t is no secret that science, research and talented
people are at the core of the solutions badly needed
to solve major challenges. However, these drivers of
innovation are far from being fully exploited in Europe.
A joint Europe-wide efort from the leading innovation
fnancing and support organisations, is key to turning
our great knowledge base and substantial investment
in science and research, into breakthrough technologies
with a global reach. With new developments in
blockchain, artifcial intelligence, high performance
computing, quantum technology, Big Data, IoT and
5/6 G, Europe has the opportunity to catch-up with the
leading platforms in the US and China. But the time
window is narrow, and action is urgently required.
There are many examples of successfully operating
innovation actors and eco-systems at the local and
regional level. However, the potential gains from
connecting innovation actors from across Europe are
not fully realised. A closer cooperation between the
best would allow for better leverage in exploiting
technology opportunities from science, research labs
and universities, through creating an enhanced and
more efcient EU-wide innovation system.
As the leading innovation platform in the
environment of the European institutions,
Knowledge4Innovation is making an urgent call
to establish a group of leading innovation actors
– technical universities and research institutions,
venture capital and private equity investors, angel and
alternative investors, Corporate Venture organisations
(CVC), Family ofces and incubators/accelerators. In
order to jointly advance the innovation agenda on a
pan-European level we need to ensure that our excellent
knowledge base is put to work and enable talented
young innovators and entrepreneurs that can help
Europe to stay globally competitive.
ow in its second year, the EUTOP50 Founders
and Tech Festival invites not only startups
and scale ups, but also R&D innovators from
European (Horizon2020) and national research
programmes, and university technology developers
from across Europe to promote their innovations. As
a particular highlight, we are launching a mentorship
programme for the winners of the EUtop50 competition.
This unique programme is run by carefully selected
Young Innovation Leaders who are award-winning
entrepreneurs that have launched their startups at a
young age, and now run successful companies having
brought their disruptive innovation to international
market. The winning startups get to beneft from the
passion and wide experience of these Young Innovation
Leaders in a six month personalised mentorship
programme to help them overcome their current
challenges and ensuring innovation across Europe.
Dr Roland Strauss
Managing Director,
Knowledge 4 Innovation,
Founder,
EUTOP50
Karolina Stawinska
Co-founder & head of talent,
Glowfy
Welcome