Applications extended for Health Innovation Programme

The initiative aims to bring together start-ups, researchers from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), universities and hospitals in Latvia and other countries in an open innovation format to collaborate on developing and implementing innovations that will have a positive impact on the health sector. During the programme, the 10 selected teams will receive funding of 10,000 EUR to foster and support collaboration between the participants and the programme implementers.

As part of the initiative, 10 selected organisations will receive access to the world's largest health innovation network, funding, and expert advice from pharmaceutical industry leaders to test innovative solutions that tackle pressing healthcare challenges. The top three teams will compete for a financial prize in the EIT Health InnoStars Grand Final.

'InnoStars Connect perfectly embodies our often-said adage that no one can innovate alone. Through this exciting new programme, we are opening doors for Latvian innovators to access resources, knowledge, and most importantly, connections within our network to develop promising solutions for the burning healthcare challenges,' said Sarah Haddadin, EIT Health InnoStars RIS Innovation Lead and the programme manager. 'By leveraging the collective expertise of top-tier professionals and institutions, InnoStars Connect is not just a programme—it's a transformative platform designed to propel healthcare innovation to new heights and foster a collaborative ecosystem for lasting impact.'

Chiesi Group is a global biopharmaceutical research-oriented group, driven by the desire to increase the quality of life for patients, their families, and their communities with innovative products and services. The company, together with EIT Health InnoStars, is seeking groundbreaking solutions in the areas of respiratory health (AIR), treatment of patients with rare and ultra-rare diseases (RARE) and products and services that support specialty care provided by medical professionals and consumer-facing self-care (CARE).

SYNLAB Italy is Europe’s leading diagnostic company with a new “integrated” approach to medical innovation, prevention and healthcare in Italy - an approach aligned to the quality standards of excellence in Europe. Together with EIT Health InnoStars, they are looking for Advanced Diagnostic Biomarkers and Technologies to develop state-of-the-art diagnostic biomarkers and technologies to augment SYNLAB Italy's services, including advancements in testing methodologies. 

Start-ups, SMEs, hospitals, universities, and research institutions from all over Europe from the eligible countries with innovative solutions relevant to the above challenges are encouraged to apply to the InnoStars Connect programme. Eligible applicants must have a solution with a maturity level between TRL 5 (technology validated in a relevant environment) and TRL 7 (system prototype demonstration in an operational environment) and be ready to collaborate within an open innovation framework. Individual organisations not currently partners of EIT Health must become EIT Health InnoStars partners. By joining the programme, they will gain access to an extensive network and resources, offering transformative collaborations with leading healthcare innovators.

Further information and application

The EIT Health RIS Centre in Latvia has been operating at Riga Stradiņš University (RSU) since 2018. Its activities are twofold: to raise awareness about EIT Health and involve Latvian representatives in its community programmes, and to activate the local health sector by organising various events and other regional initiatives.

About The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)

The EIT is Europe’s largest innovation ecosystem bringing together close to 2,400 partners from top business, research and education organisations across Europe in over 50 innovation hubs. The 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, composed of leading companies, research labs and universities each dedicated to solving a pressing global challenge, from climate change to health, to renewable energy.

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About EIT Health

EIT Health is one of Europe's largest public-private partnerships for healthcare innovation. EIT Health is made up of more than 130 partners and supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), an institution of the European Union. EIT Health's mission is to create an ecosystem to develop the healthcare of the future so that Europe's citizens can live longer and healthier lives. EIT Health has supported more than 2,500 start-ups and larger scale companies and raised 1.9 billion EUR in investment for the companies it supports. EIT Health has also helped to bring 113 new healthcare solutions to market and trained 49,000 students and professionals, a major contribution to the development of the healthcare sector.

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About EIT Health InnoStars

InnoStars is one of the eight EIT Health geographical areas. It covers Poland, Hungary, Italy and Portugal, as well as the additional regions included in the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) programme - the Baltic States, Croatia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Greece and Romania. According to the European Innovation Scoreboard, this group of countries is rated as moderately innovative.

About EIT Regional Innovation Scheme Programme (EIT RIS)

The EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (EIT RIS) was launched in 2014 by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) to improve innovation capacity in countries with moderate and high levels of innovation according to the European Innovation Scoreboard. In the field of healthcare, the programme has been developed since 2016 and is coordinated by EIT Health InnoStars. It includes 11 EIT Health Centres in 11 countries in Eastern, Central, and Southern Europe.