EIT Health is one of eight Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), an EU body and Institutionalised Partnership under Horizon Europe’s Pillar III – Innovative Europe. EIT Health’s vibrant community of more than 150 partner organisations from the worlds of business, research and academia, empowers a network of world-leading health innovators. We bridge the gap between industry and academia to take on some of Europe’s biggest health challenges – promoting better health of citizens, strengthening healthcare systems and contributing to a sustainable health economy. EIT Health collaborates across disciplines, borders and sectors, reinforcing excellence, creating knowledge and innovation, and encouraging greater investment, to deliver outcomes that matter most to citizens and patients. In the eighth year since its inception, EIT Health is consolidating its activities under a single unified structure: the Flagship. The 2023-2025 Flagships will tackle single-issue, highly focused topics based on EU health priorities and will be the pathways to EIT Health reaching the impact set in it's Strategic Agenda.

Building on the recommendations of the joint working group between EIC and EIT boards, as well as the letter of intent between digital, energy, climate KICs and EIC, this proposed action aims to ensure greater synergies by testing new collaboration mechanisms between EIT Health and the Enhanced EIC Pilot. The core element is a mechanism on how to promote and extend the benefits of EIT Health Accelerator programmes to EIC projects that have received the ‘Seal of Excellence’. It will include networking, matchmaking and advisory activities, like the European Health Catapult events, to increase connectedness among players in the broad innovation ecosystem around EIT Health, and the innovators' ecosystem provided by the EIC. The primary goal of the collaboration will be to enhance Europe’s support of diversity, digital health and technological innovation, aligned with the Commission’s principles. To this end, the EIT Health Network and its expertise in health will be utilised in Programs for all stages of start-up maturity. The EIT Health Bootcamp programmes will support EIC Pathfinder Innovators in creating and validating strong health sector-specific business plans. EIT Health Clusters, Accelerators and Incubators will help EIC Accelerator start-ups expand into new markets through the Bridgehead Programme. The EIT Health Gold Track will help EIC Accelerator start-ups with massive growth potential to develop and implement a clear strategy for global expansion. The action proposed will also explore possibilities and modalities of co-investment in the context of the EIC Fund and Accelerator pilot and the EIT Health Access to Finance instruments, including Crowdfunding, Investor Network or the Venture Centre of Excellence We will also encourage the most innovative businesses stemming from the EIT Health network to apply to the Enhanced EIC Pilot, and will channel or fast-track them to create a pipeline of impactful innovations.