Among the projects awarded in the first edition of Women Shaping Tech, an initiative of the Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications (APDC), is Junicoders, a startup incubated at UPTEC – Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto. The company was recognised for its Inclusive Technology Education for Children programme, which teaches programming, robotics and electronics to children and young people, promoting gender equality and encouraging more girls to discover their potential in technology.

Junicoders is an educational project created by a group of engineers that aims to stimulate the development of skills related to computational thinking, sparking an interest in programming and robotics in children and young people. In addition to developing games and educational activities, available online, the startup organises face-to-face robotics courses for children and provides customised electronics kits that can be used for learning at home.

With this recognition, Junicoders will receive €10,000 in support, which will enable the company to expand its activities with the aim of making technology education more accessible. “This award reinforces our mission: to make technology education accessible and inclusive from an early age so that all children, regardless of gender, can learn, create and innovate”, said the Junicoders team.

About Women Shaping Tech

The Women Shaping Tech Award was created with the aim of mapping, supporting and scaling projects that promote gender equality in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) areas. Based on the analysis of the STEM Women Congress Portugal, the award identifies initiatives with the greatest potential for transformation and fosters synergies, ensuring that the most effective projects are not limited by a lack of investment or visibility.

In this first edition, 17 applications were submitted, representing more than €400,000 in support. The jury selected the five proposals with the greatest impact, which will receive financial support totalling €60,000.

17 October 2025