Winners of the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2021 announced

At the European Innovation Council Summit taking place in Brussels, the European Commission announced the winners of this year’s edition of the EU Prize for Women Innovators. The prize is awarded to the most talented women entrepreneurs from across the EU and countries associated to Horizon Europe, who have founded a successful company and brought innovation to the market. It is funded under Horizon Europe and managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA).

The winners, selected by a jury of independent experts, are:

Merel Boers from the Netherlands: co-founder and CEO of NICO-LAB, a company offering cutting-edge technology to help physicians improve emergency care.
Mathilde Jakobsen from Denmark: co-founder and CEO of Fresh.Land, a digital platform that shortens and digitises the food supply chain, providing easy access to good quality food.
Daphne Haim Langford from Israel: founder and CEO of Tarsier Pharma, a company developing disruptive medical solutions for the treatment and cure of autoimmune and inflammatory ocular diseases.
They will receive a €100,000 cash prize each.

Furthermore, the Rising Innovator 2021 prize, awarded to an exceptional innovator under the age of 30, has been granted to Ailbhe and Isabel Keane from Ireland, founders of Izzy Wheels. Their company creates fashionable wheel covers for wheelchairs. Ailbhe and Isabel Keane will receive a €50,000 cash prize.

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age, said: “Today’s prize goes to five amazing women who are using technologies to bring positive change to the world we live in. This shows how much innovation is the answer to our future’s most pressing challenges. It also sends a strong signal that we need many more women in the tech sector. Congratulations to the winners!”

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “It is a great privilege to award this prize to such exceptional innovators. This year’s winners are the hopes that will help change the face of innovation, and pave the way for more women entrepreneurs in future.”