Frequently Asked Questions - AI Challenge

Who receives the €10,000 award per challenge? 

Each challenge will have one winner*, selected jointly by the corporate challenge owner and EIT AI Community at the end of the strategic gate review. 
The lead company behind the winning proposal receives the €10,000 grant to execute the proof-of-concept (POC) and must provide a short report outlining the achieved results.

*Take Root Bio will select the best application among all three challenges and proceed with that one challenge.

Can a consortium apply?

Yes, consortium applications are allowed, but one organization must act as the lead applicant. This lead entity will be responsible for submitting the proposal and will be the one to receive the €10,000 award. Collaborations with supporting partners can be included in the proposal description.

Who receives the funding if multiple partners are involved? 

Only the lead applicant (the company submitting the proposal) is eligible to receive the funding. However, the proposal may describe how the lead will collaborate and share responsibilities or outcomes with partner entities.

Are there examples of past winning solutions (e.g., for knowledge-extraction or AI-assistant challenges) to understand the expected level of maturity?

Past editions have featured AI-driven assistants, predictive analytics models, and knowledge extraction tools that successfully demonstrated a functional proof-of-concept in under 6 months. The focus is on technically feasible prototypes that can evolve into scalable applications - not yet full commercial products, but solutions that show a clear path to impact and integration with the challenge owner’s environment.

What happens after the proof-of-concept phase?

If successful, the collaboration may continue beyond the POC phase, potentially leading to long-term partnerships or pilots with the challenge owner.
This is determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the results and strategic alignment.

How can applicants ask follow-up questions? 

You can reach outo to ai@eitcommunity.eu for any questions you have regarding the AI Challenge 2025.