New Innovation Hub opens in Ukraine

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) announced the launch of its newest innovation hub in Ukraine. The new hub will build on the strong efforts of the EIT Community to support Ukrainian innovators. The EIT Community in 2023 alone has opened over 50 of its education, entrepreneurship and business acceleration programmes for Ukrainian citizens and channeled over EUR 4 million towards strengthening Ukraine.

The new regional hub, located in Kyiv, Ukraine, will connect regional actors, innovators, and partners to Europe’s largest innovation ecosystem and serve as a one-stop shop for local stakeholders to access the EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). It will bridge the Ukrainian and European Union’s innovation network and boost ideas and businesses emerging from Ukraine. The new Hub is part of the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (EIT RIS) programme, coordinated by EIT Health and designed to tackle Europe’s regional innovation divide. 

Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister for Innovations, Development of Education, Science & Technologies, and  Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine said: “We more than welcome the decision to open [EIT’s] regional hub in Ukraine — this is of  crucial importance and timely support for our tech community. Innovations become more and more an essential part of our lives. But during the war, we especially feel how tech can serve our people, save lives and boost the economy. Such initiatives are strategic for both Ukraine’s victory and recovery” 

Nektarios Tavernarakis, Chair of the EIT Governing Board added: ‘Ukraine is home to a rich and diverse group of talented innovators and entrepreneurs.  But now, possibly more than ever before, they need our support. With our latest hub, the EIT will strengthen it’s on the ground presence and support for Ukraine, bringing more products made in Ukraine to a global stage.’ 

The launch of new EIT Community hub in Ukraine is part of the EIT’s effort to consolidate its on-the-ground presence across the Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) by establishing a network of EIT Community RIS Hubs in over 20 countries across Europe.  

SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE 

In the past two years, the EIT Community has opened all its 50 plus business and acceleration programmes for Ukrainian entrepreneurs and businesses. In addition, the EIT has organised several dedicated programmes for Ukrainians including:   

• A dedicated EIT Higher Education Institutions (HEI) Initiative call to support Ukrainian universities and their non-academic partners. Currently 41 Ukrainian partners are part of the EIT HEI Initiative.
   
• The EIT Jumpstarter, an early stage accelerator programme, held a “Pre-accelerator in Ukraine” to help 16 Ukrainian teams turn their ideas into successful businesses. The EIT Jumpstarter also introduced a “Rebuild Ukraine” category that included a record participation of Ukrainian talents.  

• A series of workshops, Founders2Founders, were called in Kyiv, Lviv, and Ivano-Frankivsk, at which successful founders, entrepreneurs, and investors get practical recommendations for developing innovative businesses. Over 100 Ukrainian innovators have applied to be part of the programme.
   
• Red Kalyna,  a new EIT Community initiative, aims to recognise outstanding female entrepreneurs who have developed innovative products or solutions. Every year, a wall of fame highlighting ten role models from Ukraine will be published and promoted. They will receive the “Red Kalyna by EIT Community” label to symbolise their strength and endurance. The project is also open to external partners who wish to support female entrepreneurs from Ukraine. 

• Other programmes include: Girls Go Circular that has trained 900 Ukrainian school children,  EIT Food’s GoToBusiness that has helped close to 130 participants, and  several EIT accelerator programmes    

EIT – MAKING INNOVATION HAPPEN! 

The EIT strengthens Europe’s ability to innovate by powering solutions to pressing global challenges and by nurturing entrepreneurial talent to create sustainable growth and skilled jobs in Europe. The EIT is an EU body and an integral part of Horizon Europe, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.  

The Institute supports dynamic pan-European partnerships, EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities, among leading companies, research labs and universities. Together with their leading partners, the EIT Community offers a wide range of innovation and entrepreneurship activities across Europe: entrepreneurial education courses, business creation and acceleration services and innovation driven research projects. 

WHAT IS THE EIT REGIONAL INNOVATION SCHEME (EIT RIS)?  

The EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (EIT RIS) was introduced in 2014 to boost the innovation performance of countries with moderate or modest innovation scores as defined by the European Innovation Scoreboard.  The RIS is steered by the EIT and implemented through the EIT’s Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). Since its establishment, it has successfully led to a significant expansion of EIT Community activities to more countries and regions across Europe, contributing to a pan-European spread of EIT Community opportunities and networks. More information: https://eit.europa.eu/our-activities/eit-regional-innovation-scheme 

EIT FACTS & FIGURES 

• Europe’s largest innovation network: 2 400+ partners from top business, research and education organisations across Europe in 50+ innovation hubs across Europe 
• Making innovation happen: powered more than 7 800 start-ups and scale-ups, created more than 2 110 new products and services that have gone to raise more than EUR 7.3 billion in external capital. More than 5 700 students have graduated from EIT labelled master and doctoral programmes and over 10 000 have participated in EIT Community entrepreneurial trainings.