EIT community hub announced in serbia

This article was developed within the program Venture an Idea funded by the USAID.

The Minister of Innovation and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, Nenad Popović, and the Director of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), Martin Kern, signed a Letter of Intent on jointly establishing an EIT Community Hub in Serbia, under the Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS), in 2023.

As Europe’s largest innovation ecosystem, we are looking forward to strengthening our cooperation with the Republic of Serbia in support of its start-ups, entrepreneurs and students to accelerate their innovations. The EIT Community is already present in the Serbian innovation ecosystem, having, by the end of 2020, channelled over EUR 1.2 million of support to local ventures and innovation projects in the past years, which have resulted in over EUR 9 million of raised investment. We look forward to the establishment of this new EIT Community RIS Hub that will see this support increase, and provide Serbian innovators with improved access to European collaboration opportunities and funding - said Martin Kern, EIT Director

Countries eligible to take part in the EIT RIS (2021-2024):

• EU Member States: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain.
• Horizon Europe Associated Countries*: Montenegro, Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine.
• Outermost Regions: Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Martinique, Mayotte and Saint-Martin (France), the Azores and Madeira (Portugal), and the Canary Islands (Spain).

This EIT Community RIS Hub will promote the activities of the European Union and opportunities for cooperation in the field of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology, providing members of the Serbian innovation ecosystem with access to the whole EIT Community.

This article was made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this article are the responsibility of Nova Iskra do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.