SheEIC #4: EIC Women Leadership Programme podcast digs into fundraising with Borski Fund and Multiverse Computing
- ›The EIC Women Leadership Programme released SheEIC episode 4 focused on fundraising and attracting investors.
- ›Host Sara Jud speaks with Simone Brummelhuis of Borski Fund and Marta Garcia Pedruelo of Multiverse Computing about financing female-led ventures.
- ›Episode 4 is available now on the EIC Community YouTube channel and will appear on Spotify and the European Commission Audiovisual Service.
- ›The podcast is part of a broader EIC effort to close the gender gap in innovation through training, mentoring and targeted initiatives such as Women TechEU.
- ›EIC Business Acceleration Services provide matching, coaching and procurement support but reported impact figures should be read as programme-reported metrics rather than independent evaluations.
SheEIC #4: Funding your dreams and the EIC push to boost female-led innovation
The European Innovation Council's Women Leadership Programme has released the fourth episode of SheEIC, its podcast series aimed at amplifying the voices of women in innovation. Episode 4 centres on one of the most practical and persistent challenges for founders, namely how to raise capital and attract investors. The installment pairs the EIC host with two figures from Europe’s investor and deep tech ecosystems to explore routes to funding, investor expectations and the complementary role of training and networks.
How to listen and where the episode sits in the series
SheEIC #4 is published on the EIC Community's YouTube channel. The EIC says the series will be made available on Spotify and via the European Commission’s Audiovisual Service in the coming weeks. Listeners can subscribe on YouTube now to access this episode and future ones. The SheEIC series sits inside the EIC Women Leadership Programme, a training and networking initiative delivered as part of the broader EIC Business Acceleration Services.
Episode 4 — guests, host and focus
The episode is hosted by Sara Jud from the EIC. Guests are Simone Brummelhuis, Founding and Managing Partner at Borski Fund, and Marta Garcia Pedruelo, CFO at Multiverse Computing and member of the EIC Scaling Club. The conversation is billed as a practical deep dive on 'the art of raising funds and attracting investors' with the stated aim of helping listeners 'fund your vision and boost female-led growth.'
Who the guests represent and why they matter
The two guests represent complementary parts of the European innovation ecosystem. Simone Brummelhuis leads Borski Fund, a Netherlands-based venture capital fund that explicitly targets gender diverse teams and companies that advance gender equality. Marta Garcia Pedruelo is the CFO of Multiverse Computing, a Spanish quantum and AI software company described in public materials as working on model compression and quantum-enabled optimisation tools. Their presence on the episode signals an intent to combine investor-side insight with the practical experience of scaling a deep tech company.
What the episode promises and what to expect
The episode is presented as a practical conversation covering how to attract investors, refine pitches and structure funding strategies. The SheEIC series is also explicitly designed to surface leadership and negotiation skills and to showcase role models. Listeners should expect general investor-facing advice and personal perspectives rather than exhaustive technical tutorials or fund-raising blueprints. As with any short podcast format, nuance and the heterogeneity of investor markets are necessarily compressed.
Why an episode like this matters for the EU innovation ecosystem
Women-led companies remain underrepresented in venture capital flows across Europe. The EIC frames the Women Leadership Programme and related initiatives such as Women TechEU as part of a strategic goal under its 2021–2027 mandate to reduce the gender gap and strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. Targeted training, mentoring and visibility campaigns seek to address both supply side constraints, such as fewer female founders and smaller networks, and demand side factors including investor biases.
| Metric | EIC reported figure | Context or caveat |
| Share of EIC Accelerator companies in 2024 that were women led | 30% (42 companies) | EIC reported figure. 'Women led' defined as female CEO, CTO or CSO in the claim. |
| Total women led companies in EIC portfolio | 134 companies or 19% | Portfolio level figure reported by EIC. |
| Share of EIC Pathfinder projects coordinated by women | 24% | EIC reported figure. |
| Share of EIC Transition projects coordinated by women | 23% | EIC reported figure. |
These headline metrics indicate progress in some programmes but also show that women remain a minority overall in funded leadership roles. Programme-level statistics are useful but should be interpreted alongside independent evaluation and longitudinal analysis to understand causal impact.
EIC Women Leadership Programme and related offerings
The episode is produced under the EIC Women Leadership Programme, which provides training, personalised mentorship and business coaching to women in the EIC and EIT communities. The programme runs cohorts with both virtual and in-person elements, and alumni are invited into networking channels and visibility opportunities across the EIC ecosystem.
| Programme element | What it includes | Notes |
| Training | Weekly interactive sessions on leadership, negotiation, pitching and public speaking | Sessions typically two hours and tailored following a needs assessment |
| Mentoring | One-to-one mentor matching with senior entrepreneurs and investors | Bi-weekly meetings over six months are typical |
| Business coaching | Up to three days of business coaching focused on go-to-market and strategy | Delivered by vetted EIC business coaches |
| Networking and alumni | Events, LinkedIn alumni group and pitching opportunities | Participants are expected to meet attendance requirements to receive completion certificates |
EIC Business Acceleration Services: what they offer and what the numbers mean
The EIC packages the Women Leadership Programme inside its Business Acceleration Services or BAS. BAS combines three pillars to help awardees scale: Contracts, Contacts and Skills. The EIC publishes impact figures for matchmaking, raised capital and deals attributed to its activities. These figures are indicative of activity scale but should be interpreted carefully because attribution is complex in ecosystems where multiple actors and funding sources interact.
| BAS pillar | Examples of services | EIC reported metrics |
| Contracts | Corporate partnership programmes, innovation procurement, trade fair support | +20,000 one-on-one meetings since 2021; 595 deals; EUR 350 million raised through investor outreach; EUR 1.2 billion raised by Scaling Club members |
| Contacts | EIC Community platform, Ecosystem Partnership Programme, ACCESS+ co-funded services | +280 partners offering 650 services; over 5,000 awardees engaged |
| Skills | Coaching, mentoring and tailored programmes such as Women Leadership Programme and Tech to Market | +2,400 awardees and applicants coached; 90 percent of WLP alumnae reported an increase in entrepreneurial skills |
Readers should note that programme reported totals are helpful to understand scale but they are not substitutes for independent validation of long term outcomes such as sustained revenue growth or investment readiness. The EIC also offers targeted instruments such as Women TechEU, which provides grants and mentoring to early-stage female-led deep tech startups.
Practical takeaways for listeners and would be founders
The SheEIC episode and the Women Leadership Programme more broadly are intended to provide actionable guidance. Based on the programme description and the episode framing, listeners can reasonably expect guidance on the following practical areas:
| Area | What to expect |
| Investor readiness | How to structure a pitch, anticipate investor questions and align milestones to funding tranches |
| Cap table and finance basics | High level discussion of ownership, dilution and when to take equity finance versus alternatives |
| Networks and introductions | How mentors and programme networks can help open doors to investors and customers |
| Negotiation and leadership | Skills for negotiating term sheets and for managing teams while scaling |
A cautionary note. Podcasts and short programmes are useful for orientation and inspiration. They are not substitutes for deep technical financial advice or for bespoke investor readiness work. Founders should complement such content with detailed cap table modelling, legal review and targeted investor outreach.
How to follow, contact and where to find more information
Listen to SheEIC #4 on the EIC Community YouTube channel now. The EIC says the podcast will appear on Spotify and on the European Commission’s Audiovisual Service in the coming weeks. To learn more about the EIC Women Leadership Programme or to raise questions, contact the EIC Community via the Contact page and select the 'EIC Women Leadership Programme' category. Sign up for the EIC Business Acceleration Services newsletter to receive updates on open calls, events and training.
A concluding note of perspective
SheEIC #4 contributes to a useful strand of activity within the EIC to raise visibility and transfer practical skills to women founders. The podcast highlights real actors in the ecosystem including gender-focused VCs and deep tech scale-ups. That said policy makers and ecosystem actors should not mistake visibility for structural change. Funding patterns, mentor networks and procurement pipelines also need rigorous monitoring to ensure targeted interventions produce measurable, lasting shifts in investment outcomes for female founders.
If you want to listen now, go to the EIC Community YouTube channel. If you are seeking tangible, personalised support as a founder look into the EIC Business Acceleration Services, the Women TechEU scheme and the EIC Community platform for calls and coaching that match your stage and sector. Remember to treat podcast advice as a starting point and to validate any financial or legal steps with professional advisors.
Disclaimer: Information reproduced here is based on materials and publications from the EIC, Borski Fund, Multiverse Computing and related pages. Programme metrics and claims are reported by the EIC and affiliated partners. Independent evaluation of impact and attribution are not included in those materials.