EIC and Cleantech for Europe agree to share deal flow and coordinate investor engagement for EU clean tech scale up

Brussels, January 25th 2023

Summary

›The European Innovation Council and Cleantech for Europe signed a Letter of Intent to share cleantech deal flow and coordinate investor dialogue across Europe.
›The partnership commits to systematic deal sharing, regular investor-public dialogue on deal making, and joint research on the European cleantech landscape.
›The move targets a persistent scaling gap for capital intensive clean technologies despite the EIC's €10.1 billion 2021–2027 budget.
›The agreement raises practical questions about governance, data protection, commercial confidentiality and how success will be measured.

EIC and Cleantech for Europe aim to speed capital to EU clean technologies

On 25 January 2023 the European Innovation Council and Cleantech for Europe signed a Letter of Intent to cooperate on accelerating funding flows to European cleantech companies. The agreement focuses on three practical strands: sharing relevant deal flow from across the EU, convening regular public and private investor dialogues to improve deal making, and collaborating on research and landscape analysis drawing in particular on EIC portfolio data that is publicly available.

What the partnership commits to

The Letter of Intent is deliberately operational. Its stated objective is to make capital allocation more efficient and to boost the chances of European clean technology companies to scale. The three explicit commitments are:

Commitment	What it means in practice	Primary beneficiaries
Sharing deal flow	Systematic exchange of investment opportunities identified across the EIC and Cleantech for Europe network so private and public capital can see a broader pipeline	Cleantech start ups and scale ups seeking growth capital
Regular investor-public dialogues	Structured meetings to exchange feedback and experience on deal making and programme design, with the aim of smoothing transitions from grant finance to private capital	Investors, EIC portfolio companies and EU programme managers
Joint research and analysis	Coordinated studies of the European cleantech ecosystem and of EIC portfolio companies using publicly available data to identify gaps and market needs	Policy makers, investors and intermediaries

Voices from the ceremony

Jean-David Malo, director of the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, underlined the operational intent of the partnership. He said cooperation with Cleantech for Europe would make deal flow sharing more systematic and help analyse the cleantech ecosystem. According to Malo, that should facilitate scaling of EIC-backed companies and help the EIC spot market needs that can influence funding priorities.

Jules Besnainou, Executive Director of Cleantech for Europe, framed the partnership within a larger industrial ambition. He argued that scaling clean technologies is central to Europe becoming a climate and industrial leader and said the partnership would allow public and private investors to "supercharge" their support of clean technologies.

Why this matters for the EU cleantech ecosystem

Europe has a strong innovation base in cleantech. Over the past decade startups and research teams in the EU have produced solutions across decarbonisation challenges, from renewable hydrogen and low carbon materials to electrified transport and battery recycling. Those technologies are central to EU policy packages such as the Green Deal, Fit for 55 and RepowerEU.

Yet many cleantech paths are long and capital intensive. The transition from prototype to industrial scale often requires hundreds of millions or billions in follow-on capital. That scaling gap is widely recognised and underpins the case for closer public-private collaboration to derisk projects, coordinate funding, and attract patient private capital.

EIC budget and instruments:The European Innovation Council was formally inaugurated by the Commission in March 2021. For the 2021 to 2027 funding period the EIC has a budget envelope of about €10.1 billion. That funding can be delivered as grants and, for later stage investments, as equity through the EIC Fund which co-invests with private partners.

How deal-flow sharing and dialogue could help

In principle, more transparent pipelines and closer coordination can reduce frictions that lead to missed follow-on investments. Examples of beneficial mechanics include: making higher quality information available to private investors earlier, aligning public grant timing with investor diligence calendars, and surfacing opportunities for blended finance where public equity de-risks a lead private investor.

Why joint research matters:Systematic analysis of the cleantech landscape can reveal sectoral funding gaps, regional imbalances, or recurring deal execution problems. That analysis can also inform policy choices and product design for instruments such as the EIC Accelerator or co-investment vehicles.

Limitations and practical risks to watch

The Letter of Intent reads as an important step but it is also limited in legal force. It sets out cooperation principles rather than binding commitments. Several practical challenges could blunt the impact unless addressed clearly in follow up work.

Commercial confidentiality and competition concerns:Sharing deal flow across public and private actors requires careful handling of sensitive information. Founders and investors often consider deal details commercially confidential. Any protocol for sharing must include clear consent mechanisms, data protection safeguards and conflict of interest rules to avoid disadvantaging either companies or investors.

Governance and transparency:Meaningful partnership outcomes will depend on governance. Who decides what is shared, who gets priority, and how success is measured remain open questions. Transparency around criteria for selection and sharing will be essential to avoid perceptions of capture or favoritism.

Metrics and accountability:A Letter of Intent is not the same as results. The partnership should define indicators such as capital mobilised, proportion of EIC portfolio companies that secure follow-on private investment, time to next financing round and geographic spread of investments to demonstrate impact.

Who is Cleantech for Europe and what they bring

Cleantech for Europe launched in 2020 to represent innovators and investors in the EU cleantech sector. The initiative hosts a coalition of venture funds and regional investor groups. It says it represents a network of 21 EU cleantech venture capital funds and regional coalitions. The organisation positions itself as a bridge between the cleantech community and policy makers, offering a channel to surface investor concerns and coordinate private capital.

Context from the wider policy and investment environment

The agreement comes amid intensified global competition for clean industry investment. Large policy moves outside Europe, notably in the United States, have shifted capital flows. European institutions have sought to respond with a mix of regulatory change, public spending and blended finance to ensure technologies born in Europe can also be industrialised in Europe.

Where the EIC sits in the EU innovation toolkit:The EIC is the EU instrument focused on high risk high reward innovation. It offers grants under programmes such as the EIC Pathfinder and EIC Accelerator and uses the EIC Fund to provide equity co-investments for scale up. It is intended to complement national programmes and private finance, not to substitute for large scale industrial finance.

What to look for next

The Letter of Intent is the starting point. Key follow up items that will determine whether the partnership produces measurable benefits include the design of data sharing protocols, explicit consent processes for founders, confidentiality safeguards, a timetable for joint research outputs and agreed success metrics. Observers should also watch whether the collaboration yields concrete pilot actions that channel private follow on capital into EIC-backed companies.

Actor	Role in partnership	Concrete resources or assets
European Innovation Council (EIC) / EISMEA	Provide portfolio visibility, convene dialogues, adapt funding priorities based on insights	EIC portfolio companies, grant programmes and the EIC Fund equity instrument with a €10.1 billion envelope for 2021–2027
Cleantech for Europe	Aggregate private investor networks, present deal flow and policy feedback	Network of cleantech VCs and regional investor coalitions, claimed 21 funds in coalition
Public and private investors	Receive pipeline information, participate in dialogues and co-invest where viable	Capital resources and market due diligence capabilities

Definitions and technical notes

Deal flow:Deal flow is the stream of investment opportunities available to investors. For this partnership it covers EIC-backed companies and opportunities surfaced by the Cleantech for Europe network. High quality deal flow sharing requires standardised data, founder consent and careful handling of confidential information.

Blended finance and co-investment:Blended finance mixes public and private capital to reduce risk for private investors and attract larger funding pools. The EIC Fund can co-invest alongside private lead investors to provide equity at later stages. Effective blended finance depends on transparent governance, aligned incentives and measurable additionality.

Scaling gap in cleantech:The scaling gap refers to the difficulty startups face in moving from demonstration to industrial deployment. Causes include long engineering timelines, capital intensity, supply chain complexity and regulatory approvals. Policy interventions aim to de-risk scale up and to shorten the time to market.

Conclusion

The EIC and Cleantech for Europe have signalled a practical willingness to coordinate. That could bring value if it results in better informed programme design and faster follow on investment for EIC portfolio companies. The real test will be whether the partnership translates into concrete pilots, agreed data sharing and governance rules and measurable improvements in the rate at which European cleantech firms secure growth capital. Absent that, the arrangement risks becoming a useful dialogue forum without material impact on the structural challenges that keep cleantech iterations from reaching industrial scale.