Ailbhe and Isabel Keane from Ireland, founders of Izzy Wheels, have won the Rising Women Innovator's Award for 2021. The award recognises excellent female entrepreneurs under the age of 30 and comes with a €50,000 award.

L-R: Izzy and Ailbhe Keane

It is funded under Horizon Europe and managed by the European Innovation Council and the SMEs Executive Agency. Ailbhe and Isabel Keane met Commissioner McGuinness in Brussels recently, and she congratulated them on their success and said she was proud of all the talented Irish women who made it to the final of the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2021. 

At the European Innovation Council Summit, which took place in Brussels recently, the European Commission announced the overall winners of this year's edition of the EU Prize for Women Innovators. The prize is awarded to the most talented women entrepreneurs from across the EU and countries associated to Horizon Europe, who have founded a successful company and brought innovation to the market. It is funded under Horizon Europe and managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA).

Overall winners

  • Merel Boers from the Netherlands: co-founder and CEO of NICO-LAB, a company offering cutting-edge technology to help physicians improve emergency care.
  • Mathilde Jakobsen from Denmark: co-founder and CEO of Land, a digital platform that shortens and digitises the food supply chain, providing easy access to good quality food.
  • Daphne Haim Langford from Israel: founder and CEO of Tarsier Pharma, a company developing disruptive medical solutions for the treatment and cure of autoimmune and inflammatory ocular diseases.

They will receive a €100,000 cash prize each.