Al sinds 2008 hét netwerk voor en door ondernemers in Medische Technologie en Life Sciences in Zuid-Nederland

EIT Health – Second HeadStart call 2019  for participants from Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Israel

As part of its ‘Accelerator’ activities, EIT Health provides funding for emerging companies and SMEs to
develop new products and services for areas of interest to EIT Health and its members. The purpose of the
funding is to accelerate market entry and create new economic activity (applications to support research
will be rejected). HeadStart funding is open to established companies that are already on the market.
In this 2nd 2019 call 300 k€ is available for HeadStart (max. 50 k€ per project). In addition to the cash
award provided by EIT Health, its core and associate partners will provide access to innovation facilities
and networks as well as mentorship to successful applicants.

Submission of Applications

Proposals must be submitted using the online application form: eithealth.optimytool.com
A video pitch of up to three minutes may be provided as part of the application process and each
application will require a letter of support from an EIT Health core or associate partner based in their
region/country (a list can be found online at www.eithealth.eu) or the CLC office.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their application with the relevant contact at their CLC
office (details provided below/overleaf) prior to submitting a proposal. In order to be eligible, proposals
must contain all the required information, be completed via the online form and be received by the
deadline (September 12th 2019, 16.00 hrs. CET). Late or incomplete submissions, or submissions via any
other routes (e.g. email) will not be accepted.

Evaluation Process/Criteria and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Upon passing an initial eligibility review by the relevant CLC office, proposals will be assessed by a team of
experts. Confidentiality agreements will be in place and conflicts of interests will be actively managed.
Evaluation criteria for the proposals include – but are not limited to – strategic fit with the challenges/
thematic areas (www.eithealth.eu) of EIT Health, novelty & feasibility of approach, potential impact of
product/service on market and/or those targeted by the innovation, expertise of the team,
compellingness of the case for the use of EIT Health funding to accelerate the route to market (value for
money, impact of EIT Health funding).

Successful proposals will be expected to deliver one or more of the following EIT Health Key Performance
Indicators: # business ideas incubated and progressed to market, # start-ups or spin-off companies
created, # products or services launched, # new markets accessed, # jobs created. Applicants will be
informed on the outcome of their application by the beginning of November 2019.

About EIT Health Accelerator

The EIT Health Accelerator creates an ecosystem where innovation can thrive. Gathering the best and
brightest entrepreneurs in health, providing them with the support, skills and services they need to get
their ideas off the ground and into the market.
In the Incubation phase, training and support activities like the EIT Health Boot Camp programmes help to
create a business plan out of an initial business idea in two-month ‘pressure cooker’ programmes, whilst
Local Training activities augment existing accelerator programmes at the CLCs, with a focus on the key
skills required when operating in the healthcare sector.
In the Validation phase, EIT Health supports start-ups and entrepreneurs by providing non-equity
financing (HeadStart Grants) and access to suitable Living Labs and Test Beds within the community to
further test their ideas. EIT Health also helps to gain an understanding of the different European
regulatory and reimbursement schemes by providing access to a wide Network of Market Experts and
coaches with specific local knowledge.
In the Scale phase, tools and networks provide and facilitating access to potential investors such as angel
networks, corporate financers and crowd funders. Furthermore ‘BridgeHead’ programmes support
European start-ups and scale-ups (e.g. in the domain of MedTech and Digital Health) in their expansion
across Europe, the United States & other markets.

Contact BeNe CLC: Nicolas van de Kerkhof (CLC Business Creation): nicolas.vandekerkhof@eithealth.eu
Prof. Dr. Bart Haex (CLC Business Creation): bart.haex@eithealth.eu
Headquarters: Dr. Kurt Höller (Director of Business Creation), kurt.hoeller@eithealth.eu