What Women TechEU actually pays
Women TechEU 2 EIC is an EU-funded project for women-led early-stage deep tech startups from Europe. Selected startups receive €75,000 non-dilutive funding plus mentoring: €75,000 in non-dilutive funding, plus a personalised business development programme of mentoring, coaching and training.
Non-dilutive means the grant is not an equity investment. You still have to meet the eligibility rules and get through both stages. Our grants guide explains how public grants differ from investment.
The two-stage process
You cannot jump straight to a full proposal. First you complete the Eligibility Strand, which checks that you meet the programme's participation requirements. Results of that check are communicated through the Sploro platform no later than one week after the cut-off you submitted to.
Only applicants assessed as eligible are invited to the Full Proposal Strand. Access to the full application form is provided via a link in the eligibility confirmation letter, not from a public form anyone can open.
The official page asks you to read the Guidelines for Applicants before either stage, and to submit the full proposal at least two days before the deadline to avoid portal congestion. Final results of the full-proposal evaluation are sent in a maximum of eight weeks after the submission deadline.
Who it is for
The programme is for women-led early-stage deep tech startups from Europe. That is the official framing. The detailed tests (company age, ownership, location, what counts as deep tech and what counts as women-led) sit in the Guidelines for Applicants, not in a one-line summary, so read those before you spend time on a full proposal.
If you are not a women-led European deep tech startup, this is the wrong call. Other open EU AI grants, which we cover in Horizon Europe and other EU AI grants explained, have different eligibility.
Cut-offs and full-proposal deadlines
Eligibility Strand. Weekly cut-offs every Tuesday at 17:00 Brussels time (CEST or CET, depending on the date), until the final cut-off on 15 June 2027 at 17:00 CEST. Submit well before the Tuesday you are aiming for; the first cut-off of this call was 30 June 2026.
Full Proposal Strand, only if you have already been invited. Remaining deadlines, all at 17:00 CEST (Brussels time):
- 14 January 2027
- 1 April 2027
- 8 July 2027
A 16 September 2026 full-proposal deadline has already passed. Work backwards from the January date if you still need to clear eligibility first.
How to prepare a serious application
- Read the Guidelines for Applicants before you touch the form.
- Submit the Eligibility Strand early in a weekly cycle, then use the week after the cut-off to plan the full proposal if you are invited.
- Treat the full-proposal deadline as two days earlier than published, as the organisers recommend.
- Keep the story to a women-led, early-stage, European deep tech company. If you have to stretch any of those words, this is probably the wrong grant.
We list this call on our grants list. Always use the official Women TechEU active-calls page and the Sploro platform, not a third-party form.
