EIT Jumpstarter 2023 (register before 16 April 2023)
Do you have an innovative idea and want to jumpstart your business? - You will compete for the whopping first prize of up to €10,000 in nine categories.
EIT Jumpstarter helps innovators and entrepreneurs build a viable business model around their innovative product or service idea and validate it. The program has trained more than 750 Teams since 2017, and interest in our competition is growing. In 2019 EIT Jumpstarter won the Best Association Training Initiative Award of the European Association Awards.
For whom?
Are you part of a scientific project team, innovator, scientist, PhD student or master’s student with a product or service idea to disrupt the existing markets in healthcare, agri-food, raw materials, energy, urban mobility or manufacturing sectors? Do you want to bring your idea out of the lab to the market? Then EIT Jumpstarter is ideal for you.
While the aim of this program is to create a sustainable impact in the Central-Eastern and Southern-European Regions by boosting innovation and entrepreneurship within this part of Europe (RIS countries) this does not mean that Teams from Finland can not join the challenge. If you have one team member from one of the below listed RIS country (country of origin) your team is eligible to participate in Jumpstarter!
What do I get?
During the 8 months-long programme, you will find and validate the best business model for your innovative idea. The courses build on the lean start-up methodology from Silicon Valley translated to the European Environment. You will learn about: how to refine your deal, market segmentation, customer value proposition, market segmentation, financials, investment basics, legal basics
You will receive travel and accommodation support during the program, and the best teams in each category will have the chance to win a €10,000 money prize.
Graduates of the program possess the skills and knowledge to launch their companies. As part of the alumni community, they receive further support and dedicated advice from the EIT Communities regarding the next stage of their start-up journey. We introduce teams to partners, VCs, regulatory bodies and companies that can produce their products, their first buyer or a test site. They meet major innovation hubs in Europe, which is essential when they want to enter foreign markets.
Timeline:
- Deadline for submitting business ideas: 16 April
- Selection of ideas and invitation to the bootcamps: May
- Bootcamps will be held online in May-June
- Local joint training: July-September
- Grand Final: late November
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To prepare your answers, please make use of an offline copy of the application. You can request it from ingrid.schembri@aalto.fi
Remember to submit the final version of your Jumpstarter application online!
Having citizenship in one of the countries or territories: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, Türkiye, Ukraine, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Martinique, Mayotte and Saint-Martin (France), the Azores and Madeira (Portugal), and the Canary Islands (Spain).
- in EIT Health: New models to deliver healthcare; Facilitating the uptake of digital medical devices in Europe; Harnessing the full potential of health data for innovation; Supporting the deployment of Important Project of Common European Interest in Health (IPCEI) to address market failures.
- in EIT RawMaterials: The challenge for the EIT RawMaterials Innovation Community is to fully utilize the potential of the European industry and to revitalize the human capital in the raw materials sector. This will be achieved by three strategic objectives that are Sustainable Materials, Circular Societies and Responsible Sourcing.
- in EIT Food: optimizing resource efficiency and environmental sustainability of agriculture supply, primary production, processing, storing, packaging, logistics/distribution, retail, consumer research, nutrition monitoring and food service; developing nutritionally-customized food products, addressing unmet needs and generating consumer relevant functionalities; building trust in the food system, securing traceability and auditability of food quality, safety and authenticity, combining digital and sensor technologies to acquire and transmit information through the food value chain. In general – development of solutions that will put new products on the market, introduce new and improved commercial processes and services, and achieve: Healthier Lives Through Food, A Net Zero Food System, A Fully Transparent, Fair and Resilient Food System.
- in EIT InnoEnergy: energy costs reduction, system performance increase and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions decrease, circular economy (particularly in the context of energy usage), green hydrogen, energy management systems and energy storage. It doesn’t exclude any other innovative approaches that base on sustainable energy generation, storage or usage.
- in EIT Manufacturing: Flexible Production Systems for Competitive Manufacturing, Low Environmental Footprint Systems & Circular Economy for Green Manufacturing, Digital & Collaborative Solutions for Innovative Manufacturing Ecosystems and Human-machine co- working for socially sustainable manufacturing.
- in EIT Urban Mobility: Active Mobility, Sustainable City Logistics, Future Mobility, Mobility and Energy, and Public Realm, are the main focus areas. This is not a closed list, any idea/solution solving city challenges are welcome.
- in EIT Digital: research-based digital technologies (deep tech) for digital solutions especially in the fields of fintech, edutech, insurtech and cyber security. This is not a closed list, any further idea around digital as enabler not fitting the other thematic categories is welcome.
- in Rebuild Ukraine: expecting ideas from all thematic fields which participate in the EIT Jumpstarter program (Health, Food, RawMaterials, Manufacturing, Digital, Urban Mobility, Innoenergy, New European Bauhaus). Applicants must be Ukrainian citizens who either habitually reside in Ukraine, or if they are habitually not residing in Ukraine, they are willing to commit to incorporate their future company in Ukraine7. The aim of the category is to provide special support to Ukrainian innovators in their start-up development and prevent brain drain from the country.
- in New European Bauhaus: Selected ideas should propose innovative solutions that contribute to developing beautiful, sustainable and inclusive places, products and ways of living. In their proposals, applicants should pay particular attention to at least one of the three dimensions of the New European Bauhaus (NEB):
- Sustainability: e.g.: garden ecosystem conservation, waste management, heat waves mitigation, exploiting the farming potential of block facades, decreasing CO2 level, preserving biodiversity, mitigate climate change, fostering circularity
- Aesthetics: when functionality and style/art go together, e.g.: promotion of local culture and music, creative services suited to researchers and scientists, bring and feel nature indoors, make healthy eating visually attractive, transform public buildings and spaces more sustainable
- Inclusion: securing accessibility and affordability to all, e.g.: collaborative food growing, diversifying neighborhoods, wellbeing of users in buildings, connecting seniors/pensioners, cross generation exchange
- (Other examples of thematic fitting the NEB category: healthy and inclusive neighborhoods, accessible living spaces, alternative building methods that respect the environment and the surrounding culture, innovative solutions in construction, materials, structures, design and production methods, smart infrastructure solutions, circular and sustainable design and architecture.)
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