Two talented and inspiring Irish women have been shortlisted for the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2020, it has been announced.

Anita Finnegan, co-founder and CEO of Nova Leah, a company offering cybersecurity risk management solutions for medical device manufacturers, is one of the two nominees. She is one of 13 short-listed for three prizes of €100,000 each in the main category.

The other innovator is Ailbhe Keane, founder and creative director of Izzy Wheels. She is is one of eight shortlisted for the Rising Innovator title that recognises excellent female entrepreneurs under the age of 35 and comes with a €50,000 award. The award winners will be announced in September.

Anita Finnegan, co-founder and CEO of Nova Leah

Overall, 21 of the most talented and inspiring women entrepreneurs in Europe and beyond are in the shortlist for the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2020.

The prize celebrates the outstanding achievements of female entrepreneurs running innovative companies and is funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme for research and innovation.

Ailbhe Keane, left, and Izzy Keane, founders of Izzy Wheels

This year’s finalists are pioneering game-changing innovations across a wide range of industries and help combat global challenges. Their innovations range from the optimisation of cancer treatments to generating clean electricity from ocean and sea waves.

Thirteen candidates are competing for three prizes of €100,000 each in the main category, while eight others are competing for the Rising Innovator title that recognises excellent female entrepreneurs under the age of 35 and comes with a €50,000 award.

13 finalists in main category

  • Anita Finnegan (Ireland), co-founder and CEO of Nova Leah, a company offering cybersecurity risk management solutions for medical device manufacturers.
  • Anita Schjøll Brede (Norway/Denmark), co-founder of Iris.ai, an AI-based search engine for reading scientific research.
  • Aranzazu Martínez (Spain), co-founder and Managing Director of It Will Be. Her company helps tackle poverty through technological innovation, providing support to vulnerable women and children.
  • Belinda Cowling (France), co-founder and CSO of Dynacure, a clinical-stage drug development company developing therapy for rare and orphan muscle diseases.
  • Caroline Walerud (Sweden), co-founder and Executive Chairman of Volumental. Her company helps people find and create perfect fitting footwear through 3D scanning and AI.
  • Cécile Real (France), co-founder and CTO of Endodiag. Her company develops early diagnosis solutions for endometriosis, a disease affecting 180 million women worldwide.
  • Galit Zuckerman Stark (Israel), founder and CEO of Medasense, a company developing sensor-based personalised pain management technology.
  • Inna Braverman (Israel), founder and CEO of Eco Wave Power. Her company develops an innovative technology to generate clean electricity from ocean and sea waves.
  • Judit Cubedo (Spain), co-founder and CEO of GlyCardial Diagnostics, a company improving the early diagnosis of cardiac ischemic events.
  • Madiha Derouazi (Switzerland), founder and CEO of Amal Therapeutics, a company developing therapeutic cancer vaccines.
  • Magdalena Król (Poland), co-founder of Cellis, a company developing cell-based immunotherapy for solid tumours.
  • Maria Fátima Lucas (Portugal/Spain), co-founder and CEO of Zymvol Biomodeling, a company developing computer-designed industrial enzymes by applying molecular modelling.
  • Neus Sabaté (Spain), co-founder and Scientific Adviser at Fuelium, a company developing paper-based eco-friendly batteries for portable diagnostic devices.

Eight finalists in Rising Innovator category

  • Ailbhe Keane (Ireland), founder and creative director of Izzy Wheels. Her company creates fashionable wheel covers for wheelchairs.
  • Evelina Vågesjö (Sweden), co-founder and CEO of Ilya Pharma. Her company is developing next-generation biological drugs for treating wounds in skin and mucosa.
  • Iris Braun (Germany), co-founder of share, a consumer goods brand based on the 1+1 model: for every share product sold, a person in need receives an equivalent product.
  • Josefien Groot (Netherlands), co-founder and CEO of Qlayers. Her company is developing microstructures to boost the efficiency of wind turbines.
  • Rebecca Saive (Netherlands), co-founder and CTO of ETC Solar. Her company is developing a micro metal 3D printing tool to enable performance enhancement of solar cells.
  • Stefanie Flueckiger-Mangual (Switzerland), co-founder and CEO of TOLREMO Therapeutics. The company is developing next-generation resistance-preventing combination therapies for cancer.
  • Valentina Menozzi & Alice Michelangeli (Italy), co-founders and respectively CTO and CSO of Prometheus. These two women innovators submitted one joint application for the Prize. Their company is developing a biotech automated wound care system based on the use of patient’s blood.

The winners of the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2020 will be announced at the European Research and Innovation Days taking place on September 22-24, 2020.

At the same event, the commission will award the European Capital of Innovation 2020, the EIC Horizon Prize for Affordable High-Tech for Humanitarian Aid, and the Horizon Impact Award 2020.