From EIT ICT Labs to 28DIGITAL: 15 Years of Building Europe’s Digital Future
28DIGITAL was born in 2010 as EIT ICT Labs, one of the Knowledge & Innovation Communities of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). It carried a bold ambition: to make Europe a global leader in digital innovation. The timing was crucial. Europe had long been known for world-class research but lagged behind in commercialising breakthroughs into market-ready products. EIT ICT Labs set out to bridge this “innovation paradox” by bringing together education, research, and entrepreneurship under one roof — what the EIT called the “knowledge triangle.”
Laying the Foundations (2010–2013)
The initiative launched with five nodes — Berlin, Eindhoven, Helsinki, Paris, and Stockholm — and quickly grew with Trento (Italy) and London joining later. Its first years were about getting organised and getting recognised. The Master School was launched in 2011, eventually involving nearly 20 universities, while an entrepreneur support system backed early startups such as Finnish firm Innorange, which partnered with Nokia to manage people flows in public spaces.
By 2012, the network had expanded to over 80 partners, and the Business Development Accelerator (BDA) was created to offer end-to-end support for startups. Success stories quickly followed: Dutch edtech SOWISO and French video startup UbiCast scaled with EIT ICT Labs’ help, while Germany’s TestObject broke free from its domestic focus to expand across Europe. These efforts built a pipeline where hundreds of researchers and dozens of startups began moving from lab to market.
Creating Value and Scaling Up (2014–2015)
2014 saw the organisation launch its Idea Challenge, which drew 790 submissions across Europe and gave birth to future stars like Konux (a sensor startup later backed by Deutsche Bahn and the World Economic Forum). Finnish cloud firm Nordcloud also scaled internationally with EIT ICT Labs’ backing, later raising over $25 million before being acquired by IBM in 2020.
The following year marked a turning point: EIT ICT Labs rebranded to EIT Digital to emphasise its mission of driving Europe’s digital transformation. This coincided with the launch of the Silicon Valley Hub, enabling two-way flows of talent and startups between Europe and the US.
Sustaining Impact (2016–2019)
A new seven-year partnership with EIT gave stability to scale ambitions. The Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) expanded reach to emerging innovation ecosystems in Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland, Greece, and Portugal. By 2017, new nodes opened in Madrid and Budapest, while the accelerator supported over dozens of scaleups, some of which — like French autonomous vehicle pioneer NAVYA — raised millions in funding.
Education expanded too. MOOCs on Coursera attracted over 100,000 learners, while Master and Doctoral programmes produced graduates who launched companies like feelSpace, which developed a vibrotactile compass belt for the visually impaired.
By the end of the decade, EIT Digital’s ecosystem had grown to nearly 280 partners. Startups supported by its accelerator, such as Ariadne Maps and Hyper, were working with corporate giants like Deutsche Bahn, Ferrovial, Virgin Galactic, and Thales. The organisation had become recognised among the world’s top 5 public accelerators.
Expanding Reach and Relevance (2020–2024)
The 2020s brought new challenges — from global crises to shifting innovation models — but also fresh opportunities. EIT Digital deepened its RIS strategy, opening new offices in Cluj-Napoca and Athens, bringing its presence to 23 European cities plus Silicon Valley. The ecosystem swelled to 350+ partners, including corporates like STMicroelectronics, Raiffeisen, and Eurobank, and industry groups such as Women4Cyber and the European Green Digital Coalition.
On the education front, the Master School expanded to 22 universities, launching new programmes in FinTech for Business and professional training such as Generative AI Essentials. The Speed Master initiative offered startup founders a four-month intensive course to sharpen their growth strategies.
Entrepreneurial support also scaled: in 2023 alone, more than 60 seed-stage startups were supported, bringing the equity portfolio to 300 companies. Through growth services, EIT Digital helped European scaleups raise over €50 million in Series A funding in a single year.
Today and the Road Ahead (2025 and Beyond)
Fifteen years after its founding, 28DIGITAL now operates Europe’s largest open innovation ecosystem, connecting startups, corporates, universities, and investors. With 23 offices, a global hub in Silicon Valley, and deep integration into EU programmes like Horizon Europe and Digital Europe, it stands as the continent’s most influential platform for digital innovation.
Its dual mission — to educate the next generation of digital leaders and to accelerate Europe’s deep-tech ventures — has made it both a talent pipeline and a growth engine. As it transitions into its 2026–2030 Strategic Agenda, 28DIGITAL is focused on ensuring that Europe’s digital future reflects its values: openness, inclusivity, and sustainability.
What started in 2010 as EIT ICT Labs — a network of a handful of co-location centres — has grown into a pan-European powerhouse that has supported hundreds of startups, trained thousands of students, and built Europe’s largest digital innovation ecosystem. The name may have changed, but the mission remains constant: driving Europe’s digital transformation with impact and purpose.
