As you read through this Annual Review, you will see stories of how we mobilised the EIT’s Crisis Response Initiative, worth €60 million, by implementing rescue measures for our whole ecosystem. Financial support was deployed to more than 100 of our start-ups. Students and alumni were recruited by start-ups who needed additional resources. A network of on-the-ground support was put in place for students to cope with lockdown measures. Digital learning capabilities were rolled out to our partner universities. And, free sustainable energy education was provided to children around the world.

What’s more, we welcomed the European Commission’s announcement to increase its target for reducing carbon emissions from 40% to 55% by 2030. This news catapulted the importance of European industrial value chains and their role in helping us reach Europe’s de-carbonisation goals. Read about our role in the de-carbonisation of Europe here.

Like all businesses that fought to stay afloat during 2020 – we took all our events online. This saw our first ever digital version of The Business Booster, which launched in November as TBB.Connect. 1,200 professionals took part in 2,100 meetings, viewed 150 exhibitors, and watched 120 pitches spanning the entire business chain.

As always, a feature of our Annual Review includes some of the outstanding examples from our portfolio. You will read about CorPower Ocean, a global leader in wave energy conversion, who secured €9 million in equity funding for its breakthrough technology. Skeleton Technologies, the largest European manufacturer of ultracapacitor-based energy storage, secured equity funding of €41.3 million. And Northvolt, which is on a mission to build the world’s greenest battery, achieved a remarkable $2.2 billion of combined fundraising.

To read about many other successes achieved during 2020, please download the report.