This year we have taken an important step and developed a non-profit entity at Startup Wise Guys. We are proud to announce another new project of our Foundation – InnoChange: Driving Change and Capacity Building Towards Innovative, Entrepreneurial Universities. This EIT-funded project aims to increase the entrepreneurial and innovation capacity and attitude of higher education institutes (HEIs) and to strengthen and better integrate into, and engage with, innovation ecosystems in Central and Eastern Europe.
InnoChange will develop and improve the entrepreneurial education curriculum and associated teachers’ training at partner HEIs, nurture innovation from all corners of student, faculty, and research activities at university by introducing new innovation models. Furthermore, we will provide effective support to early-stage innovation projects and build a pragmatic, yet comprehensive network of multi-faceted industry partnerships and enable support structures for entrepreneurship communities at HEIs through mutual learning.
The project will receive funding from the EIT’s HEI Initiative: Innovation Capacity Building for Higher Education. This new initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) aims to boost the entrepreneurial and innovation capacity of higher education institutions. The involvement of organisations like Startup Wise Guys Foundation is an important part of the initiative because it allows the higher education sector to better integrate and engage with innovation ecosystems.
Partnering with Universities from 5 countries
Although various higher education institutions have been important partners and stakeholders for SWG activities till now, this is the first time we are entering in such a deep collaboration format with Universities. InnoChange project is lead by Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary) and run together with other partnering universities: Babes-Bolyai University (Romania), Heriot-Watt University (United Kingdom), Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice (Slovakia), Plovdiv University Paisii Hilendarski (Bulgaria), as well as with Associated strategic partners like GE Healthcare Hungary and Campden BRI Hungary.
Under the EIT’s HEI Initiative, the project will receive total funding of 400K eur and will run until December 2021, with the possibility of getting extended for 18 more months.
Stay tuned for more information about this project in the coming months!
Startup Wise Guys Foundation is the non-profit arm of Startup Wise Guys’ accelerator fund and was created to develop sustainable local and international startup ecosystems and to help existing and future startup founders to become entrepreneurs.
The EIT’s HEI Initiative is a key objective for the EIT as part of its new strategy, the EIT Strategic Innovation Agenda 2021−2027. The initiative aims to support higher education institutions with expertise and coaching, access to the EIT innovation ecosystem, and funding, enabling them to develop innovation action plans complementing the needs of individual higher education institutions. As part of its Pilot Phase, the initiative has provided funding to 23 projects, with the next call for proposals expected towards the end of 2021.
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (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.
