Eir Accelerator’s first international cohort will connect women’s health startups with Finnish and international clinical, research and life-sciences expertise, alongside a global investor and industry network.
Over 300 founders from around the world have applied to Eir Accelerator, a new six-month international accelerator for women’s health startups. Applications closed on 31 August, with 304 submissions from 53 countries highlighting an incredible global interest in the program. Europe and North America represented the strongest regions of interest.
The response comes as women’s health moves rapidly up the global innovation agenda. Despite growing recognition of the unmet need, many conditions affecting women remain under-researched, underdiagnosed and poorly served by existing treatments. The challenge is increasingly moving beyond awareness: founders, investors, healthcare systems and governments are now building the infrastructure needed to turn women’s health research into products and care.
PwC estimates the global women’s health market will reach $600 billion by 2030, with a broader definition (including cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, and mental health) putting today’s market at roughly $430–440 billion; within that, “core” segments like fertility, maternal health, gynecological conditions, menopause and women’s oncology account for about $195–205 billion today, rising to $270–280 billion by 2030.
Eir Accelerator is designed around that gap. Rather than focusing on capital alone, it connects international founders with clinical expertise, research infrastructure, regulatory knowledge, industry partners and routes into healthcare markets.
Finland’s Life Sciences Ecosystem Provides a Launchpad
Finland offers a strong foundation for this approach. Turku is one of the country’s leading life-sciences clusters, bringing together pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies, universities, healthcare providers and research infrastructure. Eir Accelerator, named after the Norse goddess of healing, launched publicly in May 2026 and is run in partnership with Women’s Health Hub Finland, a network of more than 25 pharmaceutical, diagnostics, research and public-sector organizations. Its first cohort begins on 18 November 2026, with the launch taking place alongside the Slush technology conference in Helsinki.
Over six months, selected startups receive full funding and hands-on support across clinical evidence generation, European and U.S. regulatory pathways, commercialization and partnerships. The programme is open to early-stage companies working across reproductive health, endometriosis, menopause, maternal health and AI applications in women’s health. Founders from Finland, the Nordics, wider Europe and beyond are eligible to participate.
– Women’s health is becoming an increasingly important area of innovation globally, and Finland has many of the ingredients needed to play a meaningful role — strong healthcare and research infrastructure, a life-sciences ecosystem and a growing focus on women’s health, said Minna Arve, CEO of Business Turku, which coordinates the programme.
– Eir is designed to connect those strengths with international founders and help build the partnerships needed to turn promising ideas into solutions that can reach patients, Arve continues.
– Accelerators typically take years to build this kind of application volume – we did it in a matter of months, said Anastasiya Markvarde, Head of Eir Accelerator.
– Over 300 applications, including strong markets such as the US and the UK, tell us founders worldwide are actively looking for a place like this to exist. Finland has the healthcare system, the industry base and the ambition to be that place.
A Network Connecting Startups, Industry and Investors
Eir’s partner network includes pharmaceutical and life-sciences companies Bayer, Orion, Revvity and Organon, alongside the University of Turku, BioInnovation Institute and New Children’s Hospital Foundation. Startups will also gain access to an international investor network including Innovestor, Inventure and Voima Ventures in Finland, and Angelini Ventures and Panakes Partners in Italy, Calm/Storm in Austria, Heal Capital in Germany, Verge HealthTech in Singapore and Suncoast Ventures in the U.S. Jessica Federer, former Chief Digital Officer of Bayer AG and founder of The Women’s Health Fund, is among the programme’s advisors.
The cohort is deliberately focused on women’s health rather than general health technology. Companies span different stages of development, from research- and preclinical-stage biotech to technologies approaching clinical validation and market entry. This allows Eir to connect startups with different parts of Finland’s ecosystem depending on their needs — from research and clinical expertise to validation, partnerships and future market access.
The Economic Cost of the Women’s Health Gap
The response comes as the economic cost of the women’s health gap draws increasing attention worldwide. Just nine health conditions – including ischemic heart disease, breast cancer, maternal hypertensive disorder and menopause – drive more than a third of the global women’s health burden, and closing that gap for those conditions alone could add nearly $400 billion to global GDP annually by 2040, according to the World Economic Forum and McKinsey Health Institute. Eir Accelerator, together with Suncoast Ventures, is currently completing a first-of-its-kind cost-of-illness study quantifying the annual economic burden of women’s health conditions specifically for Finland, modelling fifty conditions across the female population. The findings will be released in the coming weeks.
Eir Accelerator’s selection committee is now reviewing applications. The first cohort will be announced ahead of the programme’s launch on 18 November 2026 at Slush in Helsinki.
Updates on the selection process and final cohort:
eir-accelerator.com
About Eir Accelerator
Eir Accelerator is a free six-month international accelerator positioning Finland as a global hub for women’s health innovation. Coordinated by Business Turku in partnership with Women’s Health Hub Finland, the program supports early-stage founders in generating clinical evidence, navigating European and U.S. regulatory requirements, and building partnerships with pharmaceutical, hospital and technology partners. Its first cohort kicks off 16 November 2026 in Helsinki. eir-accelerator.com
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About Business Turku
Business Turku is the economic development organization for the City of Turku, Finland, supporting business growth, investment and innovation across the region. First in business since 1229, Business Turku works with startups, established companies and international partners across life sciences, technology and other key sectors. businessturku.fi