Systemic barriers still hinder women's advancement in technology and business, but, by showcasing their success, the European Prize for Women Innovators aims to inspire girls and women everywhere and to demonstrate the importance of inclusivity in technology and business.

Applications for the 2025 edition of the Prize are now open until 25 September at 16.00 BST. The European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology are behind this initiative that celebrates the achievements of women entrepreneurs driving positive change for people and the planet through their innovative ventures. With the UK’s association to Horizon Europe, the prize is open to UK-based women innovators - in the following categories:

• EIC Women Innovators category: Open to women founders and co-founders from the EU and Associated Countries, including the United Kingdom. Three prizes of EUR 100 000, EUR 70 000 and EUR 50 000 are awarded to the three highest-ranked applications.
• EIC Rising Innovators category: Targeting promising innovators under the age of 35. Three prizes of EUR 50 000, EUR 30 000 and EUR 20 000 are awarded to the three highest-ranked applications.
• EIT Women Leadership category: Focused on women with a direct link to the EIT Community.  Three prizes of EUR 50 000, EUR 30 000 and EUR 20 000 are awarded to the three highest-ranked applications.

If you meet the criteria outlined in the Rules of the Contest, submit your application through the Funding & Tender Opportunities portal for each prize category (links above).

In the past, UK women entrepreneurs have won the prize several times. UK winners include:

• Livia Ng, founder and CEO of Neucruit (now Neuroute), a company that uses deep tech to build digital patient recruitment strategies that improve the lives of patients and clinical innovators;
• Carol Robinson, co-founder and Scientific Advisor of the drug discovery company OMass Therapeutics. The company develops medicines for rare diseases by using patented high-resolution mass spectrometry technologies;
• Clare Bradley, Professor of Health Psychology, Head of the Health Psychology Research (HPRU) and CEO of HPR Ltd at Royal Holloway, University of London. She designed and developed innovative quality of life and other patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). Clare founded HPR Ltd in 2003, to drive linguistic validation and licensing of her PROMs. Now validated in more than 120 languages, her measures are used worldwide in clinical trials and clinical practice to assess outcomes important to patients such as quality of life, treatment satisfaction and symptoms.