EIT Community Booster is looking for European startups and scaleups developing high-impact solutions fostering the New European Bauhaus transformation to accelerate their growth. The 20 best companies will receive business growth support worth a total of EUR 1 million.
Entrepreneurs are the drivers of change. On a mission to create sustainable and inclusive Europe, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and five of its Knowledge & Innovation Communities are launching a joint initiative to support innovative ventures and teams enabling the New European Bauhaus transformation.
The initiative is called the EIT Community Booster and is coordinated by EIT Digital and includes EIT Climate-KIC, EIT Food, EIT Manufacturing, and EIT Urban Mobility. Together they are looking for the most innovative startups and scaleups driving sustainable change for cities, industries, climate, food, wellbeing and overall quality of life to support their business growth and help them become international gamechangers.
Twenty selected-companies will join the initiative and receive business growth support worth EUR 50,000. The support will be provided in the form of grants and services designed to help companies accelerate their business to the next level.
Launched by the European Commission, the New European Bauhaus translates the European Green Deal into a tangible, positive experience in which all Europeans can participate and progress together. With this in mind, the EIT Community Booster is set to identify and support the startups and scaleups integrating the three core dimensions of the New European Bauhaus:
- sustainability, from climate goals, to circularity, zero pollution, and biodiversity
- aesthetics, quality of experience and style, beyond functionality
- inclusion, from valorising diversity, to securing accessibility and affordability
The initiative’s approach is multi-level from global to local, participatory and transdisciplinary.
Gioia Ghezzi, Chair of the EIT Governing Board: ‘The EIT Community contributes to all aspects of the New European Bauhaus and has the ecosystem in place to find exciting ideas and start-ups from across Europe. We can’t wait to discover and scale the creative and innovative solutions that will help reimagine sustainable living and make living spaces more beautiful and affordable!’
Leveraging the vast network and know-how of the most prominent European innovation ecosystem, the EIT Community, the new initiative combines the best business growth programmes offered by EIT Digital, EIT Climate-KIC, EIT Food, EIT Manufacturing and EIT Urban Mobility.
From first business coaching to advanced access to finance and internationalisation support, each of the following five programmes offers a comprehensive package of services to help ventures of different levels of maturity boost their business growth, raise funding and scale up internationally. Depending on the field of interest and expertise, entrepreneurs are invited to apply to one or more of the programmes within the EIT Community Booster and their dedicated track for the New European Bauhaus:
- EIT Digital Accelerator: for scaleups leveraging the power of digital transformation to create innovative solutions and products across industries, cities and communities integrating circularity, inclusion and aesthetics in order to foster green, safe and sustainable future.
- The Clean Cities ClimAccelerator: for startups developing innovative projects for the renewable energy industry, mobility, green spaces and retrofitting, contributing to more sustainable, healthy and clean cities, and thus improving citizens’ quality of life and experience.
- EIT Food Accelerator Network: for agri-food startups making a big impact on any part of the agriculture or food supply chain, thus committed to building a healthier, more trusted and sustainable food system for local and global communities.
- EIT Manufacturing Accelerator: for startups enabling green and socially sustainable manufacturing, fostering long term, life cycle and integrated thinking in the industrial ecosystem.
- EIT Urban Mobility Accelerator: for startups developing sustainable alternatives for hardscapes as urban spaces, biodiversity, enhancing public realm and accessibility to improve citizens wellbeing and/or ensuring universal mobility for everyone as a key enabler for social inclusion.
How to apply
The deadline for applications is December 17, 23:59 CET. For further information on each programme, selection criteria and prizes please visit the initiative’s webpage.
