EIC and Cleantech for Europe push startups toward scale at Cleantech Forum Europe
- ›The European Innovation Council partnered with Cleantech for Europe to showcase five EIC-funded companies at Cleantech Forum Europe in Brussels on 8 to 10 November 2022.
- ›Five EIC-backed innovators pitched to investors: Carbo Culture, CO2BioClean, BlueHeart Energy, KoalaLifter and DazeTechnology.
- ›Investors at the event praised the technical depth of EIC-backed projects while warning that business models and policy engagement remain crucial for scaling.
- ›Cleantech for Europe said investor interest is shifting, with a slight uptick in early-stage deals despite a broader investment downturn across cleantech.
- ›The EIC promotes follow-on support through its Business Acceleration Services, Ecosystem Partnership Programme and ACCESS+ cofunding which can cover up to 50 percent of partner service costs up to €60,000.
EIC pitching at Cleantech Forum Europe
From 8 to 10 November 2022 the Cleantech Forum Europe convened in Brussels. The event combined policy briefings, technical sessions and investor networking focused on the technologies expected to underpin Europe’s energy transition. The European Innovation Council worked with Cleantech for Europe to give five EIC-funded companies a dedicated slot in the Innovation Showcases on 9 November. The aim was straightforward: introduce deep technology projects to investors and to the European policy community in a compact, deal-focused environment.
What happened on stage and in the corridors
Innovation Showcases are short pitching sessions designed to surface technically ambitious cleantech companies and accelerate match-making with investors and buyers. The EIC-only session put five awardees in front of a jury and an investor audience. Organisers and participants emphasised that much of the event’s commercial value was extracted off-stage where meetings and informal introductions turned into tangible follow-ups.
The companies on the frontline
Investor reactions and jury takeaways
Investor jurors singled out the condensed pitching format as one of the event’s main values. Christopher Burghardt from 2150 called the sessions a concentrated way to bring entrepreneurs and investors together and noted the high overall quality of companies. Kavita Surana of IST Cube highlighted that EIC-backed ventures often combine deep technical innovation with a viable business model, an important signal for funds that target seed and pre-seed stage deep-tech opportunities.
Why organisers teamed the EIC with Cleantech for Europe
Cleantech for Europe is a coalition of investors, start-ups and regional actors whose stated objective is to bring cleantech innovators closer to policymakers. Its leadership argues that closer investor-policy dialogue will create better conditions for European cleantech to scale. The organisation says the coalition spans more than 20 cleantech VCs and that events like the Forum can introduce new investors to nascent ecosystems as well as showcase start-ups to decision makers. The group has published briefings showing the sector mirrors a general downturn in investment but with a modest increase in early-stage transactions.
Policy drivers and the broader investment picture
Speakers tied investor interest to a growing policy push from Brussels. Initiatives such as REPowerEU and updated hydrogen targets were cited as demand drivers that can create markets for certain cleantech applications. At the same time investors and ecosystem observers cautioned that market signals depend on consistent policy implementation, industrial supply chains and public procurement that moves beyond pilots.
EIC support beyond grant money
The EIC frames its role as more than grant giver. Its Business Acceleration Services are intended to connect awardees with corporates, investors, procurers and specialised partners. The EIC Ecosystem Partnership Programme extends this by onboarding sector-focused partners that offer niche services such as lab access, technical due diligence, relocation and IPO coaching.
| EIC Business Acceleration Services metric | Value since 2021 | Notes |
| One-on-one meetings facilitated | 20,000+ | Between EIC awardees and corporates, procurers and investors |
| Deals reported | 595 | Matchmaking and outreach since 2021 |
| Investor outreach funds raised | EUR 350 million | Raised through investor outreach activities |
| EIC Scaling Club cumulative raise | EUR 1.2 billion | Reported since members joined the Scaling Club |
| Trade fair turnover attributed | EUR 42 million | Data from 2024 onward |
| Innovation procurement support raised | EUR 7.7 million | Out of EUR 28.4 million in submitted tenders since March 2024 |
A pragmatic assessment: what pitching events actually deliver
Pitch sessions are necessary but not sufficient. They create introductions and can accelerate due diligence conversations. Investors at the Forum praised the technical quality of EIC-backed projects. That said, scaling deep-tech cleantech typically depends on proving long term reliability in pilots, securing supply chains at industrial scale, aligning with procurement cycles and navigating regulation. Dialogue with policymakers is useful, but it does not replace the hard commercial work of demonstration projects and serial manufacturing.
Cleantech for Europe executive Jules Besnainou urged companies to use events to build a runway and also to engage proactively in policy discussions. This dual approach is sensible. Founders need to balance investor storytelling with the work of shaping regulation and public procurement that reduces deployment risks for buyers.
Practical follow-up and contacts
The EIC offered the session to demonstrate how its portfolio can be surfaced to investors and procurers. For those interested in EIC acceleration services, partnerships or events the EIC directs inquiries to events@eicfund.eu and to the EIC Community Platform where calls for partners and ACCESS+ application details are published.