Meet Europe's women innovators 2026

What does it take to build a brain surgery AI, fly Europe's first private orbital re-entry mission, and create the battery passports soon to be mandatory across the EU?

In this episode of the Sifted Studio Podcast, recorded in partnership with EIC & EIT, Sifted's Aditi Mishra sits down with the three winners of the 2026 European Prize for Women Innovators, announced at the EIC Summit in Brussels: Katerina Spranger, founder and CEO of Oxford Heartbeat, whose AI software lets surgeons rehearse brain stent procedures with over 96% accuracy in clinical testing; Marta Oliveira, cofounder and CEO of Atmos Space Cargo, the space startup behind Phoenix One and a €25.7m Series A; and Ella Cullen, cofounder and CMO of Minespider, building the digital product passports transforming battery supply chains.

They share the untold stories behind Europe's most exciting deep tech startups: why Katerina spent nine months interviewing 34 surgeons before writing a line of code, and what it meant to donate her technology to hospitals in wartime Ukraine. How Marta walked away from the James Webb launch campaign to co-found a space cargo company. How a marketer ended up building blockchain traceability for the world's tin supply. Plus, an honest look at what EIC and EIT backing actually unlocks for founders, from grants and patient capital to credibility and networks, and the advice each would give her younger self.

A must-listen for anyone interested in European tech, women founders, deep tech startups, health tech, space tech and supply chain innovation.

Timestamps:

00:00 Meet Europe's women innovators 2026
03:14 Katerina Spranger: 34 surgeon interviews before a line of code
07:39 The first real patient
10:11 Marta Oliveira: from James Webb to founding Atmos Space Cargo
11:33 The day Phoenix One flew
14:32 Ella Cullen: a marketer in deep tech
19:42 EU battery passports explained
21:20 Donating surgical AI to Ukraine
26:00 The brutal reality of medtech timelines
31:25 What EIC and EIT backing really unlocks
39:44 Advice to their younger selves