Rising start-ups triumph at the EIT Jumpstarter Grand Final

The EIT Jumpstarter, the pre-acceleration programme backed by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, has named the seven highest-promising start-ups in the field of health, food, raw materials, energy, urban mobility, manufacturing and New European Bauhaus. A solution for paralysed patients to communicate independently (BirgerMind, EIT Health), an innovation that aggregates the battery capacity of parked electric vehicles to intelligently manage energy (Mjolnir Energy, EIT InnoEnergy) or a project that uses larvae of flies to convert food waste into protein-rich animal food (BioConvert, New European Bauhaus) were among the winners.

EIT Jumpstarter, the talent scout programme for high-potential early-stage teams has chosen these seven solutions to be the winners in 2021, at the Grand Final, held on Wednesday. The goal of the programme is to help young innovators from those EU regions^[1], which are moderate in terms of innovations^[2], to turn their scientific ideas and discoveries into successful businesses. Winners were chosen in seven categories: health, food, raw materials, energy, urban mobility, manufacturing and New European Bauhaus (focused on sustainable and inclusive living spaces). Other first prize awarded solutions are: a test that screens simultaneously 80 antibiotic residues (FlowForLife, EIT Food), a start-up that aims to become the leading supplier of the cleanest nanoparticles in the EU (Nano-Pure-Precision, EIT Raw Materials), an innovation that generates optimal robot programs automatically (RoboTwin, EIT Manufacturing) or a network of high-end (e-)bike parking facilities, with a focus on safety (T-Park, EIT Urban Mobility).

This has been a truly unique year in the life of EIT Jumpstarter, which celebrates its fifth edition: not only did we welcome participants from new regions but a new category, New European Bauhaus, has been added to the programme. These developments have made this highly competitive programme even richer. The fact that a record number of applications was received this year is proof that EIT Jumpstarter is a reference point for many. This gives us tremendous motivation to continue our work with even more impetus to boost innovation on Progressing European regions –said Dora Marosvolgyi, Cross-KIC Strategic Regional Innovations Director at EIT Health InnoStars.

Since 2017 the programme has trained 570 start-ups. Only this year, the organisers received 548 applications, while 42 received a chance to pitch in front of the jury of experts and compete for financial prizes – the best teams in each category won €10,000 – and access to the EIT Communities network. Innovators have learnt the essentials of building a viable business model, the programme’s mentors gave them invaluable insights and helped them validate their business models. Thanks to close collaboration with EIT communities the EIT Jumpstarter has become one of the key pre-acceleration instruments to transfer innovative ideas from labs to the market.

Winners of the 2021 EIT Jumpstarter

EIT Health

1st prize – BirgerMind (Latvia)

2nd prize – GOTEch Antimicrobial (Portugal)

3rd prize – Synflora (Spain)

EIT Food

1st prize – FlowForLife (Italy)

2nd prize – SAFE Pack (Portugal)

3rd prize – Alghètica (Italy)

EIT Raw Materials

1st prize – Nano-Pure-Precision (Czech Republic)

2nd prize – Smart Components (Latvia)

3rd prize – CynaraMulch (Portugal)

EIT InnoEnergy

1st prize – Mjolnir Energy (Spain)

2nd prize – CO2offset (Portugal)

3rd prize – Energy Shift (Cyprus)

EIT Manufacturing

1st prize – RoboTwin (Czech Republic)

2nd prize – Surfvis.ai (Turkey)

3rd prize – ElastoBrain (Italy)

EIT Urban Mobility

1st prize – T-Park (Spain)

2nd prize – NeWay (Serbia)

3rd prize – RoToLo (Malta)

New European Bauhaus

1st prize – BioConvert (Slovakia)

2nd prize – SUSTHEALTH (Italy)

3rd prize – Algreen (Poland)

Special X-KIC Prize

Winner – CynaraMulch (Portugal)