EU: EIT JumpStarter 2024

What is the EIT Jumpstarter?

The EIT Jumpstarter is an award-winning pre-acceleration programme funded by the European Union. The programme is designed to help scientists, researchers, innovators, and idea holders validate their innovative ideas and develop business skills to create and run their start-ups in innovative industries.

The programme, powered by the EIT Community, focuses on talents coming from the countries located in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, where the overall pace of innovation is moderate or modest / emerging and are, for the most part, eligible for the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme. 

Who are the participants?

The EIT Jumpstarter creates a new European cohort of innovators; curious and eager to find solutions to some of the most pressing global intersectional challenges such as climate change, the energy crisis, access to raw materials, health, well-being and active ageing, sustainable manufacturing or smart and liveable cities. Very often they have the necessary scientific background and research experience, but they lack business skills or have never validated their idea on the market.

During the seven-month-long programme, the participants are equipped with a unique business skill set that is a must for future entrepreneurs, including business modelling and validation of the market need. They also gain best-in-class networking and understand how to turn their innovation from an idea to a marketable product or service and make a potential impact in their respective industry. The EIT Community carefully selects the best candidates to enable quality peer-to-peer learning. The most promising teams will be awarded cash prizes to support their further development. 

The competition is open to all individuals and teams of natural persons – citizens of the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme, Western Balkan economies and Moldova. Natural persons: researchers, master, and Ph.D. students or research groups from universities and research organisations; professionals, idea holders, or idea owners that have an idea / solution that is targeting the scope of one of our categories and wants to start a company.

The newly created company connected to the business idea should hold shares or stocks and be registered during the year 2024 in one of the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme eligible countries and territories: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye, Ukraine, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Martinique, Mayotte and Saint-Martin (France), the Azores and Madeira (Portugal), the Canary Islands (Spain), or in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova. 

What kind of ideas can be submitted?

Participants can submit their ideas in one of the eight categories, powered and mentored by different EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (EIT KICs):

• Health
• Food 
• RawMaterials 
• InnoEnergy 
• Manufacturing 
• Urban Mobility
• New European Bauhaus (NEB)
• Rebuild Ukraine.

Funding terms

Financing is based on teams, no matter if the team is represented by just 1 or 2 members. Team members are sharing their costs and will be reimbursed or paid with a lump sum (depending on the internal processes of the EIT KIC coordinating the category) using eligibility criteria and reporting documents.

There are two forms of funding:

Successful applicants are eligible to receive support for covering their travel, accommodation, and other project development and start-up creation costs in two stages:

• 1. Local Joint Training phase: Selected teams will have a budget of EUR 2,000 to cover their own individual travel and accommodation costs attending the local training as well as to finance other eligible project development activities, for one or two co-founders;
• 2. Grand Final phase: Each of the 48 finalist teams will have a budget of an additional EUR 1,000 to cover their own individual travel and accommodation costs to attend the Grand Final in person by one or two co-founders, as well  as to finance other eligible project development activities.

The submitted project should be grounded in the unique ideas and creations of the applicant. If it incorporates intellectual property (IP) not originally the applicant’s, it's crucial to have clear permissions, like a license agreement or a formal transfer of IP rights from the creator to the applicant. 

Prize is another form of financial support in the programme. The top 3 winners will be selected in each category by the Jury and awarded with financial prizes:

• 1st prize: EUR 10,000;
• 2nd prize: EUR 5,000;
• 3rd prize: EUR 2,500;
• Special prize for the best team coming from Western Balkans: EUR 5,000 (one prize, available to all finalists from Western Balkans regardless of the category).

Please note that Finalists need to register their company and provide the EIT Communities with a registration proof or equivalent document by 31st December 2024 to be eligible for financial prizes at the Grand Final. 

Structure of EIT Jumpstarter

• Phase 1: Submission of ideas and selection to the Online Bootcamps
• Phase 2: Online Bootcamps and learning group coaching
• Phase 3: Online Pitch Day and selection to the Local Joint Trainings
• Phase 4: Local Joint Trainings
• Phase 5: Selection to the EIT Jumpstarter Grand Final
• Phase 6: EIT Jumpstarter Grand Final

Key dates

• Deadline for submitting business ideas: 26th April 2024 at 23:59 CET  
• Selection of ideas and invitation to the Online Bootcamps: 10th May 2024 
• Online Bootcamps will be held online in May-June 2024 (to be defined) 
• Local joint trainings: July-September 2024(to be defined)
• Grand Final: November or December 2024 (to be defined) 

Dates could change, but the project management team will report them appropriately.