EIC Corporate Day with Vattenfall: 12 deep tech innovators pitched grid, heating and wind solutions to a major European energy group
- ›On 5 6 December 2024 Vattenfall and the European Innovation Council co-hosted an EIC Corporate Day in Berlin to connect EIC-funded startups with Vattenfall decision makers.
- ›Twelve EIC-selected startups and scaleups from seven countries pitched technologies across wind power, energy grid management and heating and then held one on one meetings with Vattenfall business units.
- ›The EIC Corporate Partnership Programme has run more than 70 initiatives since 2017 and reports rapid follow ups and business impact within six months for participating startups.
- ›Participating companies included firms working on redox flow batteries, PMU-based distribution grid monitoring, SOEC electrolysis, flywheel storage, thermal heat batteries and biochar carbon removal.
- ›The event underlines growing interest from large utilities in deep tech pilots but practical barriers remain around procurement cycles, integration and scale up.
EIC Corporate Day with Vattenfall
On 5 and 6 December 2024 the European Innovation Council and Vattenfall staged a Corporate Day at Vattenfall’s Germany headquarters in Berlin. The purpose was explicit. After months of scouting and vetting, EIC-selected startups and scaleups were given a platform to present commercialisable solutions that could help Vattenfall reach its sustainability and operational targets.
Why Vattenfall and the EIC partnered
Vattenfall is a major European producer and retailer of electricity and heat with operations across Sweden Germany the Netherlands Denmark the United Kingdom and Finland. The company frames its transition agenda under the slogan Fossil Freedom and has an active procurement and R D pipeline to reduce its carbon footprint and develop new business models. The EIC Corporate Partnership Programme has been working with Vattenfall for months to identify technologies relevant to the utility’s needs in wind power energy grid management and heating.
The Berlin event and format
Twelve startups and scaleups selected from the EIC portfolio pitched to senior Vattenfall decision makers from several geographies and business units. The session included short pitches followed by one to one meetings. Mali M. Baum an EIC Board member introduced the day and emphasised that the participating companies had been curated for specific collaboration attempts with Vattenfall. Vattenfall’s Procurement Manager Offshore and Wind in Denmark Chista Bella Tuyisabe was quoted saying the EIC’s knowledge and long term investment in companies gives confidence that the right profiles get presented. The event was recorded and a short video made available by the EIC.
Companies selected by Vattenfall
Vattenfall selected 12 companies from the EIC portfolio. They represented seven countries and a range of technologies aimed at generation storage grid management and industrial heating.
| Company | Country | Technology focus and short description |
| ADAPTIVE BALANCING POWER GMBH | Germany | Focused on grid balancing solutions and services. Company materials indicate activity in operational flexibility and ancillary services. |
| CARBO CULTURE OY | Finland | Patented carbolysis reactor that converts waste biomass into stable biochar locking carbon for long durations while recovering renewable heat and energy. |
| DYNELECTRO APS | Denmark | Developer of solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) systems. Company claims dynamic operation high electrical efficiency and extended stack lifetime enabling industrial scale hydrogen production. |
| EOLOGIX SENSOR TECHNOLOGY GMBH | Austria | Sensor and monitoring company active in grid or energy applications according to company profile. |
| GBM WORKS B.V. | Netherlands | Developer of Vibrojet technology for silent offshore monopile installation combining vibration and water jetting to reduce installation noise and environmental impact. |
| KRAFTBLOCK GMBH | Germany | Supplier of high temperature thermal energy storage for industry capable of delivering steam hot air thermal oil or hot water at up to 1 300 °C for process heat decarbonisation. |
| MAGMENT GMBH | Germany | Developer in the long duration electrochemical storage space. Company materials describe work on metal based battery systems for grid scale storage. |
| QARNOT COMPUTING | France | Provider of distributed low carbon cloud HPC services. Builds on an architecture that reuses compute waste heat and offers carbon reporting for simulations and engineering workloads. |
| TERALOOP OY | Finland | Manufacturer of flywheel energy storage systems for fast frequency response grid services and short to medium duration power delivery. |
| TWAICE TECHNOLOGIES GMBH | Germany | Specialist in battery analytics digital twins and lifecycle management to improve performance and reduce operating costs for battery assets. |
| VANEVO GMBH | Germany | Developer of redox flow battery stacks and modular systems. Company highlights lower cycle costs nonflammable aqueous electrolytes and scalable module designs for long duration storage. |
| Zaphiro Technologies SA | Switzerland | Provider of SynchroGuard a distribution grid monitoring and automation solution using Phasor Measurement Unit technology adapted for distribution networks to improve visibility and fault location. |
Selected technologies explained
Event feedback and what startups said
Carbo Culture described the programme as valuable because it gave the startup access to a broad range of Vattenfall personas. The company emphasised that meeting different functions inside a large utility helps clarify potential pilot routes and commercial discussions. Vattenfall’s Chista Bella Tuyisabe said the EIC’s long standing portfolio knowledge and investment activity gives confidence that the right companies are brought forward.
Practical implications and a cautious assessment
Corporate days are a practical mechanism to shorten discovery cycles between deep tech teams and buyers in large incumbents. EIC metrics highlight frequent follow ups pilots and proofs of concept within months of such engagements. That said moving from engagement to commercial deployment often reveals slower friction points. Procurement cycles regulatory approvals integration engineering and the need for multi site pilots can extend timelines. Startups still face the hard work of converting interest into repeatable contracts and of surviving long lead times.
For corporates the appeal is clear: curated access to EIC vetted innovations and a managed introduction process. For public programmes like the EIC there is a balancing act between promoting fast partnerships and setting realistic expectations about how many of these initial conversations convert to paid pilots or scaled procurement in practice.
How corporates and startups can engage with the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme
The Corporate Partnership Programme is open to large companies with an open innovation appetite that want to integrate startups into procurement R D or investment activities. Since 2017 the initiative has run many corporate days and multi corporate events. Interested firms can apply through the EIC corporate programme forms to propose thematic challenges or to join upcoming multi corporate days. EIC beneficiaries can also access the Business Acceleration Services events page and subscribe to the EIC BAS newsletter for calls and partner opportunities.
Takeaways for different audiences
Startups should treat corporate days as the first step in a longer engagement. Preparation for targeted conversations with multiple internal stakeholders matters. Corporates should use these events to frame clear pilot success criteria and to budget realistically for integration. Public programme managers should continue reporting short term impact metrics while also tracking medium term conversion rates to paid pilots and scaled procurements to give a fuller picture of effectiveness.
The EIC and Vattenfall event demonstrates continuing appetite across Europe for utility grade pilots that address grid stability decarbonised heat and industrial electrification. The technologies on show span hardware software and system integration. Actual industry transformation will depend on the quality of subsequent pilots regulatory alignment and the ability of startups to industrialise their propositions at acceptable cost and risk.