The CDTI Innovation consolidates its support for technological entrepreneurship led by women

In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly established 19 November as International Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, in order to recognize the value and contribution of women in business creation, make visible the barriers that still persist in the innovative ecosystem and move towards greater equality of opportunities.

In this context, and as a public body responsible for promoting business R&D&I in Spain, the CDTI Innovation joins this date in underlining its commitment to female entrepreneurship, especially in the technological field, where the talent of women plays a key role to accelerate the transformation and competitiveness of the country.

NEOTEC Women

In line with this commitment, the CDTI Innovation launched in 2022 the specific call, Neotec Women Entrepreneurs, endowed with 5 million euros in grants, with the objective of launching new innovative business projects led by women that require the use of technologies or knowledge derived from research activity and whose business strategy is based on technology development.

Prior to the launch of this call, the presence of women in Neotec projects was low: only 14.8% of companies with approved projects were led by women.

Since its inception, Neotec Women Entrepreneurs has had a great acceptance. In the first call of 2022, 65 projects led by women were presented, which requested more than 15 million euros, tripling the endowment of the program. Of these, 20 projects were approved, with a budget of 7.4 million euros, coming from areas such as ICT, biotechnology, health, industrial sectors, transport, infrastructure, security or defense.

That year, thanks to the promotion of this specific call, the percentage of companies led by women with Neotec projects, both in the general call and in Neotec Women Entrepreneurs, doubled, reaching 32.4%.

After this progress, and with the aim of consolidating support for female technological entrepreneurship, in the calls for proposals of 2023, 2024 and 2025 of Neotec a budgetary reserve of 5 million euros was established for projects led by women.

Thus, in 2023 women led 26.8% of companies with approved Neotec projects, a figure that grew to 35.5% in 2024 and in 2025 stood at 29.2%. In addition, in these last three calls, women lead 29.5% of companies with approved Neotec projects.

The female participation in the Neotec project set shows a consolidated trend: 29.5% in 2021; 37.9% in 2022; 36.8% in 2023; 35.7% in 2024 and 36.7% in 2025.

Strategic commitment to diversity and equality in innovation

The support for female technological entrepreneurship is aligned with the objectives of the Strategic Plan 2024–2027 of the CDTI Innovation, which is committed to a diverse, inclusive and competitive R+D+I system.

The promotion of female leadership in technological projects is an essential lever to move towards an innovative ecosystem that is more balanced and capable of generating new opportunities, contributing to technological development, competitiveness and the strengthening of the innovation system in Spain.
 

CDTI Innovation

The Center for Technological Development and Innovation, CDTI E.P.E. It is the innovation agency of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, whose objective is the promotion of technological innovation in the business environment. The mission of the CDTI is to ensure that the Spanish business fabric generates and transforms scientific and technical knowledge into globally competitive, sustainable and inclusive growth. In 2024, within the framework of a new strategic plan, the CDTI provided more than 2.3 billion euros of support to Spanish companies and startups.

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