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Mantra at the Women TechEU Final Event in Brussels

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Mantra at the Women TechEU Final Event in Brussels

On 4 March 2026, the final event of the Women TechEU programme took place in Brussels, bringing together innovators, policymakers, investors, and entrepreneurs to celebrate the achievements of women-led deep tech startups across Europe. The event marked an important milestone for the initiative, highlighting the impact of targeted support for women entrepreneurs in the deep tech ecosystem.

Angelica Marsico from EIT Manufacturing South and Maria Ferentinou from Greenovate! Europe, Mantra Consortium Partners

The event opened with a welcome address by Angele Giuliano, Dissemination and Communication Leader of the programme, followed by a recorded message from Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, underlining the importance of empowering women innovators and strengthening Europe’s innovation landscape.

Celebrating the Impact of Women TechEU

During the event, Teresa Hernández Martín, the project coordinator, presented an overview of the programme and its results. Over the course of the initiative, Women TechEU supported 160 women-led deep tech startups, working alongside a strong ecosystem of partners, mentors, evaluators, and allies.

The programme demonstrated remarkable impact: across its three cohorts, supported companies raised more than €53.8 million in funding, representing a sixfold multiplier effect compared to the programme’s initial €9 million investment.

The agenda featured several panels and success story videos highlighting the journeys of entrepreneurs who benefited from the programme. Discussions explored topics such as the operational insights behind the initiative, the success stories of participating startups, and the broader challenges facing deep tech entrepreneurs.

Policy Insights for the Future

A key part of the event focused on the policy learnings derived from the Women TechEU programme. The consortium presented policy papers addressing important topics such as:

  • The role of venture capital in advancing deep tech innovation in Europe

  • The gender funding gap in the deep tech ecosystem

  • Best practices for building effective support programmes for women-led startups

These recommendations emphasise the need for stronger access to long-term capital, improved networks for women founders, and collaborative efforts between public institutions and private investors to build a more inclusive innovation ecosystem.

Mantra at the exhibition of winning companies

Alongside the conference sessions, the event included an exhibition showcasing innovative companies participating in the programme. The Mantra Project was present at the exhibition, engaging with startups and stakeholders working to advance deep tech innovation in Europe.

During the exhibition, the Mantra team had the opportunity to connect with Perfi Technologies, an innovative SME that is also part of the Mantra Project’s Innovation Leaders Community. The meeting highlighted the importance of building strong connections between European innovation initiatives and emerging technology companies.

Looking Ahead

The event concluded with reflections on the future of Women TechEU, presented by Francesca Doria from EISMEA, followed by closing remarks from Cristina Russo, Deputy Director-General at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation.

As the programme concludes, its results demonstrate the powerful impact that targeted support initiatives can have on the European innovation ecosystem. Women TechEU has not only supported groundbreaking startups but also contributed valuable insights for shaping future policies that foster inclusive and sustainable innovation.

For the Mantra Project, participation in events like this reinforces the importance of collaboration across European initiatives and communities working to accelerate innovation and support the next generation of deep tech leaders.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or HADEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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SECPhO is a cluster based on Spain that brings together more than 180 organisations that promote technological innovation through deep tech in all sectors of our economy. They contribute to the assessment and advisory services for SME’s, including due diligence assessments, matchmaking non-tech SMEs with tech SMEs, co-creation labs, and tailored, value-added advisory services.

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Rina-C is a global network specializing in energy transition, ESG, and digitalisation, based in Italy. They are responsible for providing assessment and advisory services to the selected SMEs undergoing digital and technological transformation. This includes due diligence assessments, matchmaking tech-savvy and traditional SMEs, share best practices in co-creation labs, and offering tailored solutions and recommendations for practical implementation as part of the advisory services.

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Babele is a social enterprise based in Romania, that acts as a catalyst for systemic innovation, uniting a global network of universities, corporations, NGOs, and social entrepreneurs to co-create impactful solutions to address global issues such as climate change and poverty, while fostering resilience in the face of its effects. They are responsible for developing, building, and managing the digital platform for SME recruitment, overseeing the capacity-building and support program, and connecting innovation communities, EU networks, and SME support initiatives. The platform will function as a hub for knowledge exchange and a community of practice.

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Greenovate! Europe is a not-for-profit network of organisations dedicated to sustainable innovation. It develops sustainability projects and provides innovation support to researchers, companies and policymakers. The project partner based in Belgium, is responsible for the communication and dissemination activities of the MANTRA project. Their goal is to maximize the project’s impact by raising awareness, building a stakeholder community, and sharing open project results in a way that ensures they are actionable and exploitable by stakeholders.

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INES TEC is a research & development institute located on the campus of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, located in Portugal. They oversee the role of identifying the needs and barriers of SMEs to create the most favorable capacity-building support services. They will connect European specialised business support structures, networks, and organizations to build-up an innovative value-added support ecosystem for SMEs.

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EIT Manufacturing is a public-private partnership located in Italy, co-funded by the European Union and established in 2019 that connects manufacturing players by promoting talent and entrepreneurship to accelerate sustainable innovation in Europe. They provide coaching programs and capacity-building support to enhance the competitiveness and innovation of SMEs. Building on the SME Alliance projects and EITM initiatives, they oversee the SME ecosystem, facilitating the exchange of best practices, and enable that traditional SMEs gain from dedicated peer-learning activities, learning directly from leaders in their sector.

EIT Manufacturing is a public-private partnership located in Italy, co-funded by the European Union and established in 2019 that connects manufacturing players by promoting talent and entrepreneurship to accelerate sustainable innovation in Europe.
They provide coaching programs and capacity-building support to enhance the competitiveness and innovation of SMEs. Building on the SME Alliance projects and EITM initiatives, they oversee the SME ecosystem, facilitating the exchange of best practices, and enable that traditional SMEs gain from dedicated peer-learning activities, learning directly from leaders in their sector.

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Cetim is a technological accelerator dedicated to industrial transformation. It brings the best of research to French industries and offers a comprehensive solution combining consulting and engineering services. They contribute to the assessment and advisory services for SME’s, including due diligence assessments, matchmaking non-tech SMEs with tech SMEs, co-creation labs, and tailored, value-added advisory services.

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Zabala Innovation is an international consultancy firm specialising in consultancy services for both R&D and Innovation management, based in Spain. As project coordinators for MANTRA, Zabala ensures smooth project management and defines the criteria to select and prioritise the manufacturing SME projects that will be funded through the project to unlock their digital and technological potential and build sustainable business models.

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