The European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) has announced the final registration call for the 2025 EIT Jumpstarter.
The EIT is an EU body, which aims to train and convert innovative ideas into budding businesses. This EU pre-accelerator programme is renowned for discovering and fostering talent throughout Europe.
With €150,000 in funding and dedicated support available, the programme aims to transform innovative ideas into market-ready solutions. As the registration deadline nears, potential applicants are being encouraged to take advantage of the last opportunity. Submissions must be made by April 2 at eitjumpstarter.eu
The initiative has proven successful across the past eight editions, where the programme has upskilled more than 1,300 people in entrepreneurship, and helped establish 124 start-ups and create 2,600 new jobs.
EIT start-ups have already raised approximately €150m of external investment. That means for every €1 put into the programme, the start-ups created have brought in €30.
“The EIT Jumpstarter is the ideal platform for validating innovative ideas and exploring potential commercialisation of research,” said Tina Benda from the EIT RawMaterials, who curates the Metals, Minerals, Advanced Materials & Industrial Side Streams Cohort in the EIT Jumpstarter.
This year, the programme places special emphasis on innovators from the Mediterranean and the EU Outermost Regions such as Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Reunion, Martinique, Mayotte and Saint-Martin (France), the Azores and Madeira (Portugal), and the Canary Islands (Spain), offering them the chance for additional awards if successful. Individuals from North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina are also encouraged to apply, with specific opportunities available for these areas.
Applications in 8 different categories: Food & Agritech, Healthcare, Advanced and Green Manufacturing, Energy & Renewables, Smart Cities & Urban Mobility, New European Bauhaus (NEB), Rebuild Ukraine and Metals, minerals and industrial side streams, can be submitted via the EIT Jumpstarter page.
Out of the applicants, 190 teams will be selected to participate in online bootcamps and Pitch Days. From there, 80 teams will advance to receive local training, develop their business plans and register their start-ups. In November 2025, 48 teams will enter the final pitch competition, vying for cash prizes and the opportunity to gain exposure within the EIT, the largest innovators network in Europe.
