Seven Irish women are among the 21 female entrepreneurs who have reached the finals of the EU’s Prize for Women Innovators 2021. The winners will be announced at the European Innovation Council Summit in Brussels on November 24/25.

Five of the Irish women are competing for three prizes of €100,000 each in the innovators category. The two others, Ailbhe and Izzy Keane of Izzy Wheels, are competing in the rising innovator category for female entrepreneurs under 30 where the prize is €50,000.

The five Irish finalists are:

Anita Finnegan, co-founder and chief executive of Nova Leah, a company offering cybersecurity risk management for medical device manufacturers.

Ciara Clancy (pictured), founder and chief executive of Beats Therapeutics, developing technology solutions to tackle mobility symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease.

In Association with

Lisa O’Donoghue, founder and chief executive of Votechnik, which provides automated recycling technology for safe and sustainable disposal of LCD units.

Patricia Scanlon, founder and executive chair of Soapbox Labs, a company developing an innovative speech-recognition solution for children.

Suzanne Moloney, founder and chief executive of Hidramed Solutions, which offers advanced wound care for everyday care of chronic wounds.

A new initiative from the EU is offering coaching and mentoring to female founders, as well as targeted funding to help take their business to the next level. It’s called Women TechEU and is now open for its first round of submissions here, closing on November 10.

As well as the coaching and mentoring, provided by EIC Business Acceleration Services, the scheme offers successful applicants an individual grant of €75,000 to support the initial steps in the innovation process, and the growth of the company, plus a chance to participate in dedicated activities organised by InvestEU and Enterprise Europe Network.