The Grand Final of BoostUp! South East 2023, held by EIT Manufacturing, drew its winners! EIT Manufacturing is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. The first edition of EIT Manufacturing’s signature event for South East Europe, was held on November 29th in Athens, Greece. Awarded PHEE (first prize), WiserSense Bilgi (second prize) and Ottobo Robotik (third prize) stood out of the competing 8 finalists for their innovative and impactful solutions!  

EIT Manufacturing South East had the pleasure the host the Grand Final, at the Divani Palace Acropolis, in Athens, were startups mostly from Turkiye, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, were selected to present their innovative solutions. During the keynote speeches, Dr Dimitris Mavrikios, COO of EIT Manufacturing and Dr Niki Kousi, Managing Director EIT Manufacturing South East, shared EIT Manufacturing’s breakthroughs in Europe and the South East region, while Marta Kaczmarek, Director of the EIT Community Strategic Regional Innovations Cluster, EIT Health InnoStars shared how EIT RIS unlocks Europe’s innovation potential. Finally, Dr Elli Diakanastasi analyzed Elevate Greece and its role in the national startup ecosystem. 

Followed by the pitching session, the prestige jury committee of Dr Spyros Arsenis, Head of Business Innovation and Development – NBG, Dr Mara Chachamidou, Management Executive Unit B1 – Ministry of Development, Dr Elli Diakanastasi, Executive Director and Board Member – Elevate Greece, Mr. Alexandros Noussias, Managing Director – Envolve Entrepreneurship, Dr Styliani Petroudi, Head of Research Office – CYENS Center of Excellence, Mr. George Saperas, Partner and CFO – Unifund, Dr Konstantinos Smyrniotakis, Sustainability & European Funding Senior Manager – Sidenor Group, and Prof Panagiotis Stavropoulos, Division Director at the Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems & Automation (LMS), University of Patras, evaluated the startups, shared their expertise and insightful remarks while their constructive feedback shaped the outcome of the competition. 

Closing the award ceremony, Luke Incorvaja, EIT RIS Director and Dr. Konstantinos Georgoulias, EU Affairs and RIS Director of EIT Manufacturing, addressed the importance of initiatives that spotlight innovative solutions and foster entrepreneurship and growth in RIS regions.   

All finalists are winners and will receive exclusive “growth packages” of dedicated Access-to-Market support services provided by the EIT Manufacturing Business Creation team, aiming to support their internationalization strategy and foster their growth. EIT Manufacturing’s pan-European innovation network will also enhance their visibility and international publicity through its dedicated communication channels. The prize money of €7.500, €5.000 and €2.500 will support the three top startups in their European go-to-market strategies. 

PHEE presented an unconventional and economically viable, low-embodied carbon and zero waste, circular manufacturing process for the production of thermoset biocomposite architectural surfaces that won the 1st prize, while WiserSense with its cross-sectorial smart machine health monitoring solutions for Industry 4.0, leveraging AI for data analysis and Digital Twins, won the 2nd. Finally, the collaborative autonomous robots boosting warehouse and manufacturing plant operations, gave the 3rd place to Ottobo Robotics.  

“The winners of the BoostUp! South East 2023 Grand Final are a prime example of the innovation and talent that is thriving in the Southeast manufacturing sector” said Dr. Niki Kousi. She continued “Their groundbreaking ideas have the potential to revolutionize the manufacturing industry and make a real impact on the world. I am incredibly proud of these startups and eager to see what they accomplish in the future.” 

Collaborative start-up competition 

The start-up competition BoostUp! South East 2023 came to Greece and the South East Europe for the first time this year, almost a year after the establishment of EIT Manufacturing South East. It is designed to give companies the opportunity to internationalise and access a large European network. The competition supports manufacturing companies’ by fostering increased productivity, driving competitiveness and supporting internationalisation activity through access to in-depth knowledge, services and collaboration-based initiatives.   

About EIT and EIT Manufacturing 

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is Europe’s largest innovation ecosystem bringing together over  2400+ partners from top business, research and education organisations across Europe in 50+ innovation hubs. The EIT is an EU body and an integral part of Horizon Europe, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. Through dynamic pan-European partnerships, called Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) the EIT Community offers a wide range of innovation and entrepreneurship activities, strengthening Europe’s ability to innovate and powering solutions to pressing global challenges while nurturing entrepreneurial talent to create sustainable growth and skilled jobs in Europe.   

EIT Manufacturing is one of the nine innovation communities supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. EIT Manufacturing’s main goal is to bring European stakeholders focused on manufacturing together in innovation ecosystems that add unique value to European products, processes and services and inspire the creation of globally competitive and sustainable manufacturing. EIT Manufacturing brings together more than 80 members (universities, research institutes and companies).  

EIT Manufacturing — Making Innovation Happen!