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EIT Jumpstarter wins the European Association Award

EIT Jumpstarter

EIT Jumpstarter received recognition for creating a sustainable impact in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe.

On 28 March 2019 in Brussels, the EIT Jumpstarter, a competition and training programme for start-ups run cooperatively by EIT FoodEIT Health and EIT RawMaterials, won the Best Association Training Initiative category in the European Association Awards celebrating the vital work that the European Associations do on behalf of their members.

Fostering innovation and entrepreneurship

EIT Jumpstarter kicked off last year as the Joint Business Idea Competition, a unique cross-industrial incubation programme created by EIT Food, EIT Health and EIT RawMaterials. EIT Jumpstarter is one of the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) programme initiatives. EIT Innovation Communities run their activities addressing the objectives and key principles of the EIT RIS concept to provide access to activities and services of the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) to those who might not otherwise have this access. The activities will thus also raise the awareness of the RIS regions and countries, but primarily will have a significant impact on these regions and countries itself by fostering innovation and entrepreneurship.

Building business in a unique cross-industry environment

The EIT Jumpsatrter 2019 has kick-off this spring. During the EIT Jumpstarter bootcamps, participants will learn how to get started on building a business in a unique cross-industry environment: building a team, business processes and organisational design. The primary focus is on quantitative business model building. At the end of the program, graduates will prepare their pitch deck, business model canvas, competitive landscape, go-to-market strategy and roadmap.

Six bootcamps for selected innovators will be organised this year, two by each of the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs): EIT Food, EIT Health and EIT RawMaterials. More information about the bootcamps can be found here.

Participants will be selected based on the strength of the entrepreneurial idea, their impact on the sector (food, health and raw materials) and their growth potential.

Boosting innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe

More than 200 teams applied in 2018 for the EIT Jumpstarter programme, which is designed to create a sustainable impact in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe by boosting innovation and entrepreneurship to revolutionise the EU market. Teams learned basic entrepreneurial skills, gained an understanding of market segmentation, developed value propositions, and worked on leveraging their competitive advantage.

Following six months of training and mentoring, chosen teams pitched their ideas to an international expert jury at the Joint Grand Final in November.

Strengthening Cross-Innovation Community collaboration

Future plans for the EIT Jumpstarter include incorporating more EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities, such as EIT InnoEnergy in 2019, and possibly the newly established EIT Manufacturing and EIT Urban Mobility.