EIC Corporate Partnership Programme 3.0: what it offers and why it matters

The European Innovation Council is expanding its Corporate Partnership Programme with a third edition that promises to intensify engagement between Europe’s biggest companies and EIC-funded startups and scaleups. The programme is run by the EIC Business Acceleration Services and positions itself as a curated bridge between corporate open innovation teams and EIC-backed deep tech companies. EIC materials highlight a long list of corporate participants since 2017 and say the initiative helps convert meetings into commercial deals. The new 3.0 edition adds more activities and dedicated support for deal-making.

Programme scale, reported results and who has taken part

The EIC states that between 2017 and 2025 the Corporate Partnership Programme organised 91 Corporate Days and Multi-Corporate Days, produced 2,493 one-to-one meetings and delivered more than 100 successful business deals. The programme says over 100 corporate partners have been involved and that the EIC holds a preselected pipeline of more than 6,000 EIC-backed scaleups across all technology verticals.

What is new in the 3.0 edition

The EIC Corporate Partnership Programme 3.0 keeps the existing matchmaking core while adding two notable changes. First, the programme aims to run 31 new business acceleration activities and grow the roster of corporate partners. Second, the EIC says it will provide dedicated deal-making support intended to facilitate business agreements before, during and after each activity. The stated intention is to convert networking and pilot opportunities into concrete commercial contracts faster and more reliably.

How the programme works and the engagement formats

The EIC offers several curated formats to bring corporates and startups together. Corporates submit strategic challenges and the EIC scouts and selects EIC-backed startups that match those needs. Activities usually include pitching sessions, one-to-one meetings and follow-up matchmaking.

Eligibility criteria for corporate partners

The EIC targets large European corporations with an open innovation mindset. The programme lists concrete cumulative criteria for participation. Corporates are expected to have more than 1 billion euro turnover, more than 1,000 employees globally and a presence in at least 10 EU27 Member States. The EIC also looks for corporations that already have experience in open innovation, corporate venturing or a corporate venture capital function and that align with the EIC portfolio verticals such as health, energy and sustainability, and digital and ICT.

Support for deal making and scouting

Beyond matchmaking, the EIC says it will assist with scouting, mentoring, and new deal-making services in edition 3.0. The stated goal is to help both sides convert pilot projects into procurement, strategic partnerships, investments or acquisitions. The programme also highlights tools and resources available to EIC beneficiaries such as the EIC GHG Tool to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and support sustainability planning.

Voices from corporate participants and illustrative cases

The EIC website highlights testimonials from participating corporations that point to the value of the format. Examples of corporate engagements include dedicated Corporate Days and Multi-Corporate Days with Galp, Siemens Energy, Neste, Saint-Gobain, L'Oreal, CaixaBank, Telefonica and BBVA among others. Those contributors emphasise access to early stage innovation, the chance to pilot solutions and the benefit of a curated selection process.

Representative quotes in EIC materials include:

“Working and partnering with startups is a central part of our open innovation model. Also, the EIC-backed companies selected for the event are some of the most interesting ones working on the future of smart grids and renewable energies in Europe.” Diego Díaz, Iberdrola, Global Head of Ventures and Technology.

“Our goal was to scrutinise and identify contributions from outside more closely; ask new questions and learn; shorten distances and be closer to all those we serve and interact with by working with the EIC’s innovative SMEs.” Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia, Group Chief Executive Officer.

“The quality of the EIC companies is very high. We have involved nine different business units from BBVA that are eager to know more about them. I’m very confident that we will come up with some collaborations.” Ainhoa Campo, BBVA, Head of European Venture Capital Investment.

Galp was the public host for the July 17 and 18 corporate day in Lisbon that started the 3.0 edition. Ana Casaca, Galp Global Head of Innovation, said the objective was to open the doors to new solutions and bring external technologies into the company.

What corporates and startups should consider before joining

For corporates the programme offers a curated route to early stage innovation but corporates should be clear about their capacity to pilot, procure or invest. Internal readiness matters because large organisations often need to adapt procurement, procurement risk appetite and supplier onboarding processes to move fast enough to benefit startups.

From the startup perspective the interviews published alongside EIC Corporate Days give practical guidance. Siemens Energy and Neste have stressed that startups should present clear strategic alignment, meaningful customer evidence and teams that can execute. Neste said it typically looks at companies at technology readiness level 6 and above and expects investment rounds such as Series A or B with financing sizes roughly between 1 and 15 million euro in its target deals.

Upcoming publicly listed activities cited by the EIC

Claims, evaluation and what to watch for

The EIC publishes a positive account of the programme and reports high satisfaction and measurable outputs. For example, EIC materials claim a 92 percent satisfaction rate among participating EIC companies and more than 100 concluded business deals. These are meaningful indicators but they should be read with a critical perspective. The EIC is both promoter and operator of these services and publicly available documentation does not include independent verification of the number or value of post-event commercial contracts or the share of pilots that convert to paid deployments over time.

Policymakers and corporate procurement officers should look for more granular data on the types of deals concluded, average deal sizes and timelines to contract. Startups should ask for clarity on procurement terms, IP arrangements and pilot-to-procurement conversion rates before committing time and equity to pilots.

How to express interest and the onboarding process for corporates

The EIC encourages large corporations with an open innovation spirit to join the programme. Corporates are asked to sign a Declaration of Intent and to complete an intake form that collects basic organisational information including turnover, number of employees, countries of presence and experience working with startups. Corporates are also asked to indicate whether they have an open innovation team or a corporate venture capital function and to describe priority topics for collaboration. The EIC provides a scouting link to browse the EIC portfolio and a registration form for corporates to express interest in specific upcoming events or to propose an individual Corporate Day.

Context within the European innovation ecosystem

The programme sits within a wider policy push across the EU to strengthen deep tech scaleup pathways, close the gap between invention and industrial deployment and increase access to private markets and corporate procurement. The EIC operates alongside other EU innovation instruments such as the EIC Fund, Horizon research grants and public procurement innovation pilots. Corporate engagement is an important lever to help startups reach customers and industrial scale in Europe, where large industrial buyers can accelerate diffusion.

That said, converting pilots into scaled commercial relationships in regulated procurement environments remains challenging. The success of initiatives such as the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme will depend on legal and procurement adjustments within participating corporates, patient governance from both sides and transparent follow up data that allows independent assessment of outcomes.

Risks and suggestions for improving transparency

The EIC should consider publishing more detailed, independently audited data on post-event outcomes. Useful metrics would include the number of pilots initiated, the share progressing to paid contracts, average value of contracts, time from pilot to contract and sector breakdown. This would help measure real economic impact and inform best practices in corporate startup collaboration.

Conclusions

The EIC Corporate Partnership Programme 3.0 is a scaled up attempt to systematise corporate engagement with EIC-backed startups in Europe. Its curated approach and emphasis on building deal-making support respond to widely reported barriers that startups face when selling to large firms. The programme offers a clear route for corporates that meet the size and geographic criteria to access vetted deep tech companies. At the same time independent assessment of outcomes and more transparent post-event reporting would strengthen confidence that the programme produces durable industrial adoption and measurable economic impact.

Contact and next steps

Corporates interested in participating are invited to contact the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme via the EIC Community contact page and to complete the registration/intake form. Startups who are EIC beneficiaries can use the EIC channels to be considered for curated matchmaking and to access services such as the EIC GHG Tool and business acceleration services.