Three finalists named for EU's InnovAid humanitarian innovation prize

Brussels, January 18th 2024

Summary

›The European Commission announced three finalists for the first European Prize for Humanitarian Innovation, InnovAid.
›Finalists are GOAL 3 B.V. (Netherlands), Humanitarian Logistics Cooperative (France), and International Rescue Committee IRC Deutschland (Germany).
›Award ceremony will be held on 19 March 2024 at the European Humanitarian Forum in Brussels with prizes of €250 000, €150 000 and €100 000.
›InnovAid is managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency under Horizon Europe and builds on a 2020 EIC prize for humanitarian technology.
›The prize aims to boost visibility and scale up cost effective, re-usable and simple technological solutions for humanitarian aid, but scaling and procurement barriers remain significant.

EU names InnovAid finalists as it bets on tech to improve humanitarian aid delivery

On 18 January 2024 the European Commission announced the three finalists for the inaugural European Prize for Humanitarian Innovation, known as InnovAid. The prize is intended to reward organisations developing technological solutions that help vulnerable people affected by natural hazards and man made crises including conflicts.

The finalists

After a selection process overseen by high level juries of independent experts, the three InnovAid finalists are listed here in alphabetical order by name and country of establishment.

Organisation	Country
GOAL 3 B.V.	The Netherlands
Humanitarian Logistics Cooperative	France
International Rescue Committee IRC Deutschland	Germany

What the prize offers and the timeline

InnovAid provides recognition and cash awards intended to help finalists scale proven solutions. The final ranking and distribution of prizes will be announced at the European Humanitarian Forum in Brussels.

Milestone	Date	Details
Finalists announced	18 January 2024	Three finalists named by independent juries
Award ceremony and winner declared	19 March 2024	European Humanitarian Forum, Brussels. One winner and two runners up will be named
Prizes		Winner: €250 000. Runner up: €150 000. Second runner up: €100 000

Why InnovAid exists

The Commission frames InnovAid as a response to rising humanitarian needs that outpace available funding. The prize targets innovations that are cost effective, simple to use and re use, and scalable across different crisis contexts. Beyond cash, the award is intended to provide visibility to projects and to ease redeployment at scale.

InnovAid in context:InnovAid is one of the European Innovation Council prizes under Horizon Europe and is managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, often abbreviated as EISMEA. The prize builds on an earlier EIC Horizon Prize awarded in 2020 for affordable high tech in humanitarian aid.

Commissioner statements

Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth said:With the InnovAid prize, we celebrate innovators that transform compassion into action to deliver more effective humanitarian aid. I am proud to acknowledge these three pioneers who are redefining aid in times of need. They exemplify the spirit of humanitarian creativity, pushing the boundaries to benefit the lives of vulnerable people in crisis.

Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management said:As one of the leading humanitarian donors, the European Commission is among others constantly striving to contribute to efforts aimed at delivering lifesaving aid better. During times when humanitarian needs have reached unprecedented levels and only continue to rise, as well as the humanitarian funding gap, investing in more effective and efficient delivery of humanitarian aid has is more important than ever before. These finalists represent the cutting edge of use of new technologies and collaborations between humanitarians and the private sector. I will be delighted to host them at this year’s European Humanitarian Forum in March, where we will declare the winner of the 2024 European Prize for Humanitarian Innovation.

Selection, governance and links to EU innovation structures

EISMEA manages InnovAid on behalf of the European Innovation Council under Horizon Europe. Winners are chosen following assessments performed by panels composed of high level independent experts. The prize is intended not only to reward newcomers and social enterprises but also to foster collaborations between humanitarian organisations and private sector actors.

EISMEA role:The European Innovation Council and SME Executive Agency implements the EIC prizes, organises calls, runs evaluation and contracting processes, and provides links to other EIC services including business acceleration supports.

Background and precedent

InnovAid continues a short line of EU backing for humanitarian technology. In 2020 the EIC awarded the Horizon Prize on Affordable High Tech for Humanitarian Aid with five winners each receiving €1 million. InnovAid is presented as the next iteration designed to highlight and help scale technologies that can improve efficiency and effectiveness of aid delivery.

A cautious assessment: what the prize can and cannot do

Prizes offer publicity and a funding boost but they are not a full solution to systemic barriers that prevent innovations from reaching large numbers of people in crisis settings. Scaling a humanitarian technology typically requires further investment, supply chain adaptation, procurement approvals from major donors, training for field staff, and local regulatory sign offs. Visibility from an EU prize can accelerate those processes but cannot guarantee them.

Why scaling is hard:Humanitarian procurement and operations are risk averse for good reasons. Technologies must prove safe, durable, cost effective and adaptable to many environments. A cash award of €250 000 is meaningful but modest relative to the cost of international scale up. Independent evidence of field impact is essential for procurement decisions by big humanitarian actors and donors.

What to watch after the award

Beyond the ceremony the meaningful metrics are deployments and outcomes. Watch for evidence that the prize winner and runners up secure follow on funding, embed their products in procurement lists of major humanitarian actors, document cost effectiveness in independent field trials, and sustain engagement with affected communities.

Practical next steps and event details

The winner and two runners up will be officially announced on 19 March 2024 during the European Humanitarian Forum in Brussels. The winner receives €250 000, the first runner up receives €150 000 and the second runner up receives €100 000.

Final note

InnovAid is a targeted EU effort to spotlight technology driven approaches to humanitarian aid. The initiative can help innovators gain attention and initial funding. It should be viewed as a useful step rather than a complete answer to the funding and implementation gaps that limit how fast and how widely successful humanitarian innovations are adopted.