This year’s 20 EIT Awards nominees stand out for the high percentage of women: 8 finalists (40% of the total, and a 22% increase over last year), and the number of groundbreaking products or services related to climate change (35%) and to digital technologies (22%).
“We are very proud to see that the EIT continues to identify the European entrepreneurs that can compete on the global stage. The number of women in this year’s Awards is also real recognition of the many women who are part of the EIT Community and our efforts to promote women entrepreneurship – it is starting to happen!”, said Peter Olesen, Chairman of the EIT Governing Board.
The highly anticipated annual event shows that there are entrepreneurs across Europe with bold ideas who are ready to bring change and contribute to increasing innovation and economic growth in Europe.
“The EIT supports the new generation of European innovators turning their entrepreneurial ideas into new products and services that improve the lives of citizens, address challenges and create jobs. INNOVEIT and the EIT Awards celebrate the achievements of our talented students, researchers and entrepreneurs in Europe and demonstrate that the EIT delivers on its objectives”, said Martin Kern, EIT Interim Director.
This year, INNOVEIT will focus on the future of innovation in Europe, and features a line-up of European champions of innovation and entrepreneurship, such as Nora Khaldi, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Nuritas, and Lise Honsinger, Chief Commercial Officer of Skipping Rocks Lab.
The discussion panels and workshops will include high-level EU representatives and policymakers committed to boosting successful entrepreneurship and innovation, such as the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Tibor Navracsics; Member of the European Parliament Paul Rübig; and Fatime Barbara Hegyi, from the Joint Research Centre, among many others.
You can follow some of the sessions of INNOVEIT, including the EIT Awards pitching and ceremony, here: https://eit.europa.eu/….
The EIT is an independent EU body set up to boost innovation and entrepreneurship across Europe. The EIT Community brings together leading companies, universities and research labs to form dynamic cross-border partnerships – Innovation Communities – that develop innovative products and services, start new companies, and train a new generation of entrepreneurs. We are active in the areas of climate (EIT Climate-KIC), digitisation (EIT Digital), energy (EIT InnoEnergy), health (EIT Health), raw materials (EIT RawMaterials) and food (EIT Food). Next year, two new Innovation Communities will join us in the areas of urban mobility and added value manufacturing.
The EIT Community powers entrepreneurs across Europe to turn their best ideas into products, services and jobs. To date, it has supported the creation of more than 300 innovative start-ups and more than 400 new products and services. More than 1,200 students have graduated from EIT entrepreneurial education programmes. EIT-supported start-ups and scale-ups have raised more than EUR 600 million in external capital and created more than 6,000 jobs.
For more information visit: innoveit.eu.
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