With great joy and pride, the University of Thessaly announces that two members of its academic community, Dr. Evmorfia Bataka and Dr. Anastasia Fountouli, have been selected to advance to the second phase of the international programme Empowering Women in Agrifood (EWA) 2025, implemented by EIT Food in collaboration with the organisation A Woman Can Be.
This achievement follows the preparatory informational event organized by the University of Thessaly, as part of its strategic commitment to support start-up entrepreneurship, innovation, and the empowerment of women in the agrifood sector.
The Empowering Women in Agrifood (EWA) programme is conducted across 13 countries (Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Albania, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Poland, and Estonia) and aims to empower women who have an innovative business idea or are already in the early stages of developing their start-up (businesses founded in 2022 or later).
Selected participants receive six months of support, which includes:
- online training,
- personalized mentoring,
- access to networks of investors, experts, and successful entrepreneurs,
with the aim of accelerating their business maturity and further developing their ideas.
The programme culminates in a final public pitching competition in Athens, where participants present their business proposals and compete for a monetary prize of up to €10,000. Specifically, the first prize winner will receive €10,000, and the second €5,000.
Supporting female entrepreneurship and showcasing the potential of women in the agrifood sector is a strategic priority for the University of Thessaly. The programme and its initiatives receive strong backing from the Rector of the University of Thessaly, Professor Charalampos Billinis, and the Vice-Rector of Innovation, Internationalization, Collaborations, and Digital Governance, Professor Chrysi Laspidou, who actively promote the equal participation of women in innovation, research, and entrepreneurship.
The University of Thessaly warmly congratulates the two researchers on their success and wishes them every success in the next stages of the programme, confident that they will serve as exemplary figures of female innovation, leadership, and social contribution in the agrifood sector.
