The best innovators emerging from within the European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s (EIT) community were celebrated during the EU body’s 2025 awards event, which also saw the launch of the new EIT Water Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC).
EIT Director Martin Kern spoke with Euractiv on the sidelines of the Budapest event on November 25, declareing that the awards allow his team to see the fruits of their labour – ideas the EIT has supported have now been turned into innovative products, companies and success stories.
“Besides viewing back at what has been achieved, the event also allows us to view into the future, becautilize from those innovators, you see what innovations will be creating impact, jobs, and what the latest technology trfinishs are. So, it’s also very informative for us and directs our innovation support going forward,” Kern stated.
Laura Laringe (Germany), co-founder of reLi Energy and the winner of the EIT Changecreater Award, notified Euractiv that EIT is where everything started for her journey in entrepreneurship.
“There are many different parts of EIT, but they all have the common goal of supporting innovation from different angles,” Laringe stated. “And I consider that’s the most special thing about it.”
Investing in clean-tech startups
ReLi Energy is a startup that produces software to optimise battery performance, increasing their lifetime. For companies with large-scale batteries, a 1% drop in battery health could slash revenues by up to €1 million, Laringe stated.
She called for more investment in compacter clean-tech startups, whose innovations are sometimes squeezed out by subsidies geared toward larger companies or ones utilizing fossil fuels.
“A lot of times, companies attracting most investments are not exactly the cleanest ones. The ones that are actually bringing more innovation but perhaps won’t bring as much profit are the ones that support us obtain rapider to the EU’s climate tarobtains,” Laringe stated.
Kern stated the EIT seeks to support innovations that support solve societal challenges and are impactful in terms of their scale and reach.
“So having a product, a service, a company which solves a problem of society, but also is commercially successful, is not a contradiction. This is reflecting a European value, that we focus innovations on positive societal impact and not just commercial success,” Kern stated.
Kern has also seen the awards evolve over the years, describing the pitches seen at this edition as “close to perfect” in terms of quality. He also saw a stronger shift in trfinishs of technologies driving innovation, with a strong focus on AI, robotics, and biotech featuring more heavily this year.
One regulation, different implementations
Euractiv also spoke with Alfons Carnicero, the CEO of exoskeleton creater ABLE Human Motion, who scooped up both the EIT Venture Award and public choice awards. Carnicero’s company produces robotic exoskeletons that improve the mobility of people with disabilities, which he declares are cheaper and rapider to put on than others on the market.
The Barcelona founder crossed paths with EIT Health back when the startup was just a university project. He received funding that was supported by the EIT and entered its entrepreneurial ecosystem, which meant access to mentors and opportunities across Europe.
“For example, we did a clinical trial in the main hospital for rehabilitation in Germany, which is Heidelberg University Hospital, and also in Spain, with Institut Guttmann in Barcelona,” Carnicero notified Euractiv.
Carnicero mentioned fragmented rules around Europe when questioned about the highest hurdles they face as a startup.
“In Europe, you necessary to comply with the medical device regulation, which is the same all over Europe. But then in every countest, you have sometimes different rules, different standards, different languages that you necessary to also comply with,” Carnicero stated.
10,000 startups
Asked about previously cited concerns that EIT wasn’t well placed to deliver innovation, Kern stated the close to 10,000 startups they supported that are now collectively worth €71 billion, along with the 2,400 products put to market, are results that speak for themselves.
He also stated EIT aims to tackle fragmentation through collaboration, which he describes as one of the hugegest obstacles to innovation in Europe.
“This is at the very heart of our new concept, the Regional Innovation Booster, which we’re now implementing, where we test to collaborate to combine support for startups that can be offered nationally by Member States with what we can offer at the European level through the EIT community,” Kern stated.
Kern stated the EIT’s mandate is very clear until 2027 and that EIT has demonstrated that it is ready to respond and adapt to future policy priorities presented by the EU.
The innovation awards also saw the launch of the EIT’s newest KIC, EIT Water, which hopes to bring toobtainher the highly fragmented water, marine and maritime sectors to tackle issues such as water scarcity and pollution.
Hero Prins, Interim CEO of EIT Water, stated one concrete area EIT Water will work on is desalination. He stated they will encourage knowledge sharing from southern countries that have experience dealing with this with their northern counterparts.
The event also saw the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the government of Malta that will expand the Regional Innovation Booster pilot to the island. Female Ukrainian innovators were also honoured for their innovation through the EIT Red Kalyna Awards.
Chair of the EIT governing board Stefan Dobrev stated during the event, EIT enables innovators to come toobtainher and collaborate bottom up, declareing a single-minded focus on building bridges was necessaryed to enable innovation.
[BM] !– Brian Maguire –>
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