Until May 31, 2026, women-led deeptech startups from Europe can apply for a nine-month accelerator and mentoring program. Behind the Scale’her initiative are ten partner organizations from nine countries that support founders in accessing capital, international networks, and scaling strategies.
The program is particularly relevant for startups in growth-intensive technology fields such as AI, climatetech, biotech, or advanced engineering. Unlike classic early-stage accelerators, Scale’her is specifically targeted at companies in the scaleup phase with validated technology and initial market activities.
Scale’her focuses on Europe-wide scaling instead of early-stage support
The project, funded by Horizon Europe, addresses a structural problem in the European startup ecosystem: women remain significantly underrepresented in growth financing, particularly in the deeptech sector. Scale’her aims to close this gap and focuses on startups with technological substance and concrete scaling potential.
The program combines six months of structured accelerator phase with subsequent three months of mentoring. Content covers fundraising, market validation, leadership, international expansion, and investor readiness, among other topics. The offering is supplemented by workshops, pitch training, networking formats, and direct access to investors and industry experts.
These startups can apply for the Scale’her program
Women-led deeptech startups from EU member states or Horizon Europe associated countries can apply. Requirements include, among others:
- at least one female founder or co-founder in a leadership role (CEO, CTO, CSO, or comparable)
- at least 25 percent company shares held by women
- technological focus in the deeptech or digital sector
- advanced development phase (TRL 6–9)
- initial market validation or ongoing growth activities
Founders from the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning, climatetech and sustainability, biotech and femtech, mobility and transport, agritech and foodtech, as well as advanced materials and spacetech can apply.
Why this topic is relevant for Europe’s startup ecosystem
While the European deeptech sector is considered innovative, many startups fail during the transition from research and product development to international scaling. According to various European studies, women-led companies in particular continue to receive significantly less venture capital financing than male-led teams.
Programs like Scale’her therefore focus more on long-term growth support rather than pure early-stage support. By combining financing preparation, network access, and European networking, the competitiveness of European deeptech startups is intended to be improved.
You might also be interested in this: On June 12, 2026, the event SheStartup – Women Found will take place. More information is available here.
