Strengthening collaboration across Europe’s innovation ecosystem

3 July 2026
NEWS
NutriEV representatives at the EIC Summit and CBE JU Workshop in Brussels, fostering collaboration within Europe's innovation ecosystem.

In June, the NutriEV Project reinforced its commitment to collaboration, knowledge exchange and innovation by participating in two key events in Brussels that brought together researchers, innovators and stakeholders from across the European Innovation Council (EIC) community.

The first milestone was the EIC Summit, held on 4 June, where Philip Alexander Heine (Technische Universität Braunschweig) and Sara Mateo (Zabala Innovation Europe) represented the project. As one of Europe’s flagship innovation events, the Summit provided an excellent platform to engage with fellow EIC-funded projects, explore emerging scientific ideas and establish new connections within the European innovation landscape.

For NutriEV, the event offered an opportunity to showcase how the project is advancing research into nutrient-enriched extracellular vesicles (nutriEVs) derived from plants and fermented foods. By investigating their potential as next-generation tools for precision nutrition, non-invasive diagnostics and innovative therapeutics, the project contributes to developing new approaches to tackle obesity and metabolic disorders.

Just a few days later, on 10 June, NutriEV continued to strengthen its European network through its participation in the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) Cluster Projects’ Workshop on Food & Feed Ingredients.

Representing the project, Laura Sesma Aguirre (Zabala Innovation Europe) joined discussions focused on sustainable innovation and future opportunities for collaboration across European research initiatives. The workshop also provided the opportunity to exchange experiences with the sister project InteractHoMiG, alongside its partners Kristof Vandewalle (Inbiose) and Carlon van Gerven (Utrecht University), while exploring synergies within the EIC Precision Nutrition portfolio.

These two events reflect an important aspect of the NutriEV journey. Alongside its scientific research, the project actively contributes to building a connected European innovation ecosystem where ideas, expertise and complementary approaches can converge. Collaboration across projects is essential to accelerating scientific progress, identifying shared challenges and developing innovative solutions that can improve health and create more sustainable food systems. This collaborative approach is embedded in the NutriEV project through its active participation in the EIC portfolio, fostering synergies that amplify the impact of European research.

By engaging with researchers, innovators and stakeholders across Europe, NutriEV continues to strengthen its role within the growing precision nutrition community, helping translate pioneering research on nutrient-enriched extracellular vesicles into future solutions for healthier lives.