Coaching as a two-way learning process: how EIC coaching shaped ONiO's route to market
- ›Oslo-based ONiO used the EIC Coaching Programme to sharpen go-to-market, fundraising and internal processes and later reported its first million dollar orders.
- ›An outsider coach helped ONiO challenge assumptions, prioritise customers and translate cultural practices into repeatable onboarding and hiring processes.
- ›The EIC Coaching Programme offers free, three-day tailored coaching from a roster of more than 600 independent experts and stresses confidentiality and coach matching.
- ›Company claims about product advantages and BOM savings are reported here as claims and would benefit from independent verification.
Coaching as a two-way learning process
Startups are often told through the end results: funding rounds, partnerships and product milestones. Less visible are the everyday management choices and strategic reframes that make those outcomes possible. In the fifth episode of the EIC Community Coaching Corner the European Innovation Council highlighted a practical example: ONiO, a Norwegian Internet of Things company that develops ultra-low-power microcontrollers, and the business coach who worked with the company through the EIC Coaching Programme. The exchange illustrates how targeted coaching can shift priorities, accelerate customer engagement and improve fundraising outcomes while also serving as a learning experience for the coach.
Who is ONiO and what it claims to offer
ONiO is an Oslo-based semiconductor and IoT company that markets a microcontroller family designed for extreme low power operation and flexibility between energy harvesting and battery modes. The company presents its ONiO.zero product as an integrated package combining MCU, radio, memories and power management with the stated goal of reducing component count and maintenance costs for connected devices. ONiO reports early commercial traction including first orders totalling one million US dollars following its coaching engagement.
How the EIC coach entered the picture
Like many EIC Accelerator beneficiaries, ONiO found its coach through the EIC Coaching Programme. The programme matches eligible teams with independent business coaches drawn from a large roster. ONiO chose to work with Kaija Pöysti, a business coach and former entrepreneur who had grown a company to several hundred employees during her career. The pairing was intentionally cross-disciplinary. ONiO’s engineering team lacked deep fundraising experience and welcomed an outsider perspective to challenge commercial assumptions.
Practical coaching focus: time, customers and processes
ONiO and its coach focused on three practical areas. First, prioritising and managing time through better internal processes. Second, defining and reaching first customers quickly. Third, improving fundraising readiness by helping the team see how investors think. Kaija emphasised that good processes free time for strategic tasks such as customer discovery and pilot execution. She said coaches can help startups identify where to get their first customers as quickly as possible and to reflect on which industries or customer types are the best initial fit.
For ONiO the engagement included testing and formalising cultural behaviours into onboarding and hiring processes. That work drew on Kaija’s experience building a company from a single founder to a team of 260 over 14 years. Translating tacit practices into documented processes made it simpler for ONiO to scale the team and to integrate new hires faster.
Outcomes reported by ONiO and the coach
ONiO credits the coaching with both tangible commercial outcomes and softer organisational improvements. Commercially, the company reported receiving its first orders totalling one million US dollars after the coaching period. Organisationally, the team highlighted changes to onboarding and hiring processes and a more disciplined approach to customer targeting and investor selection. The coach described the relationship as non-hierarchical and characterised by curiosity, confidentiality and mutual learning.
Both parties emphasised coaching as a two-way process. Kaija stated that she learned a great deal from the companies she coached. That reciprocity underscores a practical point about ecosystem building. When coaches come from different sectors they bring fresh heuristics but they also absorb domain knowledge.
Claims and caveats
There are two important caveats to bear in mind. First, the outcomes that follow coaching are rarely attributable to coaching alone. Fundraising success and large orders typically result from a combination of product readiness, timing, sales effort and external market conditions. Second, ONiO’s technical and commercial claims such as percentage BOM savings and dollar amounts saved on alternative PMIC solutions are company figures. They illustrate potential advantages but merit independent validation in specific designs and at intended production volumes.
| Topic | Claim or fact from sources | Comment and caveat |
| ONiO MCU power figure | 22 microWatts per MHz | This is a company specification. Actual system power depends on radio use and power management. |
| ONiO BOM savings claim | Save 60 to 80 percent on bill of material | Example calculations provided by ONiO show savings from integrating PMIC and radio. Real savings depend on product design and volumes. |
| First commercial orders | First $1,000,000 orders reported | Company reported this as an outcome after coaching. Independent confirmation was not provided in the source. |
| EIC coaching roster size | More than 600 coaches | Source: EIC Coaching Programme materials. |
Why outsider coaches matter in the EU innovation ecosystem
The EIC emphasises access to a diverse pool of coaches so teams can find perspectives outside their engineering bubble. In Europe that approach helps firms prepare for cross-border market entry where customer expectations and investor preferences differ across countries. For hardware and deep tech companies the coach role often focuses on customer discovery, partner selection and business narratives that resonate with investors. Cross-disciplinary coaching can accelerate those conversations by forcing founders to articulate assumptions and to prioritize the clearest routes to revenue.
At the same time the coaching programme’s reported impact metrics should be read with caution. Promotional materials cite high satisfaction rates among coachees. Such figures are useful but they do not replace longitudinal outcome studies that compare matched cohorts with and without coaching support. Selection effects are important. Teams that apply for EIC support are already relatively advanced and resourced compared with the broader startup population.
| Coaching step | What happens | Practical note |
| Eligibility | Applicants and beneficiaries across EIC programmes including Accelerator, Pathfinder and Transition | Different objectives apply depending on the programme stage. |
| Access and matching | Search platform of coaches, request chemistry calls, select a coach | EIC recommends considering foreign coaches to broaden perspective. |
| Duration and cost | Typically three days of coaching provided free by the EIC | EIC organises payment to the coach. Additional paid support can be arranged privately if needed. |
| Confidentiality | Coaches sign a code of conduct and confidentiality agreements | Coachees should still exercise diligence with sensitive IP disclosures. |
Practical takeaway and how to access the programme
For deep tech founders the ONiO example reinforces practical points. First, process discipline such as repeatable onboarding and clear decision rules preserves scarce time for customer work and investor engagement. Second, a trusted outsider can speed learning about investor mental models and commercial integration pathways. Third, reported product and cost advantages should be validated in target system designs and at production volumes.
If you are eligible and want to explore coaching, the EIC Coaching Programme directs applicants and beneficiaries to a searchable coach platform. For questions contact the EIC Community through its contact page with the subject line 'EIC Coaching Programme' or visit the EIC website for more details and supporting resources.