Recognising Technology Trailblazers from bioinnovations to batteries: announcing the 2024 EIT Awards winners
EITThe European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 EIT Awards, the prestigious innovation prize now in its tenth year.
Mohamed Elamir (Changemaker Award); Altris AB (Innovation Team Award); Enline (Venture Award); and HIQ-CARB (Public Award) have been awarded top prizes for their innovations in the fields of new biofoam materials, digital twin technology and advances in battery manufacturing.
The EIT Awards celebrate the brightest entrepreneurs and innovators within the EIT's vibrant ecosystem. Their groundbreaking work contributes to finding solutions to our most pressing societal challenges. I would like to express my warmest congratulations to all winners and nominees. As we celebrate these achievements, let us recognise the pivotal role of the EIT in nurturing innovation in Europe in line with the EU’s policy priorities. It paves the way for a brighter future and creating more prosperous economies and more cohesive societies.
Margaritis Schinas, European Commissioner Vice-President
I warmly congratulate the winners of this year’s EIT Awards. Their determination and commitment to innovation have resulted in remarkable achievements. This kind of talent and creativity drive the change that we need to see in Europe. Through working together as EIT community, we make things happen across the continent: from student to entrepreneur, from lab to market, from idea to solution. I hope these winners inspire others to follow in their footsteps.
Iliana Ivanova, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
The EIT Awards recognise the most promising entrepreneurs and innovators emerging from the EIT’s ecosystem, as well as give us a glimpse into the latest tech and innovation trends in Europe. I want to congratulate all of this year’s winners and nominees for their achievements in developing advanced solutions that will help us tackle the most difficult challenges society is facing, across our continent and beyond. The 2024 EIT Award winners are the best examples of what can be achieved by the exceptional innovation ecosystem that we have built since 2008 – and how it can bring innovation to the sectors that need it the most.
Nektarios Tavernarakis, Chair of the EIT Governing Board
The EIT Summit, at which the awards were announced, attracted close to 800 participants, bringing together the worlds of policy, education and innovation. Speakers included European Commission Vice-President, Margaritis Schinas, explorer and environmentalist, Bertrand Piccard, Members of European Parliament (MEP), Brando Benifei, CEO of Bioxodes, Marc Dechamps, and many more industry, policy, research and academic representatives. This year’s flagship event also put the spotlight on new collaborations that will amplify the impact of the EIT ecosystem at a stage where its pan-European innovation ecosystem now commands an unprecedented capability to drive systemic change. This includes the launch of the European Solar Academy that will support European solar photovoltaic technologies and SMEs with a strong focus on training and reskilling employees.
2024 EIT Awards Categories
The EIT Awards this year consisted of three new categories that represent the driving dynamics of entrepreneurship in Europe:
• The Changemaker Award, highlighting a leader within the EIT Community education and skilling programmes, whose activities and achievements have the potential to generate a significant social impact
• The Innovation Team Award, recognising a team of innovators that have developed a breakthrough product or service
• The Venture Award recognises the start-up with the greatest potential to generate impact on citizens, by addressing major societal challenges
Three winners were chosen in each of the categories by an expert jury and awarded a first-place prize of EUR 50 000, EUR 20 000 for second place and EUR 10 000 for third place.
A fourth category, the Public Award, was also awarded to the top innovation chosen by the public.
Meet the winners:
The Changemaker Award winner is Mohamed Elamir, the co-founder of Woamy (Finland), which specialises in cellulose-based biofoams, offering a sustainable alternative to plastic foams with superior strength, insulation, and shock-proofing.
The Innovation Team Award winner is Altris (Sweden), a team specializing in sodium-ion batteries, particularly its Fennac® cathode material, to revolutionize battery technology. Fennac® offers competitive battery performance and lower production costs, making it suitable for energy storage systems and light electric vehicles.
The Venture Award winner is Enline (Portugal), a sensor-less Digital Twin technology powered by advanced analytics and AI algorithms to optimize power transmission asset monitoring. This solution provides forecasts for operations and predictive monitoring for vegetation and landslides.
The Public Award winner is: HiQ-CARB (Germany) a team that produces sustainable and resource-efficient nanomaterials for high-performance batteries. These materials enable faster-charging electric vehicles, extended battery lifespans for mobile phones, and enhanced safety and longevity for battery-powered devices.
Full list of 2024 EIT Awards winners, including 2nd and 3rd place:
The Changemaker Award: 1. Mohamed Elamir, Finland 2. Alba Forns, Spain 3. Axel Rimbaud, France
The Innovation Team Award: 1. Altris AB, Sweden 2. Biosimulytics, Ireland 3. HIQ-CARB, Germany
The Venture Award: 1 Enline, Portugal 2 ReCatalyst, Slovenia 3. inHeart, France
EIT Public Award: HiQ-CARB
To learn more about the 2024 EIT Awards Winners and all nominees please visit: eitawards.eu
INNOVEIT visits Hello Tomorrow, Greentech Festival and Slush in 2024
The EIT Summit, kicked off the INNOVEIT series for 2024, with three further EIT Community-led events following across Europe. INNOVEIT is your chance to connect with the continent’s largest innovation community and learn about each core pillar of EIT’s work: business creation, innovation projects, and entrepreneurship education. Come join us at the INNOVEIT events in:
Paris alongside the Hello Tomorrow Global Summit for deeptech from 21-22 March.
Berlin as part of the Greentech Festival from 15-17 May.
Helsinki together with Slush Conference 2024 from 20-21 November.
BACKGROUND: EIT – MAKING INNOVATION HAPPEN!
What is the European Institute of Innovation and Technology?
The EIT strengthens Europe’s ability to innovate by powering solutions to pressing global challenges and by nurturing entrepreneurial talent to create sustainable growth and skilled jobs in Europe. The EIT is an EU body and an integral part of Horizon Europe, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.
The Institute supports dynamic pan-European partnerships, EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities, among leading companies, research labs and universities. Together with their leading partners, the EIT Community offers a wide range of innovation and entrepreneurship activities across Europe: entrepreneurial education courses, business creation and acceleration services and innovation driven research projects.
EIT facts and figures
Europe’s largest innovation network: over 2 400 partners from top business, research and education organisations across Europe in 50+ innovation hubs across Europe
Making innovation happen: powered more than 7 800 start-ups and scale-ups, created more than 2 110 new products and services that have gone to raise more than EUR 7.3 billion in external capital. More than 5 700 students have graduated from EIT labelled master and doctoral programmes and over 10 000 have participated in EIT Community entrepreneurial trainings.
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