On the lookout for Europe’s most promising and exciting startups and entrepreneurs, the EIT Digital Challenge has launched its 2022 edition – and they want to hear from you. The deadline for applications is September 19th.
The EIT Digital Challenge is the leading pan-European competition for digital deeptech startups, supporting innovators and entrepreneurs to become the next European success story. And this year, there are some exciting changes, with new sponsors and even more winning slots! Apply today to fast-track your journey to success!
New sponsor alert
Europe’s leading digital accelerator and leading open computing initiative are teaming up! EIT Digital is excited to announce that the Open Edge and HPC Initiative (OEHI) has joined the 2022 edition of the EIT Digital Challenge as an official sponsor! One of this year’s winners will receive EIT Digital’s fundraising support courtesy of OEHI. If you’re a deep tech working in HPC, digital twins, edge computing or AI, apply now!
Our society is becoming increasingly digital. Industries and sectors right across the board have become digitalized, relying on the latest information and communication technologies to fuel innovation and business operations.
New processor generations, cheaper mass storage and seamless broadband connectivity, as well as the ongoing virtualization of networks and services, are enabling the development of new system architectures and applications. It means digital tech is more important than ever before, as the next generation of intelligent tech arises, particularly in areas of Smart Cities and the Internet of Things.
With these new developments, edge computing and high-performance computing are key enabling technologies across essential industries such as manufacturing, energy, automotive, aerospace, logistics, utilities, healthcare, as well as sciences.
OEHI is on a mission to make the Arm®-based technology well suited for different IT segments, including but not limited to edge computing as well as High-Performance Computing (HPC), High-Performance Data Analytics (HPDA), Artificial Intelligence (AI) – fuelling the future of how our society operates.
Introducing SidekickHealth: An EIT Digital Success Story
In 2019, Nordic digital therapeutics (DTx) innovator SidekickHealth competed in the EIT Digital Challenge. Emerging as a stand-out candidate amongst the hundreds of applicants that year, SideKickHealth was selected as a finalist in the Digital Wellbeing category.
Sidekick began receiving active support from fundraising experts in EIT Digital Accelerator’s Access to Finance team in January 2020. The expert team has since helped Sidekick launch and coordinate a funding round that closed at USD$20 million – led by Wellington Partners (Germany) and ASABYS Partners (Spain), with participation by existing investors Novator (UK) and Frumtak Ventures (Iceland).
Dr. Tryggvi Thorgeirsson, CEO & Co-Founder of SidekickHealth: “The EIT Digital Accelerator team delivered critical support during this process and was key in the successful closing of our fundraising: in addition to providing invaluable feedback and advice, their systematic management of the process and coordinated efforts allowed us to meet with all the right investors from across Europe in a very short period of time.”
Sidekick has had an inspiring journey since its participation in the EIT Digital Challenge, scaling fast and efficiently in a short timescale. It’s a great example of the benefit of taking part in the Challenge, highlighting just how the program can give startups and scaleups that extra support that will make all of the difference.
Francisco Ibañez Diez & Daniel Auriel, Fundraising Specialists from EIT Digital’s Access-to-Finance Team, explained:
“Sidekick Health was indeed a great story. The credit belongs to them. They are one of the best teams we have worked with in the program: they were fast and efficient.”
“In general, scaleups get the most value out of participation in the EIT Digital accelerator when they come well prepared but are still eager to learn. Those founders that have given a lot of thought to the details of their business will be in a great position to act on the expert advice EIT Digital’s access to finance team can provide.”
Deadline to apply: September 19th!
Feeling inspired? Now is the time to apply! September 19th is the deadline to get in with the chance of gaining access to considerable growth and scaling support. Apply here today!
The EIT Digital Challenge aims to support Europe’s top up-and-coming innovators within the deeptech ecosystem. This year there will be more winners and even more access to support up for grabs. Become Europe’s next deeptech success story!
Editor’s Note: This post has been created in collaboration and with financial support from EIT Digital. If you’re also interested in partnering with us, just reach out.
