunities.

What Barjasic recommends to aspiring women entrepreneurs

Her practical guidance is grounded in preparation and persistence. Aspiring founders should understand market dynamics, competition and financial models. They should keep learning, build strong networks and when possible, secure mentors and coaches. She warns that aspiration without operational understanding is not sufficient and that entrepreneurship requires stamina in the face of setbacks.

A measured view on programmes and structural change

Barjasic welcomes initiatives such as the EIC WLP, Women TechEU and the European Prize for Women Innovators. She points to early indicators that EIC evaluation processes do not show gender bias. At the same time she recognises that programmes are only one part of a larger change agenda. Closing gender and geographic gaps needs sustained attention to pipeline development, investor behaviour, local ecosystem building and reforms in hiring and governance practices. Evidence based monitoring and independent evaluation are necessary to verify long term impact.

Closing note and call to action

The EIC continued to run targeted actions to improve gender balance and geographic inclusion in 2024. Interested and eligible female researchers and leaders were invited to apply to the EIC Women Leadership Programme 5th cohort before 20 March 2024. Barjasic’s account is a reminder that individual preparation and system level interventions are both required. Programmes such as the EIC WLP can create networks and skills but sustained change also requires more investors, more mentors, and better access to capital and markets for innovators across Europe.