Just days before the application of our programme’s 2023 edition closed, with 621 amazing teams showing interest in the EIT Jumpstarter, we received one more excellent piece of news. We got the EIT Label, a quality seal awarded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, a body of the European Union (EIT). It ensures participants that we demonstrate excellence in integration, innovation, and entrepreneurship and confirms that we have the best standards and validated training for future entrepreneurs.
Our mission is to develop excellence in innovation and entrepreneurship education in emerging European regions and to close the innovation gap between mature and moderate innovators. It allows not just talents from the EU members but also associated countries and the EU’s outermost regions to participate.
During the next three years, the programme will train 630 innovative teams and launch 156 technology-based startups focusing on Ukraine and the Western Balkans. This starts now, and we have a tough week of evaluation ahead of us at the time of publishing this article, as we have more than 620 teams for 210 seats.
EIT Jumpstarter and the organising team have been awarded the EIT Label for its high-quality training and mentorship program for early-stage start-up teams, as well as its focus on innovation and entrepreneurship in the areas of health, energy, food, urban mobility, manufacturing, digital, raw materials, and fields of the New European Bauhaus initiative.
“EIT ensures Jumpstarter’s quality and effectiveness. For the last years, we have developed strong partnerships with local stakeholders and supported teams in venture building in regions. This has created job opportunities and widened our programme’s reach. Over 750 teams were trained on how to turn an innovative idea from the lab into a marketable product. EIT Jumpstarter’s work has a positive impact on the region. This is like a gardener planting and nurturing a seed. They tend to the soil, provide essential nutrients, and create the ideal environment for the seed to grow and eventually bear fruit. In this case, the fruit was companies that are now part of a more innovative local ecosystem” – says Marta Kaczmarek, representing the EIT Jumpstarter team and leading EIT Community’s Strategic Regional Innovations cluster.
You can read more about the impact in our latest Impact Report:
In collaboration with local and strategic partners, the EIT Jumpstarter identifies best practices in start-up support, education, and collaboration with key actors on the market. The program provides participants with training, mentorship, networking opportunities, and financial support to help them develop their ideas into successful businesses.
