50 women entrepreneurs selected to participate in EWA 2020

For the first time, EIT Food launched this year an appeal to all women with ideas or projects transforming the agrifood sector and who claim for an opportunity to get ahead. The response has been extraordinary: a total of 223 women applied in Czech Republic, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Turkey​, and after a detailed evaluation, the 50 most outstanding projects have been selected.

These women will have the possibility of participating in the EWA programme (Empowering Women in Agrifood ), whose aim is to motivate early stage female entrepreneurs to harness their power, understand their innate ability to succeed and overcome any obstacles, equip them with the appropriate knowledge,confidence and networks to successfully start and develop sustainable businesses. Overcome the existing gender gap in the agrifood sector with a special impact in rural areas: promoting inclusivity and diversity between business founders, and increase female founded startups.

These are the 50 selected projects and the names of the entrepreneurs behind them:

Czech Republic:

• Lamya Zítková Kourdi: The manual planting tool/machine for growing vegetables, flowers, and herbs
• Jana Rosenbaumová: The organic vegetables farm in combined with the modern use of horses.
• Šárka Tomanová: The web application of online refrigerator.
• Vendula Donátová: Seedling production solution.
• Anežka Svobodová:  A tangible and clear menu of superfoods and their mixes in powder form.
• Lenka Bennerová: Urban Planting Courses focused on growing herbs, vegetables, and trees sustainably in the cities.
• Diana Soudková: The concept of healthy bistros at universities with nutritionally balanced snacks.
• Michaela Urbanová: Transformation of the current "primary-production" farm into a more diversified one.
• Alena Foster: An app for assembling cakes according to customers' ideas, needs, health preferences.
• Martina Vondráčková: Special types of pastries from healthier and alternative sources and usable for catering.

Romania:

• Ana-Maria Chirilă: Eco products from fruits and vegetables.
• Brîndușa Bîrhală: Spreadable paste made from leafy vegetables.
• Carmen Amarandei: Vegan chocolate candy.
• Cosmina Dinu: Pastured poultry farm.
• Ibolya Oprea: Digital platform for healthy nutrition.
• Ioana Tudor: Consultancy and promotion services for local producers.
• Isabela Spătaru: Cooking workshops involving local producers.
• Raluca Stoica: Urban gardening kit.
• Simona Rotaru: Urban land renting services and recreational activities.
• Stela Dinică: Gluten free products.

Spain:

• Barbara Pañeda (Nutres): School eco-caterings management and consultancy in “Sierra de los Pueblos blancos·”
• Marta Felliu: Municipality healthy catering and local suppliers network
• Elena Fernández (Panduru): Bread products valorisation, transforming them to added value- fermented products and sourdough
• Raquel Camarero (Naturfera): Worm-based fertilisation for wineries and other cultivars-
• Mercedes Castelló (Hencko Snacks): Healthy sweet snacks produced from natural ingredients and apt for vegans, celiacs and diabetics.
• Josefa Fernández: High protein fly larvae flour
• Elena Garrido: Goji berries plantation
• Cristina Secades: Kiwi berries eco farming
• Katia Frassi: Online platform for integral ovine products Management and comercial exploitation
• Beatriz Pontijas: Dehydrated and organic vegetable drinks from vegetable cereals debris and by-products

Portugal:

• Mónica Venda (Veganchee): Vegan cheese and yogurt
• Elsa Lamy: Technology to test the flavour of food with saliva
• Iracema Stramotas (Agrolux): Urban Agriculture - Aquaponics
• Michele Frenkel (Shimejito): Production of mushrooms
• Débora Campos (AGROGrIN Tech): Technology to create ensymes from food waste
• Fernanda Vasconcelos (Nolita): Healthy Snacks
• Isabel da Nova (Bistrô Bekas): Healthy patês
• Catarina Partidário (Mum’s Cooking): Freezed healthy food
• Ines Gois (Detox in a box): Healthy smoothies and machine created
• Sandra Santos (Papinhas da Xica): Healthy food for children

Turkey:

• Ezgi Demiralp Turkoglu (46 Ar-Ge): Slow-release biopolymer additive fertilizer
• Aysu Gurman (AnadOlive): Healthy and innovative products with rich nutritional content from olive and olive oil process waste.
• Deniz Ovali (Ancient Greens): Produces and sells whatgrass water, a natural food supplement
• Fatma Aktas (Bitkim): Cloud-based application that combines image proccessing and deep learning methods, plus machine learning that offers fast disease detection and drug advice for different plants on the web and mobile app, constantly self-improving with the incoming data.
• Asli Aksoy (Elibelinde Tarim): Fresh and local asparagus production
• Hande Dumrul (Kadinlarin Elinden): Social enterprise that aims to deliver natural foods produced by Anatolian women´s cooperatives to large markets. It aims to transform rural women labour into digital
• Gonca Camkertern (Lmwatt): Smart horticulture solutions to improve agricultural production efficiency
• Ayse Yilmaz (Ottan Studio): Designs, develops and manufactures advanced-converted, aesthetic, and quality products with sustainable production methods using organic waste such as food waste and spilled leaves
• Ezgi Erkan (Sage Botanics): R&D and quality oriented Biotech company whose mission is to develop alternative herbal extracts, bioactive raw materials , and formulas and produce them commercially by using the richness of Turkey´s local flora
• Katia Merdinoglu (Vahaa): Offers the opportunity to farm in the city by developing units by combining hydroponic vertical farming techniques and IOT

After this training period, they will have the required knowledge, confidence and support to meet and exceed their aspirations, leading them to successfully start and develop sustainable businesses.