EIT Jumpstarter Launches Innovative Start-ups Tackling Society's Most Urgent Challenges

24 new, science-based start-ups were awarded at the EIT Jumpstarter Grand Final: 49 teams from 21 countries competed in 9 categories, collectively winning prizes worth €150,000

It was the culmination of this year's edition of pre-acceleration programme EIT Jumpstarter – an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, a body of the European Union, which aims to train and convert innovative ideas into budding businesses

The programme has trained 1,180 participants so far, leading to the establishment of 124 new start-ups in emerging countries and contributing to the creation of 2,100 new jobs. These start-ups collectively attracted €150 million in external investment up until now

Plans for 2025 include additional support for talent from Ukraine, the Western Balkan, the Mediterranean, and EU outermost regions innovators

WARSAW, Poland, Nov. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- This year's final of the EIT Jumpstarter programme was held on 28 November in Budapest, Hungary, along with the EIT Community conference "The next decade of innovation for the future of Europe. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme".

"The pipeline of start-ups established in non-Western countries through programmes like EIT Jumpstarter is growing every year, and many ventures from previous editions have now reached multimillion valuations. This is particularly important to close the funding gap in the European innovation ecosystem. The programme helps create new jobs, brings new skills, and stimulates entrepreneurship in the region," says Piotr Boulange, representing the EIT Jumpstarter programme. "Considering that every euro invested in the programme generates 30 euros in external funding for newly built start-ups, EIT Jumpstarter truly serves as a springboard for talented founders," he adds.

Throughout the seven-month programme,participants identified and validated the best business model for their science-based innovative ideas, to turn them into market-ready start-ups.

In each of the categories, three awardees were selected, and these were ranked 1st: NEAMO from Latvia (EIT Food), BIOCHIP-PATHFINDER from Portugal (EIT Health), StoreNow  from Portugal (EIT InnoEnergy), Yapar3D from Turkey (EIT Manufacturing), Total Energy from Croatia (EIT RawMaterials), Urbix Hub from Bulgaria (EIT Urban Mobility), POWAR STEAM from Spain (New European Bauhaus), Drone NonDestructiveTesting from Ukraine (Rebuild Ukraine), WellscanPro from Kosovo for the Western Balkans special award, and the Most Outstanding EIT Jumpstarter Alumni statuette went to Lightly from Czechia.

The next edition of the programme will be opened in January, but pre-registration is already available.

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