EIT governing board approves €978M for European innovation and skills

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) announced that its Governing Board has approved €978 million for 2026–2028 to strengthen innovation, entrepreneurship, and skills development across Europe.

The EIT’s largest funding package to date provides new resources for six Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) and for joint initiatives such as the EIT Higher Education Initiative, reinforcing its role as Europe’s largest innovation ecosystem.

The decision reflects KIC performance and alignment with EU priorities, including the Union of Skills and the Clean Industrial Deal, while also supporting the implementation of the Startup and Scaleup Strategy through entrepreneurial education, stronger corporate participation in innovation ecosystems, and improved knowledge transfer from universities and research centres to business.

Powering Europe’s competitiveness with investments in innovation and skills

The funding will support EIT Health, EIT Raw Materials, EIT Food, EIT Urban Mobility, EIT Manufacturing, and EIT Culture & Creativity. These partnerships bring together leading businesses, universities, and research centres to address Europe’s most pressing challenges, from sustainable food systems and resilient healthcare to advanced manufacturing, critical raw materials, creative industries, and the future of urban mobility. With this investment, the EIT reaffirms its mission to drive innovation, develop talent, and foster growth across Europe.

The allocations for 2026–2028 are as follows: 

• EIT Health: €67.3 million
• EIT Raw Materials: €74.8 million
• EIT Food: €125.3 million
• EIT Urban Mobility: €206.9 million
• EIT Manufacturing: €163.2 million
• EIT Culture & Creativity: €131.6 million 

An additional €79.3 million will fund cross-KIC activities, open to financially autonomous KICs such as Climate-KIC, EIT Digital, and InnoEnergy. These initiatives coordinate action across sectors to maximise European impact, from strengthening entrepreneurial education and STEM skills to supporting business creation in areas like AI and women’s entrepreneurship, and fostering international cooperation.

Stefan Dobrev, Chair of the EIT Governing Board, said:

As a board, we are confident this decision steers resources to the best-performing innovation ecosystems that effectively integrate the triangle of research, industry and entrepreneurship. It is a substantial catalyst for the engagement of the public and private sector to deploy the skills, technology and businesses we urgently need for a competitive Europe, able to defend its prosperity and its values.

The decision also allocates €130 million to the EIT Higher Education Initiative, which supports universities across Europe in building innovation and entrepreneurship capacity. Aligned with European university alliances and complementary to Erasmus, it also advances the EU’s STEM Education plan.

Since its launch, the initiative has engaged 600+ higher education institutions and helped thousands of students, staff, and researchers develop entrepreneurial skills and turn ideas into market-ready solutions.