EIC pioneers steer the future of tech at IFA 2023

From 1 to 5 September 2023 the European Innovation Council brought 20 of its funded SMEs, startups and scaleups to IFA in Berlin. IFA is one of the world s largest trade fairs for consumer electronics and home appliances. The 2023 edition presented a broad audience opportunity for European deep tech companies to test messages, demonstrate products and initiate commercial conversations in front of a mixed crowd of retailers, industry professionals and general consumers.

Event scale and the EIC Pavilion

IFA 2023 reported more than 2000 exhibiting companies, 150 speakers and over 180 000 visitors from more than 140 countries. The EIC Pavilion was positioned inside IFA NEXT and aimed to highlight solutions that respond to major societal and market needs with a particular emphasis on digital technologies, machine learning, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things.

Who participated

The delegation included innovators from 16 European and non EU countries. The EIC curated a mix of consumer electronics, smart home devices, design concepts and IT solutions. Participation was selective and portrayed as an opportunity to form partnerships with global technology actors and retailers.

Programme and support surrounding the pavilion

The EIC also ran preparatory workshops for delegations and provided coaching and training in advance of participation. Organisers highlighted the opportunity for companies to use trade fairs as springboards to scale and to build contacts with investors, corporates and distributors. The next EIC trade fair delegation planned after IFA was GITEX in Dubai from 16 to 20 October 2023.

Voices from the floor

The EIC Pavilion programme featured talks and mentoring aimed at helping startups navigate scaling challenges. Kerstin Bock, EIC Ambassador and CEO of Openers, delivered a keynote titled Getting to the next stage of growth. In that session she emphasised the EIC s role in supporting European innovators to scale sustainably in global markets and discussed practical growth factors and common obstacles.

IFA Management s Managing Director Oliver Merlin previously described the EIC Pavilion as critical because innovation requires networks. He told the EIC that the pavilion would help start ups make connections needed to scale breakthrough technologies and predicted it would be one of the must visit booths at IFA.

What trade fairs can and cannot do

Tech focus explained

Measuring impact and the EIC s role

The EIC frames overseas trade fairs as part of a broader commercialisation toolkit for European innovators. That claim is consistent with the council s mission to accelerate market creation and scaling. The stronger evidence will come from measurable outcomes such as export contracts, distribution agreements, successful pilot deployments and follow on investment traced to trade fair interactions.

What to watch next

EIC OTF Programme 2.0 is a stepping stone ahead of the EIC International Trade Fairs Programme 3.0, which continues to position EIC awardees on international stages. Observers should watch whether participation at shows such as GITEX 2023 and subsequent fairs converts into durable commercial relationships. The ultimate test of success for programmes of this kind is whether participating companies achieve sustainable revenue growth and scaling outside their home markets.

For more detailed listings of participating companies, workshops and calls related to EIC trade fair activity readers can consult the EIC Community Platform and the EIC Overseas Trade Fairs programme pages. Independent verification of claimed commercial wins remains essential to determine the programme s real impact on scaling Europe s deep tech champions.