The awards ceremony for the ninth edition of the annual EU Prize for Women Innovators took place in Brussels earlier this month.
Led by the European Innovation Council (EIC), €100,000 is awarded to each of the top three women innovators. And the three winners in the Women Innovators category were: Dr Ciara Clancy, from Ireland, founder and CEO of Beats Medical, a company developing technology solutions to tackle the mobility symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease; Spain’s Rocío Arroyo; co-founder and CEO of AMADIX, a company providing personalised medicine solutions for cancer diagnosis; and Dr Ninna Granucci, from France, co-founder and President of Green Spot Technologies, a company producing food ingredients intended to recycle waste.
In the Rising Innovators category, three winners were selected, and each will receive €50,000. The three are: Niamh Donnelly, co-founder/CRO, Akara Robotics, a company developing robotic solutions designed for disinfecting hospital rooms. “I was always interested in how things worked from a young age and was different, which I came to realise is one of my greatest attributes,” Niamh said, on what was a great day for Ireland.
Iva Gumnishka, founder, Humans in the Loop, a social enterprise connecting conflict-affected communities to digital work opportunities; and Dr Mehak Mumtaz, co-founder, intelligent Lab on Fiber iLoF, a biotech company developing a breakthrough AI-platform to accelerate the future of personalised drug discovery and development, were also named Rising Innovators.
Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, said: “Our women innovators are responsible for some of the most groundbreaking innovations that will contribute to a more sustainable future. The number of women entrepreneurs is increasing but three quarters are still founded by men. I want to close the gender gap because this is good for growth and good for our planet.”
Mariya added: “We must now inspire the next generation. These women have become role models, not just for girls but for boys: they are changing the narrative of women in leadership. Indeed all the finalists are changing the face of innovation in Europe.”
For more on the Prize read the article a previous winner, Maria Fátima Lucas, co-founder and CEO of biotech startup Zymvol, wrote for us on how she ‘became a top EU Women Innovator’.
