The European Institute for Innovation and Technology opens its representative office in Serbia
The European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) opened its first Community Hub in Belgrade, which will be a new central point for gathering and connecting science, business and innovators in Serbia. The goal of the EIT Community Hub is to bring citizens closer to the opportunities that the European Union provides for the development of startups, support for businesses and the placement of new innovative products and services on the market, and it will have its first public presentation as part of the BioTech Future Forum.
EIT consists of nine so-called Knowledge and Innovation Communities, i.e. "KICs - Knowledge and Innovation Communities", which are unique for the entire European Union and our region and cover globally current topics such as climate change, digitalization, food and agriculture, health, energy, production, raw materials, urban mobility and culture and creative industries. In order to make the activities and performance of each "community" more visible, hubs are opened in individual countries, which have the role of a single point of contact for all KICs and their programs.
- EIT is here to help innovators turn their ideas into viable businesses and products with market potential. The way in which this support is provided is very diverse - through training programs, grants for the development of ideas, project financing, access to international partners and networks, as well as mentoring and professional development. The special value of the EIT community is that it connects knowledge, research and entrepreneurship across Europe, opening opportunities for joint projects and exchange of experiences. The EIT Community Hub in Serbia will make these opportunities more visible and accessible to domestic innovators, entrepreneurs and researchers - said Ana Ilić, EIT Community Officer in Serbia.
Each community has its own programs, which is why it is recommended for everyone to regularly monitor the website eit-ris.eu/serbia-2 and write to the email address serbia@eitcommunity.eu for all information and additional support.
The contact point for the hub in Serbia will be the NALED team, which will play a key role in informing about EIT programs and opportunities, connecting domestic researchers, startups, universities and entrepreneurs with relevant partners in Europe, as well as providing mentoring support when applying for EIT invitations.
- We are grateful to EIT for trusting us to take on such an important task and for recognizing our previous work in the field of innovation. Our cooperation began in 2024 through the launch of the EIT Food community in Belgrade, within which we have already connected domestic innovators with relevant programs. The EIT Hub in Serbia will be a practical point of support for all interested parties - from researchers and startups, to small and medium-sized enterprises and universities. Our task will be to inform them about the available EIT programs and invitations, provide assistance in applying, connect them with European partners and mentors, as well as to help develop new ideas and market solutions through trainings, info days and networking events. Through this approach, the Hub will contribute to Serbian innovators being better connected and more competitive on the European market - stated Violeta Jovanović, executive director of NALED.
As the largest innovation network in Europe, the EIT has so far directly supported more than 9,900 companies across Europe, launched around 2,450 new products on the market and trained 880,000 trainees in new skills. Thanks to early support in business development, EIT-backed companies and startups are worth more than €72 billion today. Because of all the above, EIT is today recognized as one of the most successful and active European investors and incubators.
