On November 29, EIT Jumpstarter hosted the Grand Final of its accelerator programme, which aims to create a sustainable impact in the Central-Eastern and Southern-European Regions by boosting innovation and entrepreneurship. Over 100 innovators travelled to Krakow this year, and here, we get to know the winners.
On November 29, the sixth edition of EIT Jumpstarter, a pre-accelerator run by six communities of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), came to an end. The programme aims to nurture innovation and entrepreneurship in the Central-Eastern and Southern-European Regions by supporting visionary startups and founders.
With the contribution of best-in-class experts, a creative community, and unique know-how, the aim is to support idea-holders to turn their ideas into business. It gives entrepreneurs the chance to build a viable business model around their innovative product or service idea, validate it and launch
The highly-selective accelerator, organized by EIT Health, EIT RawMaterials, EIT Food, EIT InnoEnergy, EIT Manufacturing and EIT Urban Mobility, opens the doors to European markets and connects participants to the wider EIT network and the EIT Communities’ large industrial partners. These companies include GE Healthcare, Siemens, Philips, Roche, Bosch, Nestlé, Pepsico and Maspex.
We recently got an inside look into the programme with Dora Marosvolgyi, the woman leading the EIT Community’s Strategic Innovation Projects.
The Grand Final
On November 29, the competitive accelerator programme came to an exciting end. With an event that gave the participating startups the chance to showcase their idea and come home with prizes to kick-start their business ambitions.
The programme lasts seven months, during which selected startups work with mentors in local training sessions that deep dive into business modelling and business planning. Based on the developed business plan, the startups are evaluated and the six best ones are qualified for the Grand Final. Then, the 42 finalists of the programme from 7 different category areas were able to pitch their ideas and compete for the prize of €10k.
The category areas were health, food, raw materials, energy, urban mobility, manufacturing, and New European Bauhaus (focused on sustainable and inclusive living spaces). The aim is to support those innovators creating real solutions for real challenges.
Meet the winners
Twenty-four startups were granted prizes, including a startup from Montenegro that is reimagining carpooling, a Polish startup reducing the environmental impact of fruit bush plantations, and, a Portuguese team that wants to eliminate the organ transplant waiting list through bioengineering.
Startups shaping the future
Bulgarian startup Green Kilometers won the Best Cross-Thematic Business Idea prize, a special award for impactful innovators. The company, in cooperation with local municipalities, has created a social-benefit system that rewards inhabitants for non-motorised, “green” covering of urban distances. The benefits include cultural events tickets, art classes or even tax reductions.
It wasn’t just startups receiving awards during the Grand Final, as the University of Warsaw, Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) Hub of EIT Food, was named Best RIS Hub.
The full list of the EIT Jumpstarter Grand Final 2022 winners:
EIT Health
1st prize – Thertact (Portugal)
2nd prize – Orgavalue (Portugal)
3rd prize – Play.air (Poland)
EIT Food
1st prize – LiFi4Food (Spain)
2nd prize – Ribes Technologies (Poland)
3rd prize – Digital Bites (Greece)
EIT Raw Materials
1st prize – FarMine (Turkey)
2nd prize – EpoxCE (Spain)
3rd prize – Kodatek (Estonia)
EIT InnoEnergy
1st prize – Solar Container Marine (Green Marine) (Spain)
2nd prize – EFC Mag (Slovenia)
3rd prize – EV to go (Republic of North Macedonia)
EIT Manufacturing
1st prize – Quimsil (Spain)
2nd prize – Lume Label (Poland)
3rd prize – Fprint (Spain)
EIT Urban Mobility
1st prize – Bruntor (Latvia)
2nd prize – BeBeep (Montenegro)
3rd prize – Esguil (Spain)
New European Bauhaus
1st prize – Spektral Seismic Solutions (Slovenia)
2nd prize – KEEEN (Italy)
3rd prize – Hiriki (Spain)
Special Prizes
Best cross-thematic business idea – Green Kilometers, Bulgaria
Audience Award – MindMatch (former MaskOFF), Poland
Best business idea from Western Balkan – FCL, Serbia
Best RIS Hub – University of Warsaw, Poland
Editor’s Note: This post has been created in collaboration and with financial support from EIT Jumpstarter as a Media Partner. If you’re also interested in partnering with us, just reach out.
