Female tech founders across Norway receive EU recognition

The eight companies that have received funding are located across Norway – from Tromsø in the north to Nøtterøy in the south.

This scheme is part of Horizon Europe, the world's largest research and innovation programme. In addition to €75,000 in funding, the companies receive coaching and accelerator services. We are the national contact point for the programme and have supported the companies throughout the application process.

Our CEO, Håkon Haugli, is very impressed by Norway's result:

- The funding recognises Norway's leading position in early-stage technology companies led by women. It is also an EU seal of approval, showing that the company has developed a technology with significant potential. This is an important step towards commercialisation and scaling. Perhaps we will see more of these companies in the EU's accelerator programme, EIC Accelerator.

The EU is struggling to increase the proportion of women leading technology companies. Today, fewer than one in five technology companies has a woman as a leader, founder or co-founder. WomenTech EU was launched in 2022 in response to this challenge.

WomenTech EU targets early-stage, women-led deep tech companies. The female applicant must be the founder or co-founder of the company and hold an executive management role (CEO, CTO or equivalent).

The support includes a grant of EUR 75,000 for your company to fund the first steps in the innovation process. You can use it to grow your company by developing your business plan and growth strategy, exploring market opportunities, and identifying potential partners and investors.

The winners will also be offered coaching and mentoring, as well as opportunities to take part in a range of competence-building and networking events across Europe.

Companies awarded funding

• Sensorita from Oslo
• Woid from Oslo
• Aiba from Gjøvik
• Medsensio from Tromsø
• NoMy from Oslo
• Pinova from Narvik
• Agoprene from Nøtterøy
• Vignita from Oppaker

Read more about the companies here:

Medsensio was founded on the findings of the extensive health study of Tromsø’s residents. Medsensio offers a data algorithm and machine learning-based solution for patient-centred monitoring of heart and lung conditions. This is not the first time the company has succeeded in an EU competition. In 2020, it secured funding for a Horizon 2020 project with partners from Israel and Germany to develop a patient monitoring platform. Anna Dranovska is one of the founders and the company’s CEO.

'The Women TechEU grant strengthens Medsensio's recognition as a company delivering high-value innovation in digital health with strong growth potential.
Above all, the programme will give us access to European networks and expertise that will help us navigate the challenges of growing a deep-tech company.
Our plan is to use the project to strengthen the company's market position by developing partnerships with partners and customers across Europe, and by gaining exposure to investors specialising in medical technology and digital health solutions ahead of future funding rounds. Most of all, however, we look forward to joining a community of other women-led start-ups and drawing inspiration and motivation from more experienced women leaders in medtech. We work in an industry that is still largely dominated by men, so the WomenTechEU programme will play an important role in helping us build an innovative, gender-balanced workplace.'

Sensorita was founded in 2020 as a spin-off from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). Its founders come from the sensor and data science community at Ås and have developed sensors that use advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques. Sensorita's sensor system is transforming the waste industry by enabling container monitoring and more streamlined waste management, while reducing costs and emissions.

‘It is fantastic to receive this support and recognition from the EU, confirming that we are among Europe’s leading deep-tech start-ups. This grant comes at a critical stage for us, and we are grateful to be one of the Norwegian companies the EU believes can make a positive contribution to the green transition.’

Norwegian Mycelium (NoMy) is an Oslo-based bioscience company creating the next generation of circular materials, food and animal feed by producing alternative proteins and materials from mycelium, the root structure of fungi. 

'For us at NoMy, fungi are the future. New meat alternatives, new biocomposites and new protein sources – all made from mycelium (the root-like filaments of fungi). Locally produced, without agricultural land or chemicals, and with a fraction of the environmental footprint. Good for people, good for the planet.' Ingrid Dynna is delighted to have received funding from Women TechEU and to be part of Europe's deep-tech network.

Today's hearing aids work very well, but on their own they often fall short in situations with a lot of background noise or in places with poor acoustics. Woid's solution is simple: they want to use the microphone already built into every mobile phone, making the technology accessible to everyone. Oslo-based Woid was founded by Mariel Ellingsen and Ivanna Ustymenko, who received our NOK 1 million Stud-ENT grant last year.

Women TechEU will enable us to continue developing the application with a focus on human-centred design, explore how to streamline various features, and build our expertise through its cross-border mentoring and networking programme.

Vignita, based in Oppaker, enables colleagues, customers and partners to collaborate and share expertise. Companies can create and distribute all types of training to their employees, including digital and in-person courses. They can also buy and sell courses through the built-in marketplace. All training and documentation are automatically stored in each individual's profile. Both managers and the company have a complete overview of each individual's progress, results, documentation and compliance.

'With support and funding from the EU, we can accelerate the development of our artificial intelligence project for predictive learning. This will enable Vignita to understand and predict what you, your team and your company need to learn to meet the growing demand for skills and remain competitive in the future. This is a great source of inspiration and motivation for the entire Vignita team, and we are incredibly proud and humbled to have been recognised as one of Europe's priority technology companies,' says Ertresvåg.

Nøtterøy-based Agoprene is developing furniture foam by combining biomass from plants such as seaweed and kelp, helping the furniture industry reduce its reliance on petrochemicals in production.

'This funding will be a crucial building block for us over the next year. We are planning our first pilot production run, and what we need most is skilled mentors and financial backing. We are very grateful for the support we have received from Innovation Norway during the application process and look forward to continuing our collaboration towards an EIC application later in 2023,' says Celine Sandberg of Agoprene.

Gjøvik-based Aiba develops solutions that protect children and young people online from sexual predators. ‘Our artificial intelligence is trained and tailored to detect grooming conversations as they happen, so they can be stopped before any harm is done. The EU project will play a major role in our efforts to encourage more gaming and social media companies worldwide to adopt our solution, helping to make children and young people’s digital lives safer. The EU project will also highlight an important and rapidly growing problem that is significantly under-reported and needs greater attention,’ says Hege Tokerud at Aiba.

Narvik-based Pinova AS was founded in January 2022 after its founders began developing a digital remote home monitoring solution that makes it safer for older people to live at home. Demographic changes, with a growing proportion of older people and fewer resources in the health and care sector, mean that older people must manage independently in their own homes for longer, despite age-related impairments. Pinova aims to address this challenge using wireless sensors connected to its own IoT hub, which is installed in the home. The devices work together, using machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect unusual events in the user's home. An automated calling system alerts relatives or home care services, who must respond after receiving a phone call or text message.

CEO Trude Husjord says: ‘It is exciting to be a founder at Pinova when we are selected as one of Europe’s most promising and innovative deep-tech start-ups. We made them aware of the Women TechEU scheme. We received valuable information and support throughout the application process and succeeded in securing EU funding. This inspires and motivates us to continue developing the solution. Our goal is to help older people live long, fulfilling lives in their own homes, while giving their families peace of mind. In addition to financial support, we gain unique access to expertise and networks across Europe.’