Bootcamp, Brand Camp and Demo Day: Jillian Manus on the EIC USA Soft-landing Programme

Brussels, May 15th 2024

Summary

›Fifteen EIC-backed health and life sciences scaleups travelled to San Francisco and Silicon Valley for an intensive EIC USA Soft-landing week running 19 to 24 May 2024.
›Jillian Manus, EIC U.S. Venture Advisor, organised a programme of more than 20 granular sessions with VCs, founders, university partners and industry bodies to sharpen commercialisation skills.
›Highlights included a deep immersion at Stanford Medicine, a Brand Camp at Goodby Silverstein Partners, and a Demo Day that was circulated to over 250 funds and enterprise partners.
›The Soft-landing focuses on people and narrative as much as technology, pushing European founders to sell their mission and team in addition to their product.
›The programme offers access to capital, social capital and ecosystem immersion but its long term impact will depend on follow up, matched investor interest and regulatory pathway work in the U.S.
›This activity sits inside the broader EIC International Trade Fairs and USA Soft-landing Programme 3.0 that runs from 2024 to 2026 to support EIC beneficiaries internationalising into target markets.

EIC USA Soft-landing: an intensive push to bridge European health scaleups to Silicon Valley

European health and life sciences innovators have been taking a concentrated crash course in Silicon Valley this spring. From 19 to 24 May 2024 the European Innovation Council ran its USA Soft-landing week in San Francisco and the Bay Area. The initiative brought 15 EIC-backed companies to the Valley for targeted training, introductions and pitching opportunities. Jillian Manus, Managing Partner at Structure Capital and the EICs U.S. Venture Advisor, led the programme and used her network to open doors at Stanford, with leading ad agencies and with venture investors.

What the Soft-landing is and what it does

Soft-landing programme defined:The EIC USA Soft-landing is a business acceleration programme designed to help international companies that already have traction to explore and enter the U.S. market without abandoning operations at home. It combines preparatory coaching, market briefings, curated meetings with local partners and investors and an on-the-ground immersion week to accelerate commercialisation.

Core activities during the week:Participants attended over 20 granular sessions led by venture capitalists, IPO founders, enterprise partners and institutions such as INSEAD and The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center. Each cohort spent time inside Stanford Medicine, took part in a Brand Camp at Goodby Silverstein Partners and presented at a Demo Day attended by leading VCs and healthcare leaders. The Demo Day information and company contacts were shared with more than 250 funds and enterprise partners worldwide.

Why Jillian Manus emphasises people and narrative

Manus frames the programme around People and Team rather than only technology. She argues that European companies often have highly respected science but weaker commercial narratives. The Silicon Valley emphasis is on founders and leadership as the primary investment signal. Manus says the cohort was trained to prioritise the mission and the team when pitching, a cultural shift that requires founders to present a clear Unique Person Value Proposition along with product details.

Commercialisation as a multi-step process:Manus set out a 10-step commercialisation checklist that the programme aims to address. The steps include market research, IP protection, product development, regulatory compliance, distribution strategy, marketing and branding, sales, customer support, scaling and continuous improvement. The Soft-landing curriculum is meant to cover each facet so companies can prepare for U.S. market entry.

Programme highlights and partners

The Soft-landing week combined credibility and networking. Stanford Medicine hosted a full day with access to the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub director, the Director of Digital Health at Stanford, and managing partners from Stanford Medicine's venture fund Catalyst. Goodby Silverstein Partners provided a half day Brand Camp led by Rich Silverstein. Other partners included INSEAD San Francisco Hub, The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, the Bay Area Council and the World Affairs Council. The aim was to give European founders exposure to both scientific and commercial gatekeepers.

Brand Camp purpose:The Brand Camp at GS&P focused on narrative development and messaging. Manus emphasised that U.S. investors often decide quickly on a company's 'why' and on whether they trust the team. The camp aimed to teach founders to lead with mission and to thread consistent messaging through all communications.

The cohort and immediate outputs

Fifteen EIC awardees took part. In addition to coaching and presentations, Manus offered to make warm introductions to three target investors or partners for each company. The Demo Day audience was intentionally broad, with invitations circulated to more than 250 funds and enterprise partners and with company descriptions distributed for follow up by investors who could not attend.

Company	Country
ABCDx	Spain
Actome GmbH	Germany
Akara	Ireland
Augmedit B.V.	The Netherlands
Bluedrop Medical	Ireland
Celtic Biotech	Ireland
Immunethep	Portugal
INBRAIN Neuroelectronics	Spain
NETRIS Pharma	France
Ligence	Lithuania
Luminate Medical	Ireland
Peptomyc S.L.	Spain
SentryX	The Netherlands
UroMems	France
Vitalera	Spain

Silicon Valley as a choice and its limitations

Manus describes Silicon Valley as an energy source that changes founder behavior and encourages bolder ambition. She says the Valley convenes multidisciplinary talent and investor capital that together can accelerate cures and commercial solutions. While the Valley offers visibility and capital density, relying on it as a single gateway carries risks. Regulatory hurdles in the U.S. health market, reimbursement complexities, and differences in data and privacy regimes are practical barriers that require specialised, sustained work after an initial immersion.

Silicon Valley tradeoffs:The Valley provides unmatched investor density and a culture that rewards audacity. That advantage can mask downstream challenges. For health and life sciences companies the path from pilot partnerships to clinical validation to regulatory approval and reimbursement is typically long and expensive. A successful demo week is a starting point. Long term success requires follow up capital, partnerships with clinical and regulatory experts, and a U.S. go to market plan.

Preparation, investor expectations and cultural gaps

European founders in the programme underwent rigorous preparation that included VC diligence simulations, iterative slide reviews and coach-led pitch practice. Manus highlighted a common European weakness in investor-facing materials where technical depth can outweigh narrative clarity. U.S. investors often ask first about why the company must exist and who is running it. European companies that can refine concise mission statements and demonstrate team readiness have higher odds of progressing conversations.

What participants gain and what to watch for

Immediate gains:Participants get access to capital networks, introductions to partners, brand and messaging coaching and deeper immersion into a high density innovation ecosystem. Manus tallied the benefits as access to capital, access to social capital and a deep immersion into the community of innovation.

Open questions and success metrics:A single Soft-landing week can only initiate relationships. Meaningful success should be measured in tracked investment rounds, licensing deals, pilot agreements and regulatory milestones achieved over 12 to 36 months. The programme will need robust follow up support, matchmaking and monitoring to translate exposure into commercial outcomes.

Context: the EIC International Trade Fairs and USA Soft-landing Programme 3.0

The Soft-landing sits inside the EIC International Trade Fairs and USA Soft-landing Programme 3.0, running from 2024 to 2026. The broader ITF 3.0 effort supports EIC beneficiaries across four sectors and in three regions by organising participation in trade fairs, coaching and pre departure briefings and by offering tailored coaching and follow up services aimed at internationalisation.

ITF 3.0 focus	Sectors	Regions
Programme 2024 to 2026	Biotech and pharma	EU, MENA and USA
Trade fairs and soft-landing	Health and medical care	United States and beyond

Services included in ITF 3.0:EIC ITF 3.0 provides end to end support including expert coaching for internationalisation, pre departure market briefings, cultural and IP training, networking support including B2B matchmaking, on site customised services and follow up mechanisms to build partnerships after events.

A measured view on impact and next steps

The Soft-landing week is a high value intervention and an example of how the EIC aims to export European innovation capability. It uses strong partners and leverages local credibility. At the same time the EIC and participants should track concrete milestones beyond the week. The most common failure modes for internationalisation remain undercapitalisation for long clinical timelines, insufficient local regulatory and reimbursement expertise and weak follow up on investor leads. If EIC programmes pair initial immersion with sustained post trip support and measurable KPIs the chances of turning exposure into enduring market entry will improve.

Where to find more information

Details about the 15 participating companies and the EIC ITF 3.0 programme are available on the EIC Community platform. The ITF 3.0 programme page outlines upcoming trade fairs, open calls and application procedures for future cohorts.

Bridging the gap between EIC partners and deep‑tech innovators: lessons from the EIC ACCESS+ peer-learning workshop and how the co-funding call works

2025-07-02Read Now