EIC Business Acceleration Services 2022: activity, outcomes and what to watch next

Brussels, February 14th 2023

Summary

›In 2022 the EIC Business Acceleration Services comprised around 11 programmes and engaged 1,105 EIC beneficiaries across trainings, matchmaking and coaching activities.
›Key outputs included hundreds of matchmaking events, thousands of one-to-one meetings, dozens of follow-ups and early deals, and high self-reported satisfaction rates.
›Notable channels were corporate partnership events, investor outreach, procurement support, trade fair participation, and a large coaching programme that delivered nearly 3,000 days of one-to-one coaching.
›Reported metrics are positive but unevenly detailed. Definitions of 'deal', valuation and long term impact are not consistently disclosed. More granular transparency would help assess real commercial outcomes.

EIC Business Acceleration Services 2022: activity, outcomes and limits

The European Innovation Council continued to expand its Business Acceleration Services in 2022, offering a portfolio of programmes intended to take awardees beyond grant funding and toward customers, partners and investors. The service mix ranged from targeted training and coaching to curated corporate matchmaking and procurement support. The year produced a steady stream of events and self-reported results. This article restates the published outputs for 2022, provides context on how the services operate within the EU innovation ecosystem, and flags important caveats about the metrics and claims.

Quick overview of 2022 activity

According to EIC reporting, in 2022 the Business Acceleration Services included some 11 programme strands and engaged 1,105 EIC beneficiaries across activities. Programmes cited in the wrap-up included community trainings, corporate partnership matchmaking, investor outreach, procurement support, the Tech to Market programme, the Women Leadership Programme, ecosystem partnerships, international trade fair support, a GHG programme, and EIC coaching. Below is a consolidated presentation of the main output figures reported for each strand.

Programme	Events	EIC beneficiaries	Business partners, corporates or investors	One-to-one meetings	Follow-ups / Deals	Satisfaction rate
EIC Community Trainings	6 events on 6 topics	289	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Corporate Partnership Programme	11 matchmaking events	203	337 corporate representatives (eg EDF, Engie, Saint-Gobain, OMV Petrom, IKEA, Siemens)	31 follow-up meetings	2 deals originated	n.a.
Investor Programme	10 investor events	122 pitchers	259 investors (eg Amadeus Capital, Apex, Diffusion, Armilar)	307	n.a.	90%
Innovation Procurement Programme	8 events	70	101+ business partners (BME, Grupa Azoty, Health Proc Europe, RUAG AG)	17	6 follow-ups and 6 deals	n.a.
EIC Women Leadership Programme	2 cohorts	200+	7 EIT entrepreneurs participating	n.a.	n.a.	skills improvement reported 32%
EIC Ecosystem Partnerships & Co-Investment Support	6 matchmaking events	50+ startups engaged	300+ business partners	172 requested one-to-one investor-startup meetings	n.a.	n.a.
Overseas Trade Fair Programme	6 trade fairs in US and Asia	116	n.a.	3,663 business meetings	n.a.	94%
EIC GHG Programme	15 events	67	63 business partners	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Tech to Market Programme	6 Innovation Training Workshops, 2 Bootcamps, 4 Webinars	ITW: 86 Bootcamps: 93 Webinars: 256	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	ITW 72% Bootcamps 100% Webinars 93.75%
EIC Coaching	ongoing one-to-one coaching	621 applicants, 91 beneficiaries coached	n.a.	2,955 total days of one-to-one coaching	n.a.	n.a.

What the programmes do and why they matter

EIC Business Acceleration Services purpose:Under Horizon Europe the EIC positions financial support as a first step and offers BAS to increase the chance that deep tech projects scale and reach markets. Services are organised around three pillars, described by the EIC as Contracts, Contacts and Skills. Contracts refer to matchmaking and commercial opportunities such as corporate days and procurement pilots. Contacts means network access across corporates, investors and ecosystem partners. Skills covers coaching, mentoring and tailored training from early proposal stage through to scaling.

Why procurement and corporate partnerships are strategic:Public procurement and large corporate pilots are prized routes to market for many deep tech SMEs because they can validate solutions at scale and reduce the customer discovery burden. The EIC runs programmes such as SPIN4EIC, InnoBuyer and InnoMatch to connect buyers and innovators. Corporate days aim to compress match discovery. Procurement programmes attempt to open tenders and run pilots, which are critical but often slow to convert into recurring revenues.

Coaching and Tech to Market interventions:EIC coaching offers one-to-one business coaching matched to a founder or team with experienced industry coaches. The Tech to Market programme focuses on helping researchers move from laboratory prototypes to validated business models using bootcamps, venture building and design thinking. These interventions attempt to address the frequent skills gap between scientific founders and market execution.

Detailed programme highlights from the 2022 wrap-up

Community trainings

In 2022 the EIC Community trainings ran six events on topics including GDPR and Intellectual Property Rights, and reached 289 beneficiaries. These sessions are intended to strengthen basic compliance and IP awareness for early-stage innovators and were part of the broader EIC Summer School activities.

Corporate Partnership Programme

The Corporate Partnership Programme organised 11 matchmaking events in 2022. The activity brought 203 EIC awardees into contact with 337 corporate representatives from firms such as EDF, Engie, Saint-Gobain, OMV Petrom, IKEA and Siemens. The EIC reported 31 follow-up meetings and that two of those follow-ups had already yielded deals by the time of reporting. The programme has a longer track record dating back to 2017 and aims to produce pilots and procurement relationships.

Investor Programme

Across 10 investor-oriented events, 122 EIC beneficiaries pitched before 259 investors including names such as Amadeus Capital Partners, Apex Ventures and Armilar. The programme recorded 307 one-to-one investor meetings and reported a 90 percent satisfaction rate from participants. Investor outreach is a recognised multiplier for scaling but conversion rates from meetings to funding rounds are often not fully disclosed in headline figures.

Innovation Procurement Programme

Eight procurement-focused events engaged 70 EIC beneficiaries with over 101 business partners. There were 17 one-to-one meetings, six follow-ups and six deals reported. Procurement support aims to help SMEs bid for and win public and private tenders, and to run pilots with procurers. While the number of deals is meaningful, the wrap-up does not break down the size or stage of those contracts.

Women Leadership Programme

The EIC delivered two cohorts of the Women Leadership Programme in 2022, attracting over 200 beneficiaries. The programme reports a 32 percent increase in participant skills across areas such as team management, negotiation and pitching. The cohort included seven entrepreneurs from the EIT and 127 EIC researchers and entrepreneurs. This strand is part of broader EIC efforts to address gender gaps in innovation.

Ecosystem Partnerships and Co-Investment Support

Six matchmaking events engaged more than 50 startups and around 300 business partners. The programme received 389 partnership applications and facilitated 172 one-to-one investor-startup meeting requests. The aim is to widen access to accelerators, corporate partners and potential co-investors.

Overseas Trade Fair Programme

The trade fair support enabled 116 beneficiaries to attend six trade fairs in the United States and Asia. Organisers reported 3,663 business meetings and an overall satisfaction rate of 94 percent. Trade fair participation is an effective way to generate leads and visibility but lead quality and post-fair conversion rates are important complementary metrics that were not included in the summary.

EIC GHG Programme

Fifteen events under the EIC greenhouse gas related programme counted 67 EIC beneficiaries and 63 business partners for a total of 130 participants. The GHG programme is presented as a thematic strand addressing climate related technical and market challenges.

Tech to Market

Tech to Market in 2022 included six Innovation Training Workshops with 86 participants and an overall satisfaction of 72 percent. Two Innovation Bootcamps drew 93 participants and reported a 100 percent satisfaction rate. Four webinars reached 256 beneficiaries with a satisfaction rate of around 93.75 percent. The programme covers entrepreneurship training, bootcamps and venture building supports to move projects from lab to market.

EIC Coaching

Coaching demand was strong. In 2022 the EIC recorded 621 applicants and 91 beneficiaries receiving coaching, for a reported total of 2,955 days of one-to-one coaching. The EIC advertises a pool of over 600 coaches matched to beneficiary needs. Coaching is offered free of charge to eligible awardees and applicants at specific stages.

Case study in practice: Nanolike and Holcim

The EIC BAS materials point to success stories to illustrate impact. One documented case is Nanolike, a Toulouse-based IoT company that was introduced to Holcim through an EIC Corporate Day. The engagement progressed rapidly from the event to an NDA, to a proof of concept in Greece with key performance indicators evaluated in October 2021, to a rollout beginning in January 2022 and contracts signed with Holcim Greece and additional Holcim branches. Nanolike reported that the relationship helped it adapt product features for the construction sector and broaden market applicability beyond its initial agricultural focus. The company also reported having received an EIC grant of approximately 2 million euros in earlier support.

This narrative shows how curated corporate matchmaking can turn into commercial pilot and procurement outcomes. It also underlines why a case by case review is necessary to understand timing, contract value and product changes driven by pilot feedback.

Assessing the reported results and gaps in disclosure

The 2022 wrap-up lists a substantial number of meetings, events and positive satisfaction metrics. These outputs are relevant indicators for ecosystem activity. At the same time the published figures have limitations that matter for policy makers, investors and founders evaluating the EIC BAS impact.

Metric clarity and deal definitions:Terms such as "deal", "follow-up meeting" and "satisfaction rate" are used without consistent operational definitions. A reported deal could be an early pilot agreement worth a modest sum, or a commercial contract of greater scale. The wrap-up does not provide aggregated financial value for deals closed in 2022 nor a clear conversion rate from meetings to tested pilots to recurring revenue. That makes it hard to estimate longer term economic impact from the public summary alone.

Self-selection and reporting bias:Satisfaction rates come from participant feedback and are useful for service improvement. They do not replace rigorous outcome measurement. Participants who engage most actively and benefit may be overrepresented in surveys. Independent evaluations and follow-up studies would strengthen claims about systemic impact.

Time horizons and attribution:Many procurement pilots and corporate collaborations convert to commercial scale over months or years. Attribution is complex because EIC awards, coaching and matchmaking interact with many other support sources such as national programmes, accelerators and private investors. Longer term tracking of cohorts is necessary to understand what proportion of EIC BAS-supported matches become sustainable commercial relationships.

Context: how BAS fits the EU innovation ecosystem

The EIC BAS sits within Horizon Europe and is implemented by the EIC and EISMEA. The services aim to bridge common European gaps in deep tech commercialisation, such as the valley of death between prototype and market, limited access to strategic customers and limited investor networks for risky deep tech. Procurement support is aligned with broader EU policy goals to stimulate demand-driven innovation. Women-focused leadership support and ecosystem partnerships attempt to widen participation from underrepresented regions and groups.

What to look for next and recommendations

The EIC calendar points to continuing activity and an expanding set of programmes. For stakeholders seeking to evaluate or engage with BAS the following items would improve transparency and decision making.

Better outcome metrics:Publish standardised follow-up metrics such as deal value bands, pilot to paid deployment conversion rates, and funding raised by beneficiaries that can be attributed to BAS interactions. Disaggregate by sector and geography to reveal where the services are most effective.

Longer term tracking:Report cohort outcomes at 12 and 36 months after interventions to capture scaling and commercialisation trajectories. Include controls or baseline comparisons where possible to estimate causal impact.

Qualitative case documentation:Complement metrics with publishable case studies that document timelines, KPIs, contract terms and learning points. The Nanolike case is useful but more examples across sectors would help policymakers and market actors understand repeatable models.

How to access services and where to follow updates

EIC Business Acceleration Services continue to be available to EIC awardees, including Accelerator, Transition and Pathfinder recipients, as well as selected Seal of Excellence teams and other partners under specific agreements. Services are published on the EIC Community Platform, where events, open calls and the EIC Service Catalogue are listed. Interested companies should sign up with EU Login credentials on the platform and monitor open calls and the BAS events calendar.

Conclusion

The EIC Business Acceleration Services appear to have delivered a high volume of matchmaking, training and coaching activity in 2022. Early-stage outcomes such as follow-up meetings, pilots and a small number of deals are visible. These are promising signs for a programme built to accelerate deep tech commercialisation. At the same time the available public reporting prioritises activity counts and satisfaction measures over granular outcome and financial metrics. For a fuller assessment of value for money and ecosystem impact, future reporting should include clearer definitions, standardized outcome metrics and longitudinal tracking of cohort progress.