Beyond "Bonus Points": Why Deep Tech Needs More Women at the Helm

At a recent event in Warsaw, we had the opportunity to speak with Michiel Scheffer, the President of EIC Board, and ask for his perspective on the role of women in deep-tech entrepreneurship.

According to Michiel, the European Innovation Council has made progress in supporting diverse teams, yet there is still a long way to go. Currently, only about one third of EIC-supported startups include women in their teams, and the share of purely women-led deep-tech startups is even smaller.

He stressed that real change will come only when women take on executive leadership roles, such as CEO, CTO or CFO, rather than being concentrated in support functions like HR or marketing. To encourage this shift, funding bodies include gender balance as an evaluation criterion. However, Michiel noted that evaluators must remain attentive to avoid situations where women are added to teams merely to gain extra points during the assessment process.

Interestingly, having women present the startup during investor pitches can itself be an advantage. Women’s pitching styles are often more transparent and risk-aware, which can resonate well with the more cautious investment culture common in Europe, compared to the more aggressive or exaggerated pitching styles sometimes seen elsewhere.

But all this is a quick fix. Michiel pointed out that the challenge starts much earlier in the pipeline. While the share of women in some deep-tech disciplines - such as physics, chemistry, polymer science, or mechanical engineering - is improving, the number of women entering STEM fields still directly influences how many women eventually found deep-tech startups. In his view, increasing women’s participation in STEM education is a fundamental step toward achieving more gender-balanced innovation ecosystems.