The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is pleased to announce the nominees for the 2022 EIT Awards.

In the competition’s ninth year, the EIT Community is celebrating 27 outstanding innovators from 15 countries for their innovative products and services accelerating the transition to a more sustainable future. 

The EIT Awards recognise the most promising entrepreneurs and innovators emerging from the EIT’s ecosystem across Europe: from student to entrepreneur, from lab to market, and from idea to solutions. This dynamic innovation approach creates a unique environment where nominees develop and scale innovative solutions to tackle pressing global challenges in the fields of climate, energy, digitalisation, food, health, manufacturing, mobility and raw materials. 

The 2022 EIT Award nominees demonstrate the diversity of EIT’s pan-European innovation ecosystem with the following countries being represented: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The full list of nominees and their innovations can be found here.

The talent pool and scale of innovations in Europe are rapidly expanding. The nominees for this year’s EIT Awards are a testament to the work the EIT and its Innovation Communities do across our continent to support, invest, and nurture the innovators of tomorrow. I congratulate the nominees for being recognised at this high level and I look forward to the Awards Ceremony in October.

Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth

The 2022 EIT Award Ceremony will be held during the EIT Summit on 11 October 2022 in Brussels, Belgium as part of the EIT’s flagship event series, INNOVEIT WEEKS. The 27 nominees will compete beforehand in an online semi-final on 29 September with 12 finalists advancing to the public awards ceremony. 

The EIT Awards showcase the innovators who are the heart of the EIT Community – they remind us of the strength and unity of our ecosystem, a message that rings true in these difficult time for Europe. This year’s innovations tackle some of the most pressing global issues: climate change, mental and physical health, waste reduction and many more. I, like many others, look forward to seeing the nominees pitch their idea and to meet the faces behind these game-changing innovations.

Gioia Ghezzi, Chair of the EIT Governing Board

The nominees will compete in the following four categories that represent the driving dynamics of entrepreneurship in Europe: 

  • EIT CHANGE Award, recognising top graduates from EIT entrepreneurial education programmes 
  • EIT Innovators Award, highlighting teams and individuals that have developed high-impact products and services
  • EIT Venture Award, showcasing start-ups and scale-ups that have benefited from business acceleration and creation support by the EIT Community
  • EIT Women Leadership Award, putting the spotlight on exceptional women in the EIT Community

Each award comes with a monetary prize of EUR 50 000 (first place), EUR 20 000 (second place), and EUR 10 000 (third place). The public will also be able to have its say with the fifth category, the EIT Public Award, giving everyone a chance to vote for their top innovation. Online voting will commence on 29 September at eitawards.eu.

EIT – Making Innovation Happen

The EIT strengthens Europe’s ability to innovate by powering solutions to pressing global challenges and by nurturing entrepreneurial talent to create sustainable growth and skilled jobs in Europe. The EIT is an EU body and an integral part of Horizon Europe, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. The Institute supports dynamic pan-European partnerships, EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities, among leading companies, research labs and universities. Together with their leading partners, the EIT Community offers a wide range of innovation and entrepreneurship activities across Europe: entrepreneurial education courses, business creation and acceleration services and innovation-driven research projects. 

The EIT is Europe’s largest innovation ecosystem bringing together close to 3 000 partners from top business, research and education organisations across Europe in 60+ innovation hubs across Europe. The EIT has powered more than 3 800 start-ups and scale-ups and created more than 1 400 new products and services that have gone to raise more than EUR 3.9 billion in external capital. More than 3 800 students have graduated from EIT labelled master and doctoral programmes and over 100 000 have participated in EIT Community entrepreneurial trainings. 

Join us for INNOVEIT weeks

The 2022 EIT Award Ceremony will be held during the EIT Summit on 11 October 2022 in Brussels, Belgium as part of the EIT’s flagship event series, INNOVEIT WEEKS. As Europe’s largest innovation event of the year, INNOVEIT WEEKS will put the EIT on full display, with 12 policy-led events spread across Europe. From Stockholm over Paris to Lisbon and Athens, INNOVEIT WEEKS will feature top industry players, EIT- supported entrepreneurs and innovators, policy-makers, students and more! Join us for INNOVEIT WEEKS coming to a city near you! For more information please visit: innoveit.eu 

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