We want to promote innovation across borders; helping bring new products to new markets, accelerating the adoption of health products, services and concepts and, ultimately, improving the lives of citizens in European and beyond.
EIT Health’s Bridgehead brings together European health entrepreneurs who want to grow their business beyond their home market with the world’s top incubators and accelerators who have the expertise and resources to make it happen.
We will help match your scale-up with an incubator or accelerator from EIT Health’s approved network – we call these organisations our Catalysers. Together, you will plan how to access new markets quickly and decisively, tap into local networks of partners and clients, access infrastructure and understand new regulatory systems.
You will be given the seasoned expertise, insight and support needed to help realise your business ambitions.
Please note that applications for the first and second 2021 intake have now closed.
We want to promote innovation across borders; helping bring new products to new markets, accelerating the adoption of health products, services and concepts and, ultimately, improving the lives of citizens in European and beyond.
Bridgehead offers you three different options to apply for:
Driving the expansion of your scale-up venture from one European market into another through partners with local knowledge
Helping you expand your European health scale-up to markets, outside of Europe such as the US, Canada, China, Japan and South Korea amongst others
Supporting non-European ventures gain access to the European market
Using our matchmaking process, choose where to work and with which Catalyser to best achieve your goals
Make the most of a bespoke, personalised service created for you to work in partnership with our Catalysers
A unique opportunity to be introduced to potential partners and access expert knowledge of the local health ecosystem in participating countries
Progress with setting up local sales teams, getting distribution agreement signed-off, developing pricing strategies and more
A grant of €30,000 (Europe) or €40,000 (Global) to use with our network of handpicked and trusted Catalysers
Embed and raise the visibility of your scale-up in a unique and vibrant EIT Health ecosystem of more than 140 partners
EUROPEAN CATALYSERS
Accelerators, incubators and clusters with a proven track record in building, accelerating and scaling-up healthcare companies.
The experts connect industries, corporates, entrepreneurs, specialists, commercial partners and mentors to provide unique access to knowledge, infrastructure and resources to accelerate growth across an interconnected continent.
GLOBAL CATALYSERS
An EIT Health-vetted network of committed European partners strongly networked and operating within markets outside of Europe.
The experts offer the same level of enthusiastic and engaged collaboration and support with the difference of providing the opportunity to expand into global markets including the USA, Canada, Israel, China, Japan and others.
Each of our Catalysers have unique expertise and experience. You can find out more about each of them and where they operate in our Catalysers Catalogue.
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To qualify for Bridgehead Europe or Global, your company must:
For companies registered outside of Europe, to successfully qualify for Bridgehead Inbound your company must:
Through the collaboration between the European Innovation Council (EIC) and EIT Health, your EIC-supported start-up can receive special benefits by participating in the programme.
Bridgehead Europe and Global: There is a 6% success fee of your company’s revenue in the new market, capped at three times the amount of the grant amount or three years after completing the programme, whichever comes first.
Bridgehead Inbound: Once you are selected, you will need to cover a participation fee of €500 and the cost of your soft-landing services. Those costs depend on the services requested by you and delivered by the Catalyser(s) of your choice but should amount to a total of €10,000.
EIC Supported Ventures: Free of any costs and fees
“Bridgehead opens doors – giving you access to the right people and right organisations who can have the biggest impact in developing a market entry plan for a new market.”
Dr. Aida Nazarikhorram
Co-founder and CCO, Lux AI
“Through the collaboration with EIT Health's Bridgehead programme, our company was able to scale up and investigate the Dutch market in depth and to make plans for collaboration with potential partners.”
Nikolay Todorov
Marketing and Customer Relations Director, Smart Sort
See the Bridgehead call document for more detailed information on the programme. This document explains, for example, that you can apply to both Bridgehead Europe and Global, but you can only participate and be chosen for one.
Download the Bridgehead call document
Applications for the second 2021 intake have now closed. The submission deadline was 14 September 2021.
Take a look at other EIT Health programmes that could be right for you.
