Accelerating Innovation Through Women Leadership: EIT Food Celebrates the the EWA Programme
NextBite Satellite in Warsaw
275 entrepreneurs, investors, experts and partners gathered in Warsaw for Accelerating Innovation Through Women Leadership, a flagship #NextBite Satellite event by EIT Food. This year’s edition held special significance, as it crowned the 2025 cycle of the EWA – Empowering Women in Agrifood Programme, bringing together its newest graduates and the wider innovation community.
With more than 600 alumnae across Europe, EWA has grown into one of the most impactful initiatives supporting women-led agrifood innovation. The Warsaw finale celebrated the progress of this year’s founders and highlighted the essential role women play in building a more sustainable and resilient food system.
Women who shape the future of food
Opening the event, Marja-Liisa Meurice, Director of EIT Food North-East, spoke about the strength and solidarity that define the EWA community:
One of the strongest characteristics of women entrepreneurs is their instinct to help other women. This sense of solidarity is not just emotional. It creates a powerful community where founders lift each other up, share knowledge, and open doors for one another. It is a strength that accelerates innovation across the entire sector.
Walk of EWA Fame – Showcasing Europe’s Most Promising Women Innovators
One of the signature moments of the event was the Walk of EWA Fame, a celebratory showcase highlighting the achievements of this year’s EWA founders. Presented in three thematic segments throughout the day, the Walk gave the stage to 13 early-stage women innovators who developed their solutions during the 2025 edition of the EWA Programme.
Each founder delivered a concise, high-impact presentation of her product, technology, or business model, offering a glimpse into the challenges they address and the opportunities ahead. The showcased solutions spanned fields such as:
- sustainable and regenerative agriculture,
- circular economy and food waste upcycling,
- biotechnology and diagnostics,
- plant-based innovation and clean-label products,
- digital tools supporting farmers’ decision-making,
- soil health and water treatment technologies.
The Walk of EWA Fame not only celebrated individual accomplishments but also demonstrated the diversity and depth of innovation emerging from women-led ventures across Europe. For many participants, it was their first chance to present on a major stage, supported by a community built throughout the year-long programme.
The energy in the room reflected both pride and momentum, a shared recognition that these founders represent the next generation of leaders shaping Europe’s transition towards a more sustainable and resilient food system.
The EWA Programme: A year of growth, mentoring and impact
EWA: Empowering Women in Agrifood is a Europe-wide programme supporting women in the early stages of entrepreneurship through:
- tailored mentoring,
- structured training and business development,
- peer learning and community support,
- access to experts and investors,
- and financial prizes for the most promising ventures.
What began in just four countries has evolved into a pan-European initiative, empowering women from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Iberia, and the Baltics.
The Warsaw event served as the final milestone of the programme, celebrating founders’ progress and giving them a platform to share their solutions with the wider ecosystem.
The 2025 EWA Innovators presenting in Warsaw were:
Startups Showcasing Breakthrough Agrifood Innovations
The event also featured a dedicated exhibition area where participants could meet 14 startups developing technologies across biotechnology, the circular economy, functional foods, sustainable agriculture, and deep tech. Their presence highlighted the diversity and momentum of Europe’s agrifood innovation ecosystem — and the growing contribution of women-led ventures to its transformation.
The startups showcased at the event included:
- Biossom – organic, clean-label food products designed to make everyday nutrition healthier.
- BrewAI – an AI-powered platform helping beverage producers improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions.
- H+H Labs PSA (HYDRATICO) – an innovative water-treatment technology based on supercavitation.
- Hulk Bio – bioactive human milk ingredients for next-generation nutrition and gut-health solutions.
- MagFu – a magnetic copper fungicide that significantly reduces soil contamination.
- Microbe Plus (MP) – biological alternatives to synthetic crop protection products.
- muryo – an AI platform supporting farmers in adopting sustainable agricultural practices.
- NEW ERA FOOD / Justake – protein-enriched mushroom processing and clean-label plant-based products.
- Rebread – upcycling surplus bread into new food products and probiotic beverages.
- SmartBerries Box – a portable device for measuring polyphenols in berry fruits.
- SOILMONITOR – intelligent soil sensors enabling precise nitrogen management.
- VegeLIO – freeze-dried vegetables and herbs offered in convenient, aromatic blends.
- Vegg Foods – zero-waste processing of surplus chickpeas into plant-based products.
- YUGEN – biotechnology transforming agricultural waste into high-value materials.
Throughout the exhibition, founders presented prototypes, demonstrated their technologies, and engaged with investors, corporate,s and ecosystem partners. Many initiated discussions on pilots, collaborations, and market expansion, making the startup area one of the most dynamic elements of the event.
Turning Ideas into Protected Innovations
A key element of the event was the opportunity for participants to receive direct, practical support from institutions that play a crucial role in strengthening Europe’s innovation landscape. Throughout the day, founders engaged not only with investors and mentors but also with intellectual property specialists, gaining essential knowledge on how to protect and scale their technologies in competitive markets.
Participants also accessed onsite intellectual property consultations from EUIPO and the Polish Patent Office, receiving guidance on trademarks, design protection and strategies for securing IP during early-stage commercialisation. Sabina Hülsebusch (EUIPO) provided tailored advice to founders on how to secure patents, protect their inventions effectively and navigate the European IP landscape as they prepare to enter the market.
For early-stage innovators, the right IP strategy is not just a legal formality; it is a foundation for growth. Protecting your invention early helps you attract partners, build investor confidence, and enter the market with clarity and security.
A Sector Defined by Resilience
Given that the entire discussion centred on the transformation of agrifood systems, the presence of Elvira Domingo Varona, who leads EIT Food’s work on resilient agriculture, was particularly meaningful. Her perspective reinforced the core truth behind the day’s conversations: sustainable change in agrifood requires inclusive leadership and a commitment to long-term resilience.
Resilience in agrifood is ultimately about people. It’s about ensuring that innovators have the conditions, the support, and the visibility they need to bring meaningful solutions to life. What we are seeing today is that women are already driving this change; our role is to make sure the system keeps up with them.
From Warsaw to Europe: Women Leading the Change
The Warsaw event closed on a note of confidence and momentum. Across pitches, panels, and informal conversations, the message was clear: women are not only contributing to Europe’s agrifood transition, but they are also actively shaping its direction. The founders celebrated today are developing technologies that make food systems fairer, healthier, and more resilient, while the wider EWA community now exceeds 600 alumnae whose impact reaches far beyond their regions.
The scale of engagement throughout the day reflected the sector’s growing appetite for collaboration. With 411 one-to-one meetings facilitated through the event platform, entrepreneurs, investors, and partners exchanged insights, explored partnerships, and identified concrete opportunities for future cooperation. These interactions reinforced that women-led innovation is not a side conversation; it is an essential driver of the ecosystem’s progress.
By bringing together innovators, investors, policymakers, and experts, EIT Food reaffirmed its commitment to creating an agrifood ecosystem where talent can thrive regardless of gender. The discussions and connections sparked in Warsaw will continue to shape joint projects and strengthen Europe’s ability to respond to the challenges ahead.
As the 2025 edition of EWA concludes, the achievements showcased in Warsaw reflect not just the success of a programme cycle, but a growing movement – one powered by women who are redefining what the future of food can be.
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