The EIT Community Hub in Hungary officially opened its doors today in Budapest, bringing together four Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) under one roof. The EIT Community Hub will intensify knowledge sharing, business creation and acceleration and innovation partnerships in healthcare, climate, urban mobility and raw materials to support more entrepreneurs and SMEs across Central and Eastern Europe.
The EIT was created by the European Union to boost Europe’s ability to innovate by bringing together business, education and research to find cutting-edge solutions to pressing global challenges. It has become Europe’s largest innovation ecosystem, and in recent years its activities have played an important role in developing Hungary’s innovation ecosystem, including channelling over EUR 40 million of funding and supporting over 100 promising local start-ups. EIT Community-supported ventures have gone on to attract a further EUR 2.4 million of investments to Hungary.
‘The EIT Community Hub in Hungary exemplifies the EIT’s unique innovation model with the close cooperation of four Innovation Communities supporting innovators at all stages of their journey. Collaboration makes us stronger: students and entrepreneurs with innovative ideas will benefit from this new Hub and I look forward to seeing the results and more ground-breaking innovations emerging from Central and Eastern Europe’ – said EIT Director Martin Kern.
The EIT Community Hub in Hungary, located in Budapest’s Infopark, will house 50 highly skilled innovation specialists representing four EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities:
- EIT Health, the largest healthcare innovation network in Europe.
- EIT Climate-KIC, working on innovative solutions to battle climate change.
- EIT Raw Materials, developing raw materials into a major strength for Europe.
- EIT Urban Mobility, researching solutions for smart, green and integrated transport.
The EIT Community Hub is coordinated by EIT Health, which has also made Budapest its regional headquarters in the Central, Eastern and Southern European region – known as ‘InnoStars’. Its key regional activities include recognised start-up competitions such as EIT Jumpstarter and the InnoStars Awards.
‘Hungary is like a goldmine of talents and early-stage start-ups with innovative ideas. Again and again we find rising stars with prospects to expand internationally. In this phase, no matter which industry they work in, they have similar challenges: pricing strategy, a sustainable business model, a well-balanced team, and networking. We are there to help. With four innovation communities working together, we are able to better address start-ups’ needs and move teams to another level where they are ready to catch investors’ interest and be able to conquer the market. This is the first EIT Community Hub in the CEE, which indicates the strategic importance of the region’ – underlined Balázs Zoltán Fürjes, EIT Health InnoStars Director.
Some 40 organisations are partnering with the EIT Community Hub in Hungary, including top companies, universities and research centres in Hungary such as Semmelweis University, the University of Debrecen, MOL, GE Healthcare, Ericsson and Nokia, among others.
About the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (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 and EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities, working with leading companies, research labs and universities. Together with 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.
About EIT Climate-KIC
EIT Climate-KIC is the EU’s climate innovation initiative, working to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon and resilient world by enabling systems transformation. Headquartered in Amsterdam, it operates from 13 hubs across Europe and is active in 39 countries. EIT Climate-KIC was established in 2010 and is predominately funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. As a Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC), it brings together more than 400 partners from business, academia, the public and non-profit sectors to create networks of expertise, through which innovative products, services and systems are developed, brought to market and scaled up for impact. Find out more at: www.climate-kic.org
About EIT Health
EIT Health is a network of best-in-class health innovators with approximately 150 partners, supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). We collaborate across borders to deliver new solutions that can enable European citizens to live longer, healthier lives. As Europeans tackle the challenge of increasing chronic disease and multi-morbidity, and seek to realise the opportunities that technology offers to move beyond conventional approaches to treatment, prevention and healthy lifestyles, we need thought leaders, innovators and efficient ways to bring innovative healthcare solutions to market. EIT Health addresses these needs. We connect all relevant healthcare players across European borders – making sure to include all sides of the “knowledge triangle” so that innovation can happen at the intersection of research, education and business for the benefit of citizens. Find out more at: www.eithealth.eu
About EIT Raw Materials
EIT Raw Materials is developing raw materials into a major strength for Europe. Minerals, metals and advanced materials are key enablers to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal. Our ambition is to secure sustainable raw materials supply by driving innovation, education and entrepreneurship along the value chain. We create a collaborative environment for breakthrough innovations by connecting business with academia, research and investment. We are strengthening Europe’s industrial competitiveness, innovation capacity and human capital base. Our company is committed to supporting Europe’s transition to a circular, green and digital economy whilst strengthening its global competitiveness. On these foundations, EIT Raw Materials has been mandated by the European Commission to lead and manage the European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA). Find out more at: www.eitrawmaterials.eu
About EIT Urban Mobility
EIT Urban Mobility aims to accelerate solutions and the transition towards a user-centric, integrated and truly multimodal transport system. As the leading European innovation community for urban mobility, EIT Urban Mobility works to avoid fragmentation by facilitating collaboration between cities, industry, academia, research and innovation to solve the most pressing mobility challenges of cities. Using cities as living labs, its industry, research and university partners will demonstrate how new technologies can work to solve real problems in real cities by transporting people, goods and waste in smarter ways. Find out more at: www.eiturbanmobility.eu
More information:
Marta Kaczmarek, Communications Lead, EIT Health InnoStars, marta.kaczmarek@eithealth.eu +48 692 821 598
Monika Varga, Senior PR Manager, Weber Shandwick Hungary, monika.varga@wshungary.hu +36 30 488 11 30
