Poland becomes the first country to implement EIT’s new support model for startups in modest/moderate innovation regions

The event also marked the official opening of EIT Community Hub Poland — a new national access point for the EIT ecosystem.

Katarzyna Sypniewska: Today’s signing of the memorandum is seen by many as a historic moment for Europe’s competitiveness. In your view, how will this agreement help shape the future innovation landscape in the EU?

Martin Kern: For us, the agreement signed today is indeed very ambitious. It's a great opportunity to build on everything we’ve learned at the EIT over the past 15 years, and to accelerate innovation in what the EU calls “widening countries” — that is, those with more moderate levels of innovation.

As a team, we’ve set ourselves bold goals. We want to support up to 75 startups and help each of them raise €5 million in investment every 3 years when the Booster is fully rolled out across the RIS. And we’re optimistic this can be a game changer.

What’s new here is the approach: we don’t want these companies to be supported by just one of our innovation communities. We want to mobilise the entire EIT ecosystem. That means they can receive support from our Knowledge and Innovation Communities, from various programmes we cooperate with, and also potentially gain access to external investments — all through the broader ecosystem we’ve built.

This is a new model. Until now, companies typically received support from just one innovation community — which made sense. But the agreement we’ve signed today lays the foundation for a more integrated approach. It commits us to making this happen in Poland first — as part of a pilot that will also be implemented in other countries — and it commits the Polish Ministry of Development and Technology to participate and contribute financially.

Together, we will connect national ecosystems, identify priority sectors, and help discover the most promising ventures. Then, we’ll work hand in hand to mobilise not just funding, but also services and ecosystem-level support, to help those companies grow quickly and reach their full potential.

Katarzyna Sypniewska: The main message of today’s EU Innovation Journey conference is the need for closer cooperation among all actors in the innovation ecosystem. What, in your opinion, are the most important steps we should take together to truly bridge the innovation gap in Europe?

Martin Kern: Absolutely. The key message today was that Europe can bridge the innovation gap — not just by becoming more competitive globally, and closing the gap with innovation leaders like the US and China — but also by unlocking the potential of regions and countries that are currently moderate innovators.

That’s where new initiatives like this one come in. They’re about getting everyone to work together more closely, so that we can really make a difference.

Speaking about the EIT and our regional innovation work — the next big step will be launching pilots backed by €30 million in investment through 2027. Poland will be one of the key countries involved. We’ll work closely with national authorities to map out the ecosystem, identify priority sectors, and find high-potential startups.

From there, we’ll support them, help them grow, and carefully track the impact of our efforts.

Katarzyna Sypniewska: What is the role and future potential of the newly launched Regional Innovation Booster and the EIT Community Hub Poland in strengthening innovation and entrepreneurship, both in Poland and across Central and Eastern Europe?

Martin Kern: The Booster is a very concrete expression of what EIT aims to do. It’s a hands-on, targeted effort to support high-growth companies — not only with funding, but also with the know-how and ecosystem connections they need to succeed.

As for the EIT Community Hub in Poland — it plays a central role in bringing together all the existing innovation hubs. The Community Hub is the access point to the full EIT ecosystem: it connects to our different innovation communities, understands the national landscape, and can also collaborate with other initiatives, like the European Innovation Council, to attract further investment.

We have high hopes for the Hub. Once it's fully operational and led by a dedicated EIT Community Officer, we believe it can become a catalyst for regional innovation.

And why Poland? Because it’s one of the economically strongest countries in the widening region, with growing innovation capacity and a well-established EIT presence — through various KICs and hubs. There's already a solid foundation to build on. Plus, we greatly appreciate the enthusiasm shown by the national government to step up, be a first mover, and support this initiative right from the start.

So yes, I was truly happy to sign the MoU today.

🔗 Visit eit-ris.eu for details on the EIT Regional Innovation Booster