Nine finalists have been selected for the EIT Awards and will advance to the EIT Innovation Awards event as some of the most promising innovators within the EIT Community, which is described as Europe’s largest innovation network.

The EIT Awards honour innovators, changemakers and entrepreneurs across Europe whose ideas tackle global challenges linked to climate, energy, digitalisation, food, health, manufacturing, urban mobility, culture and creativity, and raw materials.

The finalists will compete for the top prize on November 25, 2025, in Budapest at the EIT Innovation Awards, with the event also available to view online.

The awards recognise excellence across four categories, which include the EIT Changemaker Award, the EIT Innovation Team Award, the EIT Venture Award and the EIT Public Award.

The EIT Changemaker Award recognises standout leaders and role models whose activities have the potential to generate significant social impact.

The EIT Innovation Team Award highlights groups from the education, research and business fields that are pioneering transformative products or services.

The EIT Venture Award acknowledges emerging startups within the EIT Community that demonstrate notable promise and growth potential.

The EIT Public Award recognises the community’s favourite finalist through an entirely public vote.

Finalists in the three main prize categories will compete for first place, which carries a monetary prize of fifty thousand euro, second place, which carries thirty thousand euro, and third place, which carries twenty thousand euro.

The Public Award has a single winner chosen exclusively by public vote, with voting open until November 25.

The finalists in the EIT Changemaker Award category include Farnaz Baksh of Estonia, who was nominated by EIT Manufacturing for developing the open-source Robot Study Companion designed to support students academically and emotionally.

They also include Laura Laringe of Germany, nominated by InnoEnergy for co-founding reLi Energy, which uses smart software to improve battery performance and lifespan.

The third finalist in this category is Laurie Lancee of the Netherlands, nominated by EIT Food for founding AtVenture Platform, which trains and supports new angel investors and connects them with underrepresented founders in order to help close gender funding gaps.

The finalists in the EIT Innovation Team Award category include the AI Automated Industrial Analytics team of Italy, nominated by EIT Manufacturing for creating a human-centric AI platform that enables early issue detection and supports data-driven decisions on factory floors.

Also in this category is the BRIGHT Project Innovation Team of Estonia, nominated by EIT Health for developing a personalised, risk-based breast cancer prevention and screening approach that makes use of genetic testing.

Another finalist is VoiceMed of Italy, nominated by 28Digital, formerly EIT Digital, for software capable of analysing a voice or breath recording to detect abnormal vocal biomarkers within seconds.

The finalists in the EIT Venture Award category include ABLE Human Motion of Spain, nominated by EIT Health for developing affordable and accessible motorised exoskeletons that support mobility and gait rehabilitation.

They also include Digiclean Solutions AB of Sweden, nominated by EIT Manufacturing for creating smart sensor technology that stabilises industrial fluid systems and reduces chemical usage.

The third finalist in this category is Sofi Alchemist of Finland, nominated by EIT RawMaterials for technology that recovers ultrafine mineral concentrate from process waters to increase output in mineral processing plants.