After the success of the forerunners of the contest in 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2017, the Commission intends to continue its drive to increase public awareness of this issue, address the gender gap in entrepreneurship and spotlight women entrepreneurs who have brought outstanding innovations to the market.

The Commission plans to award up to three "EU Prize for Women Innovators" and one "Rising Innovator Award" following a European-wide contest. The prizes are addressed to women who have founded or co-founded a company and who themselves or their company have benefitted from funding related to research and/or innovation. The prizes will not reward innovation proposed for the future, but outstanding achievements that have been already accomplished by the participant.

Participants for the "EU Prize for Women Innovators 2018" have to comply with the following eligibility criteria to participate:

• the participant must be a woman;
• for Rising Innovator Award following applies: the participant must be a woman born as of 1 January 1987;
• the participant must be an ordinary resident in an EU Member State or a country associated to Horizon 2020;
• the participant must be the founder or co-founder of an existing and active company which was registered before 1 January 2016;
• the annual turnover of the company was at least EUR 100,000 in 2015 or 2016 (EUR 50,000 for the category Rising Innovator);
• either the participant as a natural person or the company founded/co-founded by the candidate have received or is receiving European or national funding for Research and Innovation or bank funding or alternative sources of financing such as private equity, venture capital, crowd funding through platforms or business angels.

The first prize is EUR 100.000, the second prize EUR 50.000, the third prize EUR 30.000 and the Rising Innovator prize is EUR 20.000.

Proposals must ne submitted from 5 September 2017 until 15 November 2017, 17.00. (Brussels time).

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