CLC North-East
Bulgaria
Agricultural University of Plovdiv (lead entity)
Agricultural University Plovdiv (AUP) was established in 1945 as a national center of agricultural science and education in Bulgaria. AUP is a leading institution in providing high quality student-centered education, releasing competent specialists committed to civic virtues and fostering research for rapid innovation in the agriculture by collaborating closely with business.
AUP’s expertise stretches over agronomy technologies, plant protection, agroecology, environment and food safety and quality, marketing and management, sustainable agriculture and forestry, responses to climate change, resource efficiency etc. In its extensive experimental fields, AUP supports the implementation of integrated applied research for designing solutions for agricultural business. The structure of AUP comprises of four faculties and 14 auxiliary units employing 203 teachers, including 124 professors and associate.
AUP is well-positioned on the national and international research scene. Through academic and research contracts and agreements for cooperation with national and international agencies and institutions, private agricultural companies and more than 100 universities from Europe, Asia, Africa and the USA, AUP ensures continuous excellence in research results and innovation projects. The university is active in the students and teachers exchange and joint degrees with international partnering universities.
Cleantech Bulgaria (startup support)
Cleantech Bulgaria is innovation company with main focus on development and market realization of new technologies in the field green economy. The organization is trusted partner of national and international authorities, science and research organizations, universities, public and private companies, investors and leading industrial players.
Cleantech Bulgaria provides access to tailor made pre-acceleration and acceleration programs, as well as access coaching services, connections, and access to capital to help start-ups businesses to scale, build a great team, and get ready for investment. Our pre-acceleration and acceleration programs offer knowledge, mentorship, and community building the start-ups and spin offs need to build the business they envision.
Since 2015, Cleantech Bulgaria offers full range of acceleration and innovation support service to local innovation ecosystem divided in the following categories:
- Innovation hackathons
- Pre-acceleration programs
- Acceleration programs
- Technology transfer and commercialization
- Investment intermediary services
- Tailor made support for SMEs or corporates with product/business development units
Cleantech Bulgaria provides consulting and financing for innovative enterprises, start-ups support and access to an international network of experts, partners, clients and investors.
Croatia
TERA TEHNOPOLIS Ltd.
TERA TEHNOPOLIS Ltd. is one of the leading regional technology transfer hubs in Croatia, with strong emphasis on agriculture and food. It has a considerable portfolio of services, know-how (including patents, trademarks etc.), and an extensive network of relevant stakeholders which enables it to support knowledge-based entrepreneurs in the field of agriculture and food technology.
Czech Republic
University of Chemistry and Technology (lead entity)
Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague is where EIT Food Hub’s activities are performed. It ranks among leading university centers of food science and embraces both traditional food science fields, food technologies and innovations for the food industry, as well as current trends in the development of food and biochemical sciences, food analysis and nutrition, including several ISO 17025 accredited laboratories dealing with food quality, safety and authenticity assessment.
Hub Innovation (startup support)
Impact Hub is a global network focused on building communities with impact at scale via collaboration. In the Czech Republic, the organisation brings together a community of 1,700 entrepreneurs in 4 coworking centers for which we create not only inspiring spaces for cooperation and meetings but especially acceleration programs, startup incubators, workshops and conferences. The main driving force is the emphasis on impact & sustainability and we use SDG goals as a lens through which we view our impact in the world.
Estonia
Tartu Biotehnoloogia Park
Tartu Biotechnology Park (TBP) provides physical infrastructure and business development and consultancy services to companies and R&D institutions. It supports companies in finding cooperation partners and is active in the establishment process of new companies.
The main aim is to support companies in developing their business through direct consultations, provide support with the help of EU programs and support the local innovation ecosystem through different collaborations, projects and events.
The aim of TBP is to create a favourable and developing environment for the promotion of biotechnological entrepreneurship in Estonia.
Starting from September 2005 TBP runs the BioMed incubator for biotechnology (including foodtech and cosmetics).
Hungary
Campden BRI Hungary Ltd. (lead entity)
Campden BRI Hungary is an independent R&D centre that has skills and experience on knowledge transfer, training, networking, fostering innovation on FSCM, transparency and food safety risk assessment, application of transdisciplinary knowledge and solutions from ICT, advanced manufacturing sectors for solving technological problems in the modernization of the food industry by using their enabling functions. This is supported by practical experience in food and process development, legal, consumer and sensory research.
PANNON Pro Innovations (startup support)
PANNON is a private consultancy providing a wide range of innovation management and entrepreneurship support activities. Their key focus areas are sustainability, food innovation, circular economy, sustainable cities, energy-transition and bioeconomy. PANNON works with startups from the very early stage to mature, investment-ready ones. With their excellent team and a huge network in the sustainability and business sector, they are pioneers in supporting cleantech startups and entrepreneurs in Hungary. They have been delivering EIT Climate-KIC startup programmes since 2014, have been organizing local workshops and recruiting Hungarian startups for EIT Food and EIT Raw Materials programmes since 2021.
Latvia
Riga Technical University
RTU is the only polytechnic university in Latvia and the largest university in the country – it educates and trains almost 15 thousand students. RTU is focused on becoming a third generation university that not only provides high quality education, but also conducts advanced research and ensures innovation and technology transfer, practically implementing scientific discoveries. RTU is constantly developing its infrastructure by constructing a campus on Ķīpsala Island. On completion, the campus will be the most advanced engineering study centre in the Baltic Region.
Lithuania
AgriFood Lithuania DIH
AgriFood Lithuania DIH is a one-stop-shop for AgriFood Tech innovation development services and cooperation opportunities. In 2020, the European Commission included AgriFood Lithuania DIH as one of two good practice examples of European sectoral DIHs in the JRC science for policy report. This digital innovation center connects the most important Lithuanian research, business and public stakeholders united by the common goal to develop new digital solutions for the agri-food sector.
Romania
Impact Hub Bucharest
Launched back in 2012, Impact Hub Bucharest supports the development of entrepreneurial and innovative initiatives with positive impact through coworking spaces, growth and incubation programs, conferences and events and an online platform to digitize our support for entrepreneurs and make it available nationwide. Impact Hub Bucharest is part of the global Impact Hub network that has over 100 locations on 5 continents.
Impact Hub Bucharest has an active role in both innovation ecosystem as a connector and facilitator, but also in the food system as an events and acceleration programs organizer. For Impact Hub Bucharest to represent EIT Food as an EIT Food Hub is a great opportunity to connect the national network of agri-food entrepreneurs and innovators with European opportunities.
Serbia
Association "SEE ICT"
Startit is building the Serbian tech and startup community by leveraging its dominant tech media outlet with up to 100.000 readers every month, the biggest nation-wide network of tech community spaces which garner 25.000 visits to 500 events per year and longest-running startup accelerator which was the first European partner in Google’s new global acceleration programme.
Slovakia
Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra (lead entity)
Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra is the only agricultural university in Slovak Republic. One of the main research focuses of the university is the food sector. With its national scope, the university brings the education, research and development and the transfer into practice together. The relevant internal infrastructure of the university for "agricultural product - food system" prioritly includes the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences and the AgroBioTech Research Center with Transfer Centre. The university created National Platform AgroBioFood Nitra to present Slovak Republic in the field of foodstuffs and biotechnology as the national node.
Slovak Business Agency (startup support)
Slovak Business Agency (SBA) is the oldest specialized non-profit organization for the support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It is the unique platform of public and private sectors. Under the umbrella of the National Business Centres present in each of the 8 regions in Slovakia, acting as a one-stop-shops, SBA provides a broad portfolio of support services for potential starting and existing small and medium businesses (SMEs) from different sectors of the economy. The services are provided within the frames of 4 programmes designed according to the needs of existing and potential SMEs at different life-cycle. The main type of services provided includes organisation of seminars, webinars, lectures, and conferences for SMEs; individual consulting and mentoring; an internship programme; match-making services; assessments and studies to analyse Slovak business environment and to provide recommendations to reform the regulatory and policies framework in order to improve business climate and boost investments; awareness raising and communication activities.
Slovenia
University of Ljubljana Biotechnical Faculty
The Faculty’s mission is to offer higher professional education, undergraduate and postgraduate university study programmes, as well as research and professional and advisory services in the areas of living nature (biology, microbiology), agriculture, forestry and fishery (forestry, animal science, agronomy) and in closely related production technologies (wood science, food science, biotechnology). All the educational and research disciplines provided at the Biotechnical Faculty incorporate the issues of management of natural resources (soil, space, flora and fauna, water). The Biotechnical Faculty, with its research into environmental resources and its sustainable management orientation, is an institution needed by every nation in its efforts to define and preserve its identity.
CLC South
TURKEY:
Impact hub Istanbul:
Operating in 60 countries around the world, and with more than 100 centers, Impact Hub is a platform which brings the impact driven changemakers together and provides the collaborative envirnment they need. Serving as a member of the global Impact Hub network, Impact Hub Istanbul designs collaborations with influencial partners and provides programs, events, mentorship, office areas and networking support for social entreprenerurs and impact oriented individuals and istitutions. The Impact Hub membership is based on a system that consists of people from a wide variety of discuplines like entrepreneurs, consultants, investors, designers, freelancers, etc. Vibrant community, inspiring space and meaningful content are the core of the Impact Hub experience.
With the local community and global network, Impact Hub Istanbul is making progress to build a more sustainable world for everyone and have a common language on the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SGD) for the global issues that demand urgent action.
Foodback:
In addition to supporting change makers and entrepreneurs in Turkey, Impact Hub Istanbul identifies topical areas that are in great need for innovative approaches in Turkey; including food systems and agrifoof related entrepreneurship. With this in mind, Impact Hub founded the Foodback platform in 2017, which is a new-age agrifood innovation and entrepreneurship platform that supports disruptive agrifood innovations come to life. Foodback’s main mission is to support a developing multi-stakeholder community with knowledge, awareness, and the right connections, while providing impact entrepreneurs in the agrifood sector with the necessary knowledge for innovation and entrepreneurship capacity building. Foodback platform is in its 4th year of being the Turkish Hub for EIT Food in 2021.
Through the EIT Food Partnership in various fronts, Foodback has been able to gain the know-how of the diverse EIT Food Ecosystem and network for development of the food and agro ecosystems in Turkey.
PORTUGAL
BGI
BGI is a deep technology accelerator spinoff of MIT Portugal. Over the last 11 years, we developed unique methodologies for maximizing impact and reducing risk of deep technology based ventures across 2 main sectors: healthcare and cleantech. BGI develops tens of initiatives ranging from education, acceleration to open innovation.
BGI has been granted several awards: considered top 50 accelerator in the world (Valuer.ai), top 20 in Europe (Fundacity) and top business accelerator worldwide (UBI). These distinctions were granted based on BGI’s achievements: so far, 149 ventures were supported; 7 of those exited; €274m were raised by alumni (current results here).
BGI collaborates with 5 of the EIT knowledge and innovation communities (KIC): Health, Digital, Climate, Urban Mobility and Food. Due to our track record, we have been distinguished as an example of the Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) community. BGI is part of the ENRICH (European Network of Research and Innovation Centres and Hubs), a global network focused on supporting EU research and innovation entrepreneurs internationalizing to other regions.
BGI also leads systemic innovation projects, such as Food4Sustainability: a collaborative laboratory, focused on solving large scale challenges of sustainable food production and its impact on human health. Food4Sustainability brings together 15 partners, including research, deep-tech, industry and farmer organizations, and aims to implement a demonstrator-scale circular food production system, build farmers’ capacity and support the adoption of sustainable practices and provide education and experimentation to communities of interest (€7.8M planned over 5 years).
In regards to EIT Health, BGI has successfully supported 16 bridgehead startups, having already one exit company. We have developed a network of over 800 experts in the MIT alumni community, and having found hospitals, medical professionals, investors, KOL for several startups from EIT Health, BGI and Boston Global Immersion programs.
Please find here our EIT Health alumni: https://www.bgi.pt/eit-health-investors
Learn more about BGI 2020 activities here: https://www.bgi.pt/bgi-report-2020
ITALY
Impact Hub Siracusa:
An independent private cooperative company founded in 2012 focused on Social Innovation, with a wide network of partners and affiliates at a regional, national and Euro-Mediterranean level.
It counts on a local community of 100+ social innovators and entrepreneurs, a management team of 5 people, highly skilled as business and social enterprise experts, trainers, consultants and facilitators. Beside the core team, other professionals support the activities. Activities are carried on and delivered through services, project design, events, trainings, consultancies.
It runs a 400 sqm coworking space in Ortigia, historical center of the town, where local people and digital nomads work aside to learn from each other and to cross-pollinate.
Impact Hub is one of the world’s largest networks focused on building entrepreneurial communities for impact at sacle- home to the innovators, the dreamers and the entrepreneurs who are creating tangible solutions to the world’s most pressing issues. It counts today 100+ spaces around the globe and a community of 16.000+ purpose driven people.
GREECE
IDGC:
Industry Disruptors Game Changers (IDGC) is an independent non profit organization established with the vision to create an extrovert ecosystem that fosters innovative entrepreneurship on a global scale. We deliver this through initiatives that empower mission driven innovators to create scalable companies & bring them in effective partnership with investors, industry leaders & key stakeholders creating an impactful ecosystem.
Future Agro Challenge (FAC - www.facagro.com), our strategic initiative in agriculture is a global platform that centres on innovation from farm to fork by integrating all cultures to fix the complex food system and empowering farmers as the caretakers of our earth. It does this by inspiring local agripreneurial innovation ecosystems to support local agripreneurs and bring them to the frontlines to solve the broken food puzzle. FAC now has presence in 64 countries on 5 continents, running in parallel several branch initiatives: the Future Agro Challenge Global Championships, the “Olympics of Agripreneurship” showcasing cutting-edge agrifood solutions from around the world to award the Agripreneur of the Year and the FAC Impact Makers Program, supporting our national partners around the world [incubators, accelerators, NGOs, for profit enterprises, and other organizations] better achieve employment generation, socio-economic development, and community development through further collaboration.
The Global Agripreneurs Summit is IDGC’s annual event of agrifood innovators and leaders from around the world – where farmers, agripreneurs, chefs, investors, organisations, policymakers and other thought leaders work together to help bring life to game changing innovations and propel agriculture as a sustainable source of growth and economic development. Every year, the Summit travels to a new destination, from Colombia 2016, to South Africa 2017, to Turkey 2018, and Greece 2019, which has successfully energized the traditional agrifood industry in each respective country into an innovative space.