In September 2024, five high-potential EIT Jumpstarter alumni participated in a series of matchmaking events with global investors in New York City. The goal was to increase their valuation, expand their networks, and unlock additional external investments. This exposure enables them to return to Europe better prepared for strategic scaling and commercialization.
“We are made in the Czech Republic, but our mindset is global. Not many start-ups have this from day one. Thanks to the EIT Jumpstarter and its next step—the Post-Jumpstarter—we could grow faster and more effectively, while bringing our local flavour to the global innovation scene,” said Monika Stepanova, CEO of Lightly Technologies, a start-up founded in 2023 through the EIT Jumpstarter Health cohort and one of the participants in the EIT Post-Jumpstarter matchmaking
The top five start-ups selected for this stage of the programme hail from Serbia, Czechia, Poland, Croatia, and Latvia, working in the healthcare and food industries. Many are at a critical point in their development, ready to increase traction, secure external investment, refine their business strategies, and scale their solutions. Thanks to a partnership with NASDAQ, the teams’ logos were displayed in the heart of Times Square.
“We came here aiming to attract external financing, but also to build new partnerships with medtech providers and R&D centres,” emphasized Jekaterina Romanova, Co-Founder of Printymed. “We wanted to gain a global perspective and bring the best VC insights back to Europe to enhance our competitiveness in local markets”. Jekaterina Romanova, Co-Founder of Printymed.
Throughout this 3.5-day matchmaking experience, participants:
“If it weren’t for EIT Jumpstarter, I wouldn’t be sitting here with global investors, seriously discussing the concrete proof of concept and commercialization of my product” said Manuela Panic, representing Croatian NADES Design, a start-up working in the food industry.
“The U.S. is a marketplace where start-ups can test their products, gain valuable feedback, and learn from a high-innovation environment. With the support of the established network on the global markets, we can gain the global validation of the start-ups solutions and support them in getting the quicker traction in Europe”, underlined Marta Kaczmarek, Director, EIT Community Strategic Regional Innovations, EIT Health InnoStars. The EIT Post-Jumpstarter was supported by the EIT Global Outreach.
The Post-Jumpstarter matchmaking is part of a series of tailored trainings for selected EIT Jumpstarter alumni. Over six months, they received bespoke mentoring and feedback from venture capitalists to refine their business strategies. The top three teams from the EIT Post-Jumpstarter will be selected after the matchmaking event and will compete for awards during the 2024 EIT Jumpstarter Grand Final on 28 November in Budapest, Hungary.
This initiative is designed to accelerate the growth and competitiveness of some of Europe’s most promising start-ups, founded in the last 1-2 years and originating from the Widening countries. These regions are covered by the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme, a unique programme by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) that expands its impact and outreach to countries with moderate and emerging innovation potential, as identified by the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS).
