The Social Innovation Tournament recognises and supports the best European social entrepreneurs. It is organised every year in a different country to reward and sponsor European entrepreneurs whose primary purpose is to generate a social, ethical or environmental impact.
Four prizes are awarded by a Jury, composed of specialists from the academic and business world: General Category and Special Category 1st and 2nd Prizes of EUR 50 000 and EUR 20 000 respectively. In 2017, the Special Category Prizes will go to projects focusing on ageing.
Projects are typically related to combating unemployment, marginalisation of disadvantaged communities and promoting access to education in a wide range of fields, from education and health care to natural or urban environment, through new technologies, new systems, and new processes.
The Tournament runs in two rounds. A Selection Committee comprised mainly of EIB Group experts in innovation, the environment, and other relevant disciplines, selects 15 finalists. The finalists are invited to a mentoring bootcamp to provide them with the necessary guidance for the finalisation of their proposals. In the Final Event, all the finalists have to present and defend their project to a Jury composed of social innovation specialists.
In 2017, the Final Event, will take place in Riga, Latvia, on 21 September, where the fifteen selected projects will compete for the four prizes and several mentoring vouchers.
The EIB Institute, in collaboration with the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, also organised for the first time in 2016 an SIT Impact Bootcamp where a dozen selected social entrepreneurs benefited from a full-time executive training course focused on scaling, pitching and engagement with investors.
If you have any questions, please email .
For more information about the SIT, please click on the links below.