Ten finalists named for 2024 European Prize for Women Innovators
- ›The European Innovation Council and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology announced ten finalists for the 2024 European Prize for Women Innovators.
- ›Winners across three categories will be revealed at the R&I Week opening on 18 March 2024.
- ›The joint EIC and EIT prize awards cash prizes and visibility but will not on its own remove systemic barriers to scaling women-led deep tech companies.
- ›Finalists include founders working across space propulsion, clinical voice AI, medtech to reduce cancer treatment side effects, paediatric exoskeletons and targeted nanomedicines.
- ›EIT analysis with Dealroom suggests women-founded tech scale-ups grew 1.2 times faster than peers and increased valuation by 6.5 times over five years, underlining the potential economic upside of greater inclusivity.
European Prize for Women Innovators 2024: finalists, categories and context
On 20 February 2024 the European Innovation Council and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology announced the ten finalists for the 2024 European Prize for Women Innovators. The announcement was made at the EIT Summit. The competition is being run jointly by the EIC and the EIT and will award winners at the opening of Research and Innovation Week on 18 March 2024. The move formalises closer cooperation between two of the EU's main innovation support bodies to raise visibility of women founders and leaders in technology and innovation.
European Commissioner Iliana Ivanova offered congratulations to the finalists and singled out projects ranging from alternatives to conventional food systems to medical technology for cancer care. Her statement highlighted the role of role models in encouraging more women to pursue careers in innovation.
How the prize is structured
The joint EIT and EIC prize is split across three categories. The awards combine cash prizes with publicity and network access. The prize is explicitly framed to increase the visibility of women founders and leaders and to create additional role models for girls and women considering careers in STEM and entrepreneurship.
| Category | Who is eligible | Prizes |
| Women Innovators | Women founders and co-founders across EU Member States and Horizon Europe associated countries | EUR 100 000 for the winner, EUR 70 000 and EUR 50 000 for two runners-up |
| Rising Innovators | Promising women innovators under the age of 35 | EUR 50 000 for the winner, EUR 30 000 and EUR 20 000 for two runners-up |
| EIT Women Leadership | Exceptional women members of the EIT Community | EUR 50 000 for the winner, EUR 30 000 and EUR 20 000 for two runners-up |
The ten finalists
The finalists announced cover a range of sectors from space hardware to medtech, biotech, circular packaging, sustainable food and transport. Below is a compact roster of the shortlisted women, their countries and a one line description of their innovation as presented by the EIT and EIC.
| Finalist | Country | Role and organisation | Short description | Category |
| Sara Correyero Plaza | Spain | CEO and Co-Founder, IENAI SPACE | Develops and manufactures electric propulsion modules for nanosatellites together with mission optimisation | Rising Innovators |
| María González Manso | Spain | CEO and Co-Founder, tucuvi | Automates follow-up phone consultations with empathetic artificial intelligence | Rising Innovators |
| Bàrbara Oliveira | Ireland | CTO and Co-Founder, Luminate Medical | Develops technology to help prevent side effects of cancer treatment | Rising Innovators |
| Eva Sadoun | France | CEO and Co-Founder, Lita.co | Platform to make it easier to invest in social enterprises | Rising Innovators |
| Elena García Armada | Spain | CEO and Co-Founder, Marsi Bionics | Develops paediatric exoskeletons and robotic knees | Women Innovators |
| Rana Sanyal | Türkiye | CSO and Co-Founder, RS Research | Develops smart nanomedicines for targeted chemotherapy | Women Innovators |
| Natalia Tomiyama | Germany | Managing Director and Co-Founder, NÜWIEL | Develops electric trailers that can match the movement of the pedestrian or biker pulling it | Women Innovators |
| Yuliia Bialetska | Ukraine/Estonia | CEO and Co-Founder, S.lab | Develops alternatives to plastic foam packaging | EIT Women Leadership |
| Deniz Ficicioglu | Germany | Managing Director and Co-Founder, BettaF!sh GmbH | Develops seaweed-based alternatives to fish | EIT Women Leadership |
| Cristina Purtill | Ireland | CEO, Plio Surgical | Developed a magnetic solution to support intestinal post-surgery recovery | EIT Women Leadership |
Explaining some of the technologies and business models
Why the prize matters and what it does not solve
The prize is primarily an instrument for visibility, role modelling and networking. Cash awards matter, particularly to early stage teams, but they are not a substitute for follow-up financing, procurement adoption, regulatory support and market access. The EIC and EIT provide other instruments such as grants, acceleration services and co-investment channels that can be decisive in a company’s path to scale.
The EIT has highlighted data produced with Dealroom that points to stronger growth among women-founded tech scale-ups. The study reported that women-founded tech scale-ups increased their valuation 6.5 times and grew 1.2 times faster than peers over a five year period. Those figures argue that inclusion can boost European innovation performance. At the same time the broader EIT research shows low female representation among founders in the scale-up cohort. Awards help address perception and role model gaps but systemic inequalities in venture funding, procurement and corporate procurement remain.
The joint EIT and EIC prize is one element in a wider set of EU measures aiming to support inclusive innovation. The agencies position the prize as a way to connect nominees into networks, normalise women in leadership and to inspire more women and girls to enter STEM and entrepreneurship. Since the first edition launched in 2011, more than 30 women have received the EU Prize for Women Innovators and over 100 have been shortlisted, producing a body of role models and case studies.
What to watch next
Winners will be announced on 18 March 2024 at the opening of R&I Week. Beyond the ceremony, the practical indicators of impact to watch are follow-on funding raised by winners and finalists, clinical trial progress where relevant, product market entry and whether the prize concretely improves access to procurement, pilot customers and institutional contracts. If the award leads to measurable acceleration in those areas it will have delivered more than a headline moment.
For journalists, investors and policy watchers, the shortlist is a useful indicator of the types of deep tech and mission oriented projects attracting attention in the EU innovation ecosystem. For policymakers the shortfall remains the structural work of improving capital access, public procurement for innovation and support for regulatory pathways that take promising prototypes into mainstream care or industry.
Practical information
More information on the prize, the rules and previous winners is published by the European Innovation Council and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. The prize is managed by the EISMEA agency which implements the EIC programmes and coordinates with EIT communities.