The future of European deep tech was on full display as EmpoWomen successfully concluded its second Demo Day, a landmark event in Bucharest. The stage showcased 14 of Europe’s most promising women-led startups, drawing a dynamic audience of investors, industry leaders, and ecosystem partners to celebrate the culmination of an intensive, EU-funded acceleration programme.
The 14 participating founders, hailing from Portugal, Greece, Armenia, Estonia, Slovenia, Poland, Turkey, Serbia, and Latvia, pitched their groundbreaking solutions to a packed room. The excitement climaxed the following day on the main stage of the prestigious How to Web conference, where the top four companies were crowned winners of the pitching competition.
The winners of the EmpoWomen Cohort 2 Demo Day are:
- First Place (Gold Prize): Enhanced Fertility
- Second Place (Silver Prize): Corium Biotech
- Third Place (Bronze Prize): PURR.AI
- Fourth Place: AlongRoute
A Competition of Europe’s Elite
While four companies took home the top honours, the EmpoWomen programme emphasized that all 14 participants are winners. Securing a spot in the cohort was a monumental achievement: the finalists were selected from a massive pool of 251 applications, marking a fierce competition with nearly 18 applicants for every single spot.
“Every founder who took the stage is a leader in her field”, said Miguel García González, CEO & Co-Founder of Sploro, the coordinating partner at EmpoWomen. “They represent the top tier of European deep tech, and their selection from such a competitive pool is an achievement in itself. We are incredibly proud of them all”.
As the consortium partner responsible for communications of the programme, TechUkraine was on the ground in Bucharest to capture the event’s energy.
“TechUkraine is really proud and happy to participate in the second Demo Day of the EmpoWomen program”, said Nataly Veremeeva, the Director of TechUkraine. “As the communications lead, our role was to ensure this opportunity reached the most talented founders. We are thrilled that our efforts helped generate such a massive pool of 251 applications. This made the competition fierce and allowed the program to select the absolute best from a high-calibre field. We are here in Bucharest to celebrate innovation and all those beautiful, powerful, knowledgeable women that create the future of deep tech in Europe now. They are all absolutely amazing”.
The winners were selected by an esteemed panel of judges, including Kristiana Kuneva (Chief Business Development Officer at The Recursive), Cristina Juc (Executive Director at Spherik Accelerator), Raluca Negrea (Founder and Angel Investor at Bravva Angels), and Mārtiņš Pjalkovskis (Investor at BADideas.fund), who faced the difficult task of choosing from an exceptionally strong field of contenders.
For those who missed the live pitches or wish to re-experience the event, the full recording and photos are available.
About EmpoWomen
EmpoWomen is a two-year program (2024-2025) operating within the framework of the HORIZON-CSA action and falling under the call designation HORIZON-EIC-2022-STARTUPEU-01. It is funded under grant agreement number 101120693. This initiative is dedicated to supporting startups led by women in Europe, providing equity-free funding and vouchers for mentorship, business angel investment, and participation in tech summits.
The project is supporting women-led deep tech startups from Widening Area countries. By providing equity-free funding, world-class mentorship, and access to a broad European network of investors and partners, EmpoWomen aims to level the playing field and empower a new generation of female innovators to solve global challenges.
The programme is delivered by a consortium of partners including Sploro (Coordinator), TechUkraine (Communications), Startup Wise Guys (Acceleration and Mentorship), and Business Angels Europe (Acceleration and Mentorship).
For more information, visit https://empowomen.eu.
