The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is proud to announce the winners of its prestigious innovation prize, the EIT Awards.

Chaitanya Dhumasker, MonitorFish (Germany), Andreu Martínez Climent, ACORYS (Spain), Filippo Bosco, BluSense Diagnostics (Denmark), Cristina Aleixendri Muñoz, Bound4Blue (Spain), and Karthik Laxman Kunjali, Stockholm Water Technology (Sweden) were awarded the top prize out of 26 finalists, for innovations in the fields of climate, health, manufacturing and innovative energy.

In a virtual celebration of innovation, showcasing the achievements of successful graduates, entrepreneurs and innovators supported by the EIT Community, the EIT Awards 2020 winners were chosen by an international jury from 26 nominees competing in four categories. The public also had its say with the EIT Public Award that saw over 5 000 votes being cast online. Recognising excellence in innovation, the nominees showcased their cutting-edge products and services accelerating Europe’s transition to a greener, healthier, and more digital future. 

It is clear that innovation will play a key role in Europe’s recovery. The many bright minds and their technologies on show today further demonstrate that the EIT’s unique approach to innovation is powering a new generation of entrepreneurs and services for Europe. My congratulations to all the finalists, and, in particular, the 2020 EIT Award winners!

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

The EIT Awards highlight the entire innovation pipeline powered by the EIT, from student to entrepreneur, from lab to market, and from idea to solutions for Europe. 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, digitisation, food, health, manufacturing, urban mobility, and raw materials. 

This year’s EIT Awards not only recognise the impressive achievements of Europe’s brightest innovators and entrepreneurs, but also their resilience during these exceptional times. With cutting-edge innovations in a variety of fields, from health to climate and food to digitisation, the 2020 nominees embody solutions to the many challenges currently facing Europe. This is why at the EIT, we will keep doing what we do best: powering, connecting and mobilising innovators, entrepreneurs and organisations to transform their ideas into ground-breaking technologies, for the benefit of us all.

Gioia Ghezzi, Chair of the EIT Governing Board

EIT RawMaterials Community winners of the EIT Awards 2020

The EIT Awards celebrates the leading entrepreneurial talent including women innovators, start-ups, scale-ups, and innovative projects that Europe has to offer. Winners of the EIT CHANGE Award, the EIT Innovators Award, the EIT Venture Award, and the EIT Woman Award are awarded EUR 50 000, runners up receive EUR 20 000 and third prize EUR 10 000.  

Congratulations to María José Jurado and Arpit Singh Parmar on taking the third place in the EIT Innovators and EIT CHANGE Awards 2020! This is a great achievement and recognition for our Innovation Community.

Thanks to our EIT Awards Nominees Manuela Brotto, EIT Woman Award Nominee, and Frank Jackel, EIT Venture Award Nominee, for your hard work and representing our community and the innovation potential of the raw materials sector!

EIT Innovators Award 2020 winners

María José Jurado, staff Researcher Spanish National Research Council CSIC, takes the third place in the EIT Innovators Award category! This award highlights teams and individuals that have developed high-impact products and services.

Congratulations to Maria working on the INNOLOG innovation project that aims to transfer sensor technologies used in labs and surface exploration to subsurface exploration. The solution will lead to an increase in resource efficiency and environmental impact.

EIT CHANGE Award 2020 winners

The third place in the EIT CHANGE Award goes to Arpit Singh Parmar, Project Manager at METHEORE and a graduate of the EMerald Master in Georesources Engineering, EIT-labelled programme. This award recognises top graduates from EIT education programmes. 

Arpit works on a LaserSieve, a non-intrusive and non-disruptive online 3D solution that measures the throughput, size and shape of materials operating in harsh industrial environments. METHEORE solution enhances the occupational safety standards of the workplace by reducing human exposure to high dust environment and hazards.

EIT Community Award winners

EIT Innovators Award: 1. Andreu Martínez Climent, Corify Care supported by EIT Health (ES) with ACORYS innovation project partners: SERMAS (ES), Universitat Politècnica de València (ES), University of Oxford (UK), ATOS (FR), FIBMED (DE), and GENESIS Biomed (ES); 2. Serena Dorrestijn, SARA supported by EIT Digital (NL) with innovation project partners: Bright Cape (NL), TU Berlin (DE), Forum Virium(FI) and GIM (FI); and 3. Maria Jose Jurado, INNOLOG supported by EIT RawMaterials (ES) with innovation project partners: Spanish National Research Council (ES) General Council of the Catalan Chambers of Commerce (ES), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IT), Geological Survey of Slovenia (SI), GeoZS (SI), Geological Survey of Sweden (SE), Magnesitas Navarras S.A. (ES), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ES) and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES). 

EIT CHANGE Award: 1. Chaitanya Dhumasker, MonitorFish supported by EIT Climate-KIC (DE); 2. Martin Boutiere, Nutr’Avenir supported by EIT Health (FR); and 3. Arpit Singh Parmar, Metheore supported by EIT RawMaterials (BE). 

EIT Venture Award: 1. Filippo Bosco, BluSense Diagnostics supported by EIT Manufacturing (DK); 2. Karthik Laman Kunjali, Stockholm Water Technology supported by EIT InnoEnergy (SE); and 3. Brijdeep Sahi, SwissDeCode supported by EIT Food (CH). 

EIT Woman Award: 1. Cristina Aleixendri Muñoz, bound4blue supported by EIT Climate-KIC (ES); 2. Dorine Duives, CityFlows supported by EIT Urban Mobility (NL); and 3. Maria McKavanagh, Verv Technology supported by EIT InnoEnergy (UK).   

EIT Public Award: 1. Karthik Laxman Kunjali, Stockholm Water Technology supported by EIT InnoEnergy (SE); 2. Chaitanya Dhumasker (MonitorFish) supported by EIT Climate-KIC (DE); and 3. Andreu Martinez Climent, Corify Care supported by EIT Health (ES). 

The EIT Awards celebrates the leading entrepreneurial talent including women innovators, start-ups, scale-ups, and innovative projects that Europe has to offer. Winners of the EIT CHANGE Award, the EIT Innovators Award, the EIT Venture Award, and the EIT Woman Award are awarded EUR 50 000, runners up receive EUR 20 000 and third prize EUR 10 000.  

Tune into the LIVE Press Conference with the 2020 EIT Award Winners at 17:15 CET here.