Innovation in Europe: exploring the winners of the EIT Awards

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) celebrates the entrepreneurial and societal achievements of its innovators. By highlighting ground-breaking innovations and the teams behind them, the EIT Awards inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs across Europe. 

The EIT Awards also showcase how the EIT Community, Europe's largest innovation ecosystem, supports the development of entrepreneurial skills, products and services which address Europe's biggest challenges.

The winners of the 2024 EIT Awards were announced at the EIT Summit in Brussels, highlighting the achievements of the most innovative projects within the EIT community in three categories that represent the driving dynamics of entrepreneurship in Europe:  

• The Changemaker Award, highlighting a leader within the EIT Community education and skilling programmes, whose activities and achievements have the potential to generate a significant social impact 
• The Innovation Team Award, recognising a team of innovators that have developed a breakthrough product or service 
• The Venture Award recognises the start-up with the greatest potential to generate impact on citizens, by addressing major societal challenges 

Three winners were chosen in each of the categories by an expert jury and awarded a first-place prize of €50 000, €20 000 for second place and €10 000 for third place. 

A fourth category, the Public Award, was also awarded to the top innovation chosen directly by the public. 

Tech.eu spoke to the four winners to explore the science behind their innovations, the challenges of bringing them to market, and the support provided by the EIT Community.

Check out our interviews: 

Mohamed Elamir (EIT RawMaterials) is the winner of the EIT Changemaker Award and co-founder of Woamy, which develops biodegradable plastic-free biofoam for protective packaging to replace harmful plastic foams.

Dr. Andreas Bittner, from HiQ-CARB is the winner of the Public Award, a team that produces sustainable and resource-efficient nanomaterials for high-performance batteries. These materials enable faster-charging electric vehicles, extended battery lifespans for mobile phones, and enhanced safety and longevity for battery-powered devices.

Christer Bergquist (EIT InnoEnergy), from Altris AB is the winner of the EIT Innovation Team Award for their sodium-ion batteries. The batteries enable high performance batteries to accelerate the energy transition, without increasing the cost to the environment or to customers.

Manuel Lemos (EIT InnoEnergy), from Enline is the winner of the EIT Venture Award for their vegetation and landslide predictive forecast programme. The company develops tech such as  dynamic line rating and digital twins to help utilities get more out of their existing infrastructure.