HICEE - EIT Health

SEARCH OUR SITE

Healthy Investment in Central and Eastern Europe (HICEE) framework

The challenge

 

Across Europe, early-stage investment in health and life sciences remains highly uneven. In Central and Eastern Europe and other modest and moderate innovation regions, strong research and entrepreneurial potential often fails to translate into investable ventures. Fragmented ecosystems, limited venture-building capacity within technology transfer offices and start-up support organisations, low investor familiarity with HealthTech and deep-tech markets, and weak cross-border connectivity continue to constrain the development of robust early-stage pipelines.

These structural gaps not only slow the commercialisation of research, but also limit the participation of underrepresented regions in Europe’s innovation economy, weakening competitiveness, cohesion, and the scale-up potential of health innovation.

The ‘Healthy Investment in Central and Eastern Europe’ (HICEE) project, which ran from November 2023 to November 2025, was designed to strengthen early-stage HealthTech investment ecosystems in less connected regions by reinforcing the full investment pipeline, from asset development and venture building to investor readiness and cross-border dealflow. The project worked with multiple stakeholder groups in a coordinated way, including technology transfer offices, start-up support organisations, investors, and early-stage companies.

Rather than offering generic support, HICEE based its interventions on identified stakeholder needs. Ecosystem mapping and needs analysis informed the design of targeted capacity-building programmes for technology transfer offices and start-up support organisations, investor education and exchange formats, and tailored investment-readiness and de-risking support for early-stage ventures. This integrated approach ensured that asset development, venture building, and investment preparation were aligned across the innovation and investment chain.

The project also adapted and transferred proven tools and methodologies across different stages of the pipeline, from early-stage asset evaluation and venture creation to investment readiness and international de-risking. By applying and testing these approaches in modest and moderate regions, HICEE demonstrated how established methods can be reused and combined to strengthen health and deep-tech innovation pipelines and improve their connection to local and international investors.

HICEE brought together a consortium of 9 beneficiaries from 11 European countries, representing technology transfer offices, start-up support organisations, investor networks, universities and innovation intermediaries across modest, moderate and dynamic innovation ecosystems. Through this multi-stakeholder collaboration, the project strengthened cross-border connectivity, improved venture and investor readiness, and contributed to the development of more balanced and resilient early-stage investment ecosystems in Central and Eastern Europe and across Europe.

EIT Health's role

EIT Health was the coordinator of the project and led its overall management and implementation, drawing on its extensive experience in delivering European programmes in innovation, entrepreneurship, investment readiness and ecosystem development.

As project coordinator, EIT Health led Work Package 1 ‘Coordination and steering’, ensuring high-quality governance, risk management, reporting and compliance throughout the project duration. In parallel, EIT Health played a central role in the design and delivery of the project’s core technical activities, including the development of the capacity-building programme for start-up support organisations as well as the coordination of pan-European dealflow and investment-readiness support for early-stage ventures, including facilitation of cross-border investor engagement and exchanges.

Objectives

The objectives of HICEE are to:
1.Build robust and sustainable early-stage investment ecosystems in modest and moderate regions, by strengthening the capacity of technology transfer offices and start-up support organisations to generate higher-quality, investment-ready health and deep-tech ventures.

2.Increase venture investment in health and life sciences, by cultivating local investor knowledge and attracting international investors through targeted education, best-practice development and cross-border engagement activities.

3.Improve dealflow quality and cross-border syndication, by providing structured investment-readiness and de-risking support to early-stage ventures and facilitating professional exchanges between local and international investors.

4.Reduce fragmentation and strengthen cross-border connectivity in European investment markets, by disseminating project methodologies and tools, raising awareness of underrepresented ecosystems, and creating sustained collaboration pathways between innovation intermediaries, investors and start-ups.

Project partners

The HICEE consortium brings together a multidisciplinary group of nine partners from across Europe, representing technology transfer, start-up support, investor networks, universities and innovation intermediaries. Together, the consortium combines expertise in venture building, ecosystem development, early-stage investment, incubation and acceleration, investor engagement and cross-border collaboration to strengthen HealthTech and deep-tech investment ecosystems in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond.

Learn more

Contact Us