EmpoWomen Open Call #1

Beneficiary & submission

The purpose of EmpoWomen_OC#1 is to actively involve women-led digital and deep tech startups in the widening area region. This call seeks to identify and choose promising startups to participate in a customized acceleration programme. The overarching goal is to offer support that nurtures the development and investment potential of these startups, with the ultimate aim of cultivating them into leading female figures in deep tech innovation within Europe. The submission will be done through the official online submission platform, which is directly linked to the EmpoWomen website. Only applications received directly through the online submission platform will be considered eligible. The submission process is supported by the following documents: ·Guideline for applicants: all the information you need to know before applying. ·Online Form: completed via Sploro platform and divided in eight sections (1) Legal and Contact Information of the applicants (2) Project Description (3) Excellence of (4) Impact and (5) Implementation (6) Areas of Interest for Acceleration Programme (7) Privacy Policy (8) Declaration of Honour. The evaluation will have 5 stages: 1)Eligibility criteria: An automatic filter will consider 8 criteria that all proposals must meet in order to be eligible. 2)Experts’ remote evaluation: The proposals that pass the eligibility check will move to the remote evaluation stage. Applications will be assessed by a group of external and independent evaluators with an entrepreneurial, investment or innovation background. The evaluators will assess the proposals based on 3 different evaluation criteria (Excellence, Impact and Implementation).   3)Normalisation score: This method would ensure a more balanced distribution of scores and reduce the possibility of biases and distortions. 4)Interview stage: Top-ranked projects from the remote evaluation are invited to participate in an online interview. Evaluators individually determine if the proposal should move forward based on a yes/no decision. 5)Final Selection: All proposals are ranked based on their remote evaluation scores and interview stage. In the event of a tie, a series of rules will be followed that will make it possible to reach a tiebreaker. Prior to contracting to the top ranked applicants, the consortium will ask for the approval of the European Commission, and the list of selected projects will be submitted to the European Commission for final screening. For more detailed information, you can consult the Guidelines of the call. For any question about the process there is a general email address available at helpdesk@empowomen.eu

Further information

EmpoWomen primarily focuses on women-led deep tech early-stage startups in Widening Areas . In this section, specific criteria and conditions are outlined, establishing eligibility for potential beneficiaries. EmpoWomen offers a personalized programme that provides you with access to high-level acceleration services, equity-free financing, and vouchers for business support services. To be eligible as an applicant at EmpoWomen, it is essential to understand certain key criteria that define the profile of a qualified beneficiary. Here are the key definitions that guide the selection of beneficiaries: 1.Startup: a 'start-up' should be understood as an SME, according to the EU definition of SMEs, in the early stage of its life cycle, including those that are created as spin-offs from university research activities, which aims to find innovative solutions and scalable business models, and which is autonomous within the meaning of Article 2 and 3 of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC. 2.Early-stage startup: On an indicative basis, for the purpose of the project, we would consider the following criteria to define an early-stage start-up: ·companies that have been established and operating for not more than 6 years counting backwards from submission date, ·companies that have raised limited funding (up to 1 M EUR).  3. Women Leadership Criterion: The startup's leadership must have a substantial representation of women, and it is crucial that at least one woman assumes a key role, whether as a co-founder, a member of the core management team, or serving on the board of directors. While acknowledging the inclusion of women on the board, it is important to highlight that this criterion alone may not fulfill the requirement. Board members should not only be representatives from incubators, accelerators, or venture capital firms but must also demonstrate a significant connection to the project or the founding team. 4.Female Founder or Co-founder Requirement: The project aims to support women in their diverse forms, encompassing cisgender and transgender women legally recognized as such. The eligibility for the founding or co-founding requirement is met if the woman is legally acknowledged as the founder or co-founder of the company in a Widening Area region. Applicants are expected to provide evidence of their status as founders or co-founders.  Note: women leadership criterion as well as female founder or co-founder requirement are both compulsory 5.Deep tech: The startup must be engaged in the development of advanced and disruptive technologies. According to the EU regulation: “Deep tech is technology that is based on cutting-edge scientific advances and discoveries and is characterised by the need to stay at the technological forefront by constant interaction with new ideas and results from the lab. Deep tech innovation aims to provide concrete solutions to our societal problems by finding its source in a deep interaction with the most recent scientific and technological advances and by seeking to produce a profound impact in the targeted application technologies.” Deep Tech Technologies  In the context of OC#1 of the EmpoWomen project, relevance is given to various deep tech technologies where women play a fundamental role. These deep tech technologies, carefully selected for the call, span from quantum computing to emerging technologies such as augmented reality and artificial intelligence. The call will encompass the following deep tech technologies:  Advanced Computing /Quantum Computing Advanced Manufacturing Advanced Materials Aerospace, Automotive and Remote Sensing Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, including Big Data Biotechnology and Life Sciences Communications and Networks, including 5G Cybersecurity and Data Protection Electronics and Photonics Internet of Things, W3C, Semantic Web Robotics Semiconductors (microchips) Sustainable Energy and Clean Technologies Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Metaverse Web 3.0, including Blockchain, Distributed Ledgers, NFTs Applicants are advised that, in a subsequent phase following the evaluation process, if selected, they will be asked to complete an Ethics Self-Assessment. This step is crucial to ensure ethical compliance in the areas of research and development. Full cooperation is expected from the chosen startup in this regard.  6.Companies located in the list of eligible countries: Only applicants legally established/resident in any of the following countries (hereafter collectively identified as the “Eligible Countries”) are eligible for funding:   Widening Area Countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.  Outermost regions: Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Martinique, Mayotte and Saint-Martin (France), Canary Islands (Spain), Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Martinique, Mayotte and Saint-Martin (France).  Associated countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, North Macedonia, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine.  Financial Support  The first call boasts a total budget of 527,500 EUR. Beyond the financial grant, EmpoWomen extends support through mentoring, coaching, and networking opportunities, fostering an environment conducive to achieving project objectives.  EmpoWomen_OC#1 is committed to providing equity-free funding to empower up to 11 startups led by women. In its dedication to advancing women-led startups in deep tech, EmpoWomen provides essential financial support divided into two key components: Grant: The grant is the primary funding received by startups, with a maximum limit of 45,000 EUR. This sum aims to support various vital activities for the development of emerging businesses. The grant will be disbursed in three distinct phases, carefully integrated into EmpoWomen's acceleration program. Each phase represents a significant milestone in the progress of startups and is designed to strategically support their growth. Demo Day Prizes: During Demo Day, startups have the opportunity to stand out and be recognized through specific prizes. These prizes are distributed as follows: Prize 1: 15,000 EUR Prize 2: 11,500 EUR Prize 3: 6,000 EUR Acceleration Programme  In addition to providing equity-free funding for startups, they will also be part of a 6-month acceleration programme of dedicated intensive support to the selected group of women deep tech entrepreneurs, with a view to enabling them to significantly boost their business growth and increase their potential to access investment.  The EmpoWomen Accelerator Programme is delivered by two leading European players:  StartUp Wise Guys (SWG), one of the top 5 accelerators according to European top tier VCs (as ranked by Sifted in December 2022) that focuses on entrepreneurs in underserved markets and fast tracks their growth, and    Business Angels Europe (BAE), mobilising the investment potential of national angel investment communities from East to West of Europe, bringing access to investment from the most experienced European angel groups to back growth-potential entrepreneurs from start up to scale up.       The acceleration programme incorporates three distinct vouchers aimed at enhancing the entrepreneurial journey. Voucher 1. Access to Events: Covering expenses for attending EU tech summits. Participation in at least 2 events per startup. The events (different from the Demo Day) will be communicated by the EmpoWomen consortium during the execution of the acceleration program. Valued at 5,000 EUR per startup. Voucher 2. Business Angels (BA) Investment Readiness Programme: Dedicated programme on business angels’ investment provided directly by real angel investors who have an overlap within their expertise/geography. Valued at 2,400 EUR per startup. Voucher 3. Mentoring: up to 16 sessions of a dedicated mentor for the company. Valued at 5,000 EUR per startup.