The winners of the 2019 EU Prize for Women Innovators are:
- Irina Borodina (Lithuania), co-founder and CTO of BioPhero, a biotech company producing pheromones as a safe, affordable and effective alternative to pesticides.
- Martine Caroff (France), founder and CSO of two biotechnological companies: LPS-BioSciences, which specialises in bacterial endotoxins for vaccines, in vitro diagnostics, cosmetics as well as medical devices and HEPHAISTOS-Pharma which develops immunotherapy for oncology.
- Shimrit Perkol-Finkel (Israel), co-founder and CEO of ECOncrete Tech, a company that provides environmentally sensitive concrete products on which life can grow thereby enhancing the biological and ecological value of urban, coastal, and marine infrastructures.
The three winners all received €100 000 for their work.
The Rising Innovator 2019 is:
- Michela Puddu (Italy), co-founder and CEO of Haelixa, a company that uses intelligent DNA-based tracing solutions to ensure ethical and transparent business practices, with special focus on sustainable products such as organic cotton.
Ms Puddu received €50 000 for her results.
Commissioner Moedas said:
“I am honoured to share this moment of recognition with such amazing innovators. They show the unlimited talent present in Europe and the importance of women entrepreneurs. I hope that with this prize, our winners will go on to inspire many other women to create innovative businesses.”