EIC and Alaian convene telcos and deep tech startups to hunt telecom use cases

Brussels, February 20th 2025

Summary

›On 12 February 2025 the European Innovation Council and Alaian ran an online Multi-Corporate Day connecting 11 EIC-backed startups with major global telecom operators.
›The event used reverse pitches, short startup presentations and pre-arranged one-on-one meetings to surface pilots, procurement and investment opportunities.
›Startups covered technologies from reconfigurable intelligent surfaces to distributed cloud storage, privacy enhancing tech, battery predictive monitoring and quantum-inspired AI.
›Organisers framed the day as a way for telcos to scout disruptive suppliers, but meaningful commercial adoption will depend on lengthy pilots, procurement processes and regulatory and sovereign constraints.

EIC Multi-Corporate Day with Alaian: a curated marketplace for telecom innovation

On 12 February 2025 the European Innovation Council, working with Alaian, the open innovation consortium of leading telecom operators, held a Multi-Corporate Day aimed at matching early and mid-stage deep tech companies with decision makers from the telecom sector. The online event brought together 11 EIC-backed startups and representatives from Alaian members including Cellnex Telecom, DU, KPN, MTN, NGP Capital, NOS, Omantel, Orange, STC, Telefónica, TIM and Türk Telekom. The format mixed reverse pitches from telcos, five minute startup presentations, short Q&A slots and pre-arranged one-on-one meetings.

Why telecom operators take part

Alaian positions itself as a coalition for open innovation among operators that face common technical, regulatory and commercial challenges. For members, the attraction is twofold. First, exposure to early-stage suppliers that may offer new capabilities for network performance, cost reduction or services. Second, a centralised screening process that reduces the time corporate teams spend finding and evaluating startups across many countries. Telefónica’s Open Innovation Manager, Ruth Oliver, said the exercise 'showcased exactly what Alaian is about - bringing together major telecommunications companies to discover the most disruptive startups' and highlighted potential outcomes including pilots, co-development and investments.

Who presented and what they claim to offer

Startup	Country	Technology focus and claimed benefit
Albora Technologies	United Kingdom	High accuracy geolocation for smartphones and IoT with submeter-level positioning capabilities
Battery Check	Czech Republic	Predictive battery monitoring software that provides real-time analytics for battery management, aimed at telco infrastructure and other battery-dependent systems
Cubbit	Italy	Distributed cloud storage that fragments and encrypts data across multiple locations; claims up to 50 percent storage cost reduction and improved security
Cybernetica	Estonia	Privacy enhancing technologies and partially encrypted database solutions; long track record in government and regulated deployments
Greener Wave	France	Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces technology with applications in SATCOM, telecom, radar and RFID
IS-Wireless	Poland	RAN and resource management solutions focused on private and tactical 5G networks
Linknovate	Spain	Team-based innovation scouting and monitoring tools to discover technology trends and startup opportunities
Multiverse Computing	Spain	Quantum and quantum-inspired AI solutions, including approaches to AI model compression and optimisation
PXL Vision	Switzerland	Identity verification and customer onboarding solutions including qualified electronic signatures
Quantpi	Germany	AI testing and validation tools for trustworthy and reliable AI systems
Vaultree	Ireland	Technologies aimed at protecting sensitive data aggregation and encryption for data in use and storage

Technical concepts explained

Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS):RIS are thin engineered surfaces that can dynamically shape electromagnetic waves. In telecoms they can be used to steer or focus radio beams without moving parts, potentially improving coverage in hard to reach areas and reducing transmit power. The technology is promising but still at a prototyping and early field trial stage. Integration with existing radio access networks, standardisation and regulatory aspects around in-band operation remain open implementation issues.

Distributed, encrypted cloud storage:Solutions that split, encrypt and replicate data across multiple physical sites aim to reduce dependency on centralised hyperscalers and to deliver geo-resilience and data sovereignty. This model can lower costs for some workloads but introduces trade offs in metadata management, latency and operational complexity. Claims of large cost reductions should be validated against real S3-compatible workloads and end-to-end total cost of ownership including network and support.

Privacy enhancing technologies, MPC and TEEs:Multi-Party Computation and Trusted Execution Environments are tools to compute on data without revealing it. MPC distributes computation across parties while TEEs run code inside hardware-isolated enclaves. Combining layers can improve confidentiality when exchanging statistics or running analytics across operators and third parties. Practical adoption depends on standards, developer tooling and agreement on threat models and legal responsibilities for processed data.

Radio Access Network (RAN) resource management:RAN resource management covers software that orchestrates radio units, baseband processing and scheduling. Open RAN and intelligent RAN controllers promise vendor flexibility and automation, but they also complicate interoperability, lifecycle management and security. For telcos, the key questions are performance under load, operational overhead and proven resilience in live networks.

Quantum and quantum-inspired AI:Quantum software companies offer algorithms that may improve optimisation and machine learning tasks. Quantum-inspired methods run on classical hardware but borrow techniques from quantum computing to accelerate certain calculations. For telecom use cases, the near-term value is likely in optimisation problems such as network planning and resource allocation rather than general purpose AI acceleration. Claims should be evaluated against classical baselines and measured on practical metrics like latency and cost per inference.

In-use encryption and data aggregation protections:Protecting sensitive datasets while allowing analytics is a longstanding challenge. Technologies that encrypt data at rest and in transit are mature. Extending strong protections to data while it is processed, for example through homomorphic encryption or encrypted enclaves, remains computationally expensive and often requires architecture changes. Vendors typically offer hybrid approaches where sensitive steps run in isolated environments.

Event format and matchmaking mechanics

The Multi-Corporate Day opened with reverse pitches from Alaian members who described strategic priorities and problem areas for which they sought external solutions. Startups then delivered five minute pitches followed by three minute question and answer slots. The event concluded with pre-arranged one-on-one business meetings intended to continue more detailed conversations. This structure is common across EIC corporate matchmaking activities and is designed to accelerate the initial screening of fit between corporate needs and startup offerings.

Startups' perspective and what they gain

For participating startups the Multi-Corporate Day offers direct access to senior decision makers across multiple operators and potential customers in one consolidated forum. Cubbit CEO Stefano Onofri said the event 'perfectly aligns with what the telecom industry needs right now' and praised Alaian for enabling cross-border scouting and market access. For many scaleups, these meetings can lead to pilot projects, procurement talks or introductions to investors and corporates with deployment capabilities.

Corporate motivations and limits to adoption

Corporates join EIC initiatives to widen their innovation funnel and to find specialised suppliers that can reduce costs, add services or address regulatory requirements such as data sovereignty. That said, moving from demonstration to network-wide deployment in telecommunications is rarely quick. Operators must validate performance in live environments, ensure regulatory compliance, integrate with existing operational support systems and sometimes consider national security or sovereignty implications. Procurement cycles, certification and long-term SLAs act as natural brakes on fast adoption.

Where the value and risk lie

The event highlights a pragmatic model for corporate-startup engagement. Value comes from early alignment and the ability to run focused pilots. The risk is that enthusiastic exchange at pitch events does not always translate into commercial outcomes. Key bottlenecks include technical maturity of the technology, the ability of startups to navigate complex procurement and integration tasks, and the willingness of large operators to invest in non-core suppliers when incumbent vendors remain easier to certify. Independent validation, realistic pilot scopes and clear go-to-market plans increase the chance of follow-up.

The EIC Corporate Partnership Programme in context

The Multi-Corporate Day is an activity run under the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme, part of the EIC Business Acceleration Services. The programme takes a curated approach to matchmaking and has run multiple Corporate Days since 2017. According to EIC materials, between 2017 and the earlier reporting period the programme organised 72 initiatives involving more than 120 corporate partners, and over 1,200 EIC-funded startups and scaleups have participated alongside more than 2,500 corporate representatives. The EIC offers a range of formats from single-corporate days to multi-corporate sessions and supports follow-on activities such as coaching, investor outreach and procurement support.

Practical takeaways for startups and corporates

Startups: come prepared with concise explanations of your target customer, unit economics and a clear pilot proposal that addresses operator integration and compliance needs. Demonstrate evidence from live deployments or realistic testbeds where possible. Corporates: set measurable pilot success criteria and commit small but meaningful resources to evaluate technical fit. Treat early partnerships as learning investments rather than immediate procurement replacements.

Next steps and transparency

Alaian and the EIC will typically follow the event with continued bilateral conversations, pilot agreements and possible investment dialogues. Observers should look for public announcements of pilots and procurement contracts to judge the long term impact of such matchmaking days. Reported claims of cost savings or performance improvements from vendors should be independently validated in real-world operator environments before being treated as proven.

How to follow and apply

EIC-backed companies can access the EIC Business Acceleration Services and apply for similar corporate matchmaking activities via the EIC Community platform. Corporates interested in joining the Corporate Partnership Programme are invited to apply through the EIC channels and to sign the programme declaration of intent that governs participation.

DISCLAIMER: This article reports participants, claims and the format of the EIC Multi-Corporate Day. Technical and commercial assertions made by participating companies are reported as presented during the event and should be verified during pilots or independent testing.