The Empowering Women in Agrifood (EWA) programme by EIT Food once again opens its doors to women entrepreneurs who want to build a more sustainable, resilient and innovative future of food. In its seventh year, EWA is entering a new chapter: evolving from a single programme into a flexible three-module structure — EWA Explore, EWA Grow and EWA Advance — to offer women support tailored to the specific stage of development of their idea or business.
EWA Advance 2026: support for startups ready to grow
The programme is focused on accelerating commercial growth, strengthening investor and corporate readiness, and scaling the business. Selected participants will gain access to expert training, mentoring, networking opportunities, a masterclass and a final Demo Day, while the most successful finalists will compete for prizes of €20,000 and €15,000.
The programme is focused on accelerating commercial growth, strengthening investor and corporate readiness, and scaling the business. Selected participants will gain access to expert training, mentoring, networking opportunities, a masterclass and a final Demo Day, while the most successful finalists will compete for prizes of €20,000 and €15,000.
Applications are open until 26 April 2026.
More information is available here.
EWA Grow 2026 in Croatia
For women entrepreneurs in Croatia, EWA Grow 2026 is also open — a module intended for women who have a business idea in the agrifood sector or are running an early-stage startup. The programme lasts six months and includes training, individual mentoring, networking opportunities, a masterclass and a final Demo Day.
Applications are open until 26 April 2026, and more information about the programme and application criteria is available here.
If you are considering applying, join us for an online Q&A session on 16 April 2026 at 14:00, where we will present the programme and answer questions from interested participants.
Register for the Q&A session here.
EWA Explore: the first step in developing an agrifood idea
Alongside the Grow and Advance programmes, EWA Explore is also available — an online course designed to provide participants with foundational entrepreneurship knowledge and practical tools to explore, develop and validate agrifood business ideas.
The programme covers topics such as idea development, business models, financial literacy, technology, data, networking and communication.
- Format: online, self paced
- Cost: €35 per participant
- Availability: year-round
More information is available here.