Michela Puddu wins European Innovation Award

The aim of the EU Prize for Women Innovators is to raise public awareness of the need for more innovation and more women entrepreneurs, to recognise the success of women in innovation and create strong role models. The prize is funded under Horizon 2020, the EU research and innovation programme.  

Michela Puddu (picture, far right) received the “Rising Innovator 2019” award worth €50 000. She is co-founder and CEO of Haelixa, a company that uses intelligent DNA-based tracing solutions to ensure ethical and transparent business practices, with special focus on sustainable products such as organic cotton.

Commissioner Moedas said: “I am honoured to share this moment of recognition with such amazing innovators. They show the unlimited talent present in Europe and the importance of women entrepreneurs. I hope that with this prize, our winners will go on to inspire many other women to create innovative businesses.”

The winners have founded or co-founded a successful company based on their innovative ideas. They were chosen by a jury of independent experts following an open call for submissions in autumn 2018. The jury consisted of independent experts from business, venture capital, entrepreneurship and academia. 154 applications were submitted from across the EU and the countries associated to Horizon 2020, the EU's funding programme for research and innovation, which provides the prize money for the awards.

Full list of winners on the website of the European Commission.