EIT Jumpstarter received 621 excellent applications to the programme, one of the highest numbers we have ever had. For a statistics nerd like us, it is a goldmine. Join us in our journey to understanding this year’s class.
Around 20% of applications came from Ukraine this year. Rebuild Ukraine, the new category we launched, and scouting for the best gems with our partners on the ground made our program more visible. Earlier this year, EIT Manufacturing and EIT Jumpstarter ran the Pre-Accelerator in Ukraine initiative, showcasing technology developed by early-stage Ukrainian teams. Many Ukrainians have fled their homes since Russia invaded, and we see it in our statistics that several teams are in Europe.
Turkiye and Poland rounded up in the top three countries in 2023 edition of the EIT Jumpstarter. You may remember that the Polish teams won out over the top three in three categories: Health, Food, and Manufacturing, plus they took home the Audience Award with the young start-up MindMatch.
More than 50 nations are represented in this year’s first phase of the EIT Jumpstarter; this is possible due to our Terms and Conditions that require one of the team members to be a citizen of an eligible EU country or a Horizon Eligible country.
The EIT Jumpstarter only requires an idea and 45% of teams applied with just that. Other applications are roughly at the same maturity level but have already shown proof of concept, done lab tests, or even tested prototypes.
Applications are the results of projects at universities or other research institutions (180+). Almost the same amount of proposals come from private research done in one’s “garage” (190+).
There are serious applications, though, since half of them have IP protection, and the team invested money into the patenting process.
According to rough calculations, most teams need 6-24 months to implement their ideas. This means that by 2025 600 companies from EIT RIS-eligible countries could hit the market with their deep tech products and solutions.
EIT Jumpstarter online bootcamps start in late May, but only 210 teams will be selected. Stay tuned!
