Berlin, 27. March 2024. EIT RawMaterials announced the launch of its latest Booster Call, inviting start-ups, scale-ups, and SMEs in the raw materials sector to apply. The Booster Call is designed to direct strategic investments into innovative business cases in areas critical to Europe’s raw materials security and resilience, allowing the business to accelerate its development and deployment of groundbreaking solutions.

The Booster Call will run in 4 phases in 2024 and 2025, with EIT RawMaterials investing up to €500,000 in each selected business case and providing strategic and financial support to accelerate the growth of these businesses. The EIT RawMaterials Booster Call has been conducted  9 times since its initiation in 2016. Over 1,000 startups have applied, and over 300 have received support to propel their innovations to breakthroughs

Speaking on the launch of the new Booster Call, Bernd Schafer, CEO and Managing Director, EIT RawMaterials said: “The European raw materials industry is entering a transformative period, driven forward by the Critical Raw Materials Act, which sets the stage for a new era of growth for our sector. Building on this momentum, the EIT RawMaterials Booster Call is a key instrument to propel start-ups forward and to scale up their innovative ideas and technologies. With our increased investment capacity of up to €500,000 per case, we are excited to turbo-charge the European start-up ecosystem in the raw materials arena."

Applications are invited in three categories

• Responsible Sourcing: Innovating mineral exploration and processing for Europe’s green future.
• Sustainable Materials: Using and recycling sustainable raw materials for green mobility and energy.
• Circular Society: Facilitating the transition to a circular economy for economic growth and carbon neutrality.

Who can apply?

Start-ups, scale-ups, and SMEs who:

• Are a registered legal entity in an EU member country or countries associated with Horizon Europe;
• Have a solution relevant to one of the raw materials’ innovation themes;
• Have a strong founding/management team dedicated 100% to the company for the next 5+ years;
• Have a customer-validated product/service at minimum TRL4 with a proven market need;
• Have an average time to market and revenues of 2-3 years;
• Address a sizable/scalable market with high growth potential;
• Are in search of additional value-added services and financing advisory services support;
• Are looking for an equity partner.

Additional criteria can be found on the Booster Call Website

Key dates

EIT RawMaterials will invite applications in phases over 2024 and 2025, with the first phase now live and closing on 27 May 2024.

• For more information, visit the Booster Call Website
• To apply, visit the Booster Call Application Website
• For information about our start–up success stories, click here.

Find the full press release here