European Pre-Acceleration Programme
Benefits you will receive during the programme:
Compete to win €2,500, €5,000, or €10,000 to use to jumpstart your start-up. Receive €2,000 + €1,000 in Travel Budget.
Receive training on Business Basics and Pitching Practice.
Develop your Business Plan and receive Soft Skills training.
Access a European-wide network of entrepreneurs and partners.
Work with experienced mentors and industry-leading investors.
Pitch your project to real investors and compete for the final price.
November 28, 2025
207 applications from 21 countries, from which 10 finalists were selected – and three earned a place on stage at the Grand Finale in Budapest.
November 25, 2025
The highlight of the event was the EIT Jumpstarter Grand Finale, where 42 start-ups from 17 countries competed for a total prize pool of €132,500.
November 13, 2025
Discover how ATLANT 3D, a Ukrainian-founded startup in Denmark, is transforming nanotechnology with support from EIT Jumpstarter.
Applicants (at least 1 participating team member) must hold citizenship from one of the following countries or regions:
EU Member States: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Spain.
EU Outermost Regions: Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Martinique, Mayotte and Saint-Martin (France); the Azores and Madeira (Portugal); and the Canary Islands (Spain).
Horizon Europe Associated Countries and Territories: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, *Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine and Türkiye.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
If your idea or start-up aligns with one of these key sectors, you’re in the right place:
Highlights of the Grand Final 2024 Edition.
CEO & Co-Founder at Lightly Technologies
“The programme helped us sharpen our value proposition, improve communication with stakeholders, and develop a clear go-to-market strategy. It also guided us in identifying the most promising markets and refining our commercialisation approach.”
Founder and CEO @Energy Shift
“[EIT Jumpstarter] connected us with an amazing mentor from the relevant VC firm, that helped us improve our pitch deck and attractively frame our ideas from the investor’s perspective, which proved to be successful so far.”
CEO & Founder @Alghètica
“The main thing EIT Jumpstarter taught us is that often start-ups are formed by technical people who speak the same “language”. Still, in some cases, that’s not the case, and in a varied team, it helps to understand better how to communicate appropriately to maximize efficiency.”
CEO & Co-Founder @NeWay
“EIT Jumpstarter had a great impact on our understanding of building a startup company, what are our future tasks, the risks to have in mind, etc. We consider it as a fantastic mentorship programme and during this period, we were exceptionally motivated to continuously work on developing our platform.”
The EIT Jumpstarter is powered by 6 EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) and implementing partners.
Each KIC focuses on a key sector, offering expertise and resources during the EIT Jumpstarter programme to help early-stage innovators turn ideas into successful ventures.
The 2026 edition of EIT Jumpstarter is additionally supported by Xjenza Malta.
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European Pre-Acceleration Programme
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