The EIT Women Leadership Award
The EIT Women Leadership award is open to exceptional members of the EIT Community. This year’s winner is Débora Campos, founder and CEO of AgroGrIN Tech, a Portuguese company that developed a process to transform industrial fruit waste into functional food ingredients.
“Our ultimate mission is to build a global ingredient company that makes clean-label the new standard — proving that sustainability and profitability can go hand in hand,” says Campos. “For our end users, which include food manufacturers, the impact is twofold: access to innovative and functional ingredients that elevate product quality and nutritional value while contributing to a more circular, resilient food system.”
The idea for AgroGrIN Tech was born during Campos’ PhD at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, where she looked at ways to extract valuable compounds from fruit waste. Campos explains that, as a scientist, she was struck by the untapped potential in what was often discarded — not just environmentally, but nutritionally and economically.
“I realised that if we could find a way to industrialise this science, we could unlock a new category of ingredients and reshape the way the food industry sources and thinks about waste,” says Campos. “AgroGrIN Tech emerged as a vehicle to transfer this academic knowledge into real-world impact.”
Campos notes how early-stage support was critical to the early success of the business, with programs like EIT Food Accelerator Network providing not only funding, but credibility, mentorship and access to a network of like-minded innovators and industry stakeholders.
“That ecosystem helped us sharpen our business model, validate our technology and accelerate our go-to-market strategy,” she says. “Without that foundational support, our journey would have been significantly slower and more uncertain.”
Campos considers one of her proudest moments with AgroGrIN Tech as seeing the first pilot facility come to life. Being awarded the Women Leadership prize has been another notable and special moment.
“It’s an incredible honour — both personally and professionally,” says Campos. “This recognition validates not only the hard work behind AgroGrIN Tech, but also the broader message that science-led, purpose-driven female entrepreneurship can truly drive change.”
