The EIT and the EIF join forces to promote European innovation in green and digital transformation. The institutes signed a Memorandum of Understanding to specifically support EU innovators, SMEs, and entrepreneurs. EIT Director Martin Kern shares with us what this means for startups.
Photo: Martin Kern / Image Credits: Erik Luntang / EIT
Promoting innovation in Europe – this is the common goal of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and European Investment Fund (EIF), which has recently been consolidated through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This establishes a framework for cooperation and exchange of information on funding and innovation opportunities in areas such as equity investments for European SMEs and startups, and in key European sectors such as climate, energy and environmental technologies, strategic digital and deep technologies, education, and skills, health, and life sciences.
“The recently signed MoU between the EIT and the EIF is the natural continuation of an already established and successful cooperation between the two organisations”, says Martin Kern, EIT Director, upon receiving our questions, “the EIF has also been working with the EIT’s Knowledge and Innovation Communities since 2019, collaborating with EIT Health, EIT Digital and soon with EIT Food. We look forward to building on existing programmes and to offer new pilot initiatives and opportunities for Europe’s brightest entrepreneurs and SMEs.”
“We hope that this will lead to more startups and SMEs to grow and become successful and thereby help us with their solutions to our pressing societal challenges.”
But to what extent will SMEs and startups in Europe benefit from this enhanced cooperation? “In addition to developing new investment instruments, the collaboration will also see the creation of new initiatives in the field of entrepreneurial education and skills —a priority for the EIT—with enhanced access to finance, promoting quality and inclusive education, training, and life-long learning in the areas of expertise of our Knowledge and Innovation Communities”, he explains.
Besides, the EIT and EIF will continue to build on existing investment instruments, such as the Venture Centre of Excellence, to promote funding and investment for innovative startups. “Our goal is to connect and increase access to financing for startups that want to grow and power solutions to the pressing global challenges we face”, Kern says. For this, the institutions will also utilize their large networks to share cross-institutional learning in the fields of finance and innovation for SMEs and infrastructure, as well as investment opportunities between European corporations and other investors.
“We hope that this will lead to more startups and SMEs to grow and become successful and thereby help us with their solutions to our pressing societal challenges”, Martin Kern concludes. Together with leading companies, research laboratories, and universities, the EIT offers a wide range of innovation and entrepreneurship activities across Europe: entrepreneurship education courses, business startup, and acceleration services, and innovation-oriented research projects. To learn more, check out our Skilling up in Europe section.
