Innovation can thrive anywhere if it has an ecosystem to support it.
The European Innovation Scoreboard classifies 16 European countries as “emerging” and “moderate” innovators. These countries have as much talent, ideas or ambition as those ranked higher – I should know, I was born in one and worked throughout Europe since. What they lack to be “strong” or “leading” innovators is the depth of long-established networks of industry and academia that smoothen the translation of scientific knowledge to practical application, at scale, to drive competitiveness and have a positive effect on citizens. A sole professor, faculty or lab on the Balkans or Baltics, no matter how world-renowned, faces an uphill struggle to have impact without partners from other disciplines or industries.
This is where the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) comes in – facilitating innovation collaboration since 2008, helping create more than 2 400 new products or services, supporting over 9 000 start-ups (including eight unicorns) and attracting over EUR 9.5 billion in external capital.
Stefan Dobrev is the Chairperson of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT)
Addressing Europe’s Innovation Divide
Ten years ago, we focused our efforts specifically on helping these “emerging” and “moderate” innovator countries and launched the Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS). The programme connects their researchers, learners, business and entrepreneurs to the strong EIT networks elsewhere in Europe. This focus has been visible – by 2021-2023 RIS-eligible countries accounted for 60% of the EIT’s total participation, well above the Horizon Europe average of 40% – and many RIS-supported ventures have found breakthrough commercial success.
The RIS is implemented by the EIT’s nine Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) – self-organised public private partnerships of academia and industry, each focused on a theme – Health, Food, Energy, etc.
The KICs have launched a network of EIT RIS Hubs for boosting regional innovation. These offer on-the-ground support to innovators ranging from students to entrepreneurs, SMEs or even cities, strengthening the capacity of innovation enablers and ecosystems. The scheme has enabled Europe to rapidly transfer learnings, ecosystem growth and support wherever needed, helping bring impactful solutions from RIS-eligible countries to market quicker. The EIT RIS Hubs are core to our success – in areas that have less opportunities and lower innovation capacity, local presence is needed and the EIT is the only EU body that provides it in all EU member states and beyond.
Local support translates to global success, creating jobs and boosting Europe’s competitiveness. One of the 500 innovations launched in RIS countries backed by the EIT Community is the rapidly growing Portuguese company Sword Health, which was supported by EIT Health as early as 2018. Sword Health is an AI medical care platform pairing remote clinician attention with AI-powered customised treatment, making care more accessible, less expensive and more effective. After launching remote virtual musculoskeletal care in 2015 and growing rapidly, Sword Health’s new “Phoenix” application now provides guided physical therapy anywhere, anytime, using any tablet device. It has reached a EUR 3 billion valuation, become Portugal’s first healthcare unicorn and already delivered more than three million treatment sessions. EIT Health has accompanied Sword Health along the way via its SwitHome Innovation Project and the Bridgehead Accelerator Programme – followed by support in smart financing, in-depth mentorship, international expansion know-how and assistance, and public visibility activities.
This is just one of many success stories, and today, RIS innovators are building on the success of earlier ventures. Take ElevenEs from Serbia, an industrial tech company producing more sustainable and efficient batteries based on Lithium-Iron-Phosphate (LFP) technology. Their LFP batteries have an exceptional lifecycle span, use no cobalt or nickel, are safer, fast-charging and low cost. This scale-up company has big plans, from expanding its battery production to 500MWh this year and then opening its initial gigafactory in 2026. The EIT Community has helped ElevenEs get here by providing equity investment in 2021, as well as offering strategic support and vital experience gained from EIT InnoEnergy’s investments in energy scale-ups Northvolt, Verkor, and a fellow RIS venture from Estonia, Skeleton Technologies.
Supporting the Next Generations of Regional Innovators
The past ten years have taught us that bridging the innovation divide with dedicated local support across Europe works. As we look to the future, our focus will shift towards providing deeper, better orchestrated support to boost impact. By being an involved partner of the EIT RIS’ most promising, early-stage ventures, tailoring assistance to their needs and coordinating with local authorities and existing schemes, we can create an interlocking support system accompanying them all the way to the market.
To help us on this path we are currently integrating our unique on-the-ground presence into unified EIT RIS Community Hubs with the scale to represent all EIT Communities and serve as easily accessible one-stop shops for all the opportunities and activities we can provide.
For Europe to benefit from this enhanced capacity to catalyse innovation partnerships, we intend to enhance the EIT RIS and widen its eligibility, allowing it to rapidly and effectively provide place-based innovation collaboration support for the European Union´s strategic priorities. We are only just getting started!
Find out more about the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme by visiting eit.europa.eu