EIC ePitching for ICT startups: call for investors to join the 8 September 2022 online event

Brussels, August 10th 2022

Summary

›The European Innovation Council invites qualified investors to an online ePitching event on 8 September 2022 to hear ICT companies from the EIC portfolio.
›Applications for investor participation were open until 25 August 2022 and organisers encouraged investors to join the EIC Co-Investment Platform.
›Featured companies cover VR training, visual search, voice virtualization, quantum software for finance, edge ML for networking, AI project management assistants, and real time patient flow systems.
›The event sits under the new EIC Ecosystem Partnerships and Co-Investment Support Programme which aims to improve investor matchmaking and co-investment readiness.

EIC ePitching on ICT: what investors need to know

The European Innovation Council ran an online ePitching session on 8 September 2022 to present a curated set of Information and Communications Technology companies from its portfolio to qualified investors. The invitation targeted investors with prior activity in ICT such as venture capital funds, corporate venture arms, family offices and business angels. The initiative was promoted as part of a broader push to encourage co-investment alongside the EIC Fund and to prepare EIC beneficiaries to engage with private investors.

Event logistics and registration

The online event was scheduled for 8 September 2022 at 13:30 Central European Time. Interested investors were asked to register and to apply by 25 August 2022. The organisers recommended registering on the EIC Co-Investment Platform to increase the chance of follow-up and to use the EIC’s investor matching services. Registration forms collected standard investor profiling details such as organisation type, preferred stages and ticket sizes, geographic preferences and whether the investor typically leads rounds or follows.

Who the organisers wanted in the virtual room

The EIC specified it wanted qualified investors active in ICT. Examples included venture capital firms, corporate venture capital, family offices, private equity and angel investors. The event was explicitly a business development and investor outreach activity rather than a public showcase. Attendees were encouraged to opt into EIC communications and join the EIC investor CRM to receive sector specific invitations such as ePitchings and roundtable events.

Featured companies and technologies

The EIC presented a short list of ICT companies from its portfolio. The group reflected a range of deep tech and applied AI approaches that are typical of EIC-backed projects. The companies included Scandinavian VR software for training, German visual search, Italian voice synthesis, Spanish quantum software for finance, ML for adaptive networking, an AI project management assistant and a real time location system for hospitals.

Company	Country	Technology and use case	Why investors might care
Gleechi AB	Sweden	No-code platform for interactive VR metaverse training, with academic research pedigree	Addresses market for immersive training in healthcare and other sectors with usability and research validation
Nyris	Germany	Visual search platform that finds products and parts using image input instead of text	Targets friction in product and spare parts discovery, relevant for e-commerce and industrial supply chains
VOISEED	Italy	AI driven expressive speech synthesis with cross-language style transfer and voice design	Enables lower-cost dubbing and expressive audio production across languages and voices
Multiverse Computing	Spain	Quantum software for finance including portfolio optimisation, risk analysis and market simulation	Addresses complex computational problems in finance where quantum-enhanced methods can add value
Compira Labs	Spain	Machine learning stack deployed at the network edge to improve user experience for streaming, gaming and telework	Edge optimisation can reduce latency and resource usage meaningfully for service providers
Lili.ai	Unknown	AI virtual assistant specialised in project management that extracts weak signals and reuses knowledge from past projects	AI augmented project management can increase productivity across enterprises if it handles sparse, noisy data reliably
MYSPHERA	Spain	Real time location system for patient flow and asset tracking in hospitals	Health operations optimisation is high value if it demonstrably reduces delays and staff time

Visual search explained:Visual search replaces or augments text queries with image inputs. For commerce and procurement this can reduce ambiguity when users need to find specific parts, components or visually complex products. The technology typically combines computer vision models with indexed product image databases and metadata reconciliation to return the best matches.

Quantum computing for finance distilled:Commercial quantum computing is still nascent. Software firms in this space provide quantum algorithms and hybrid quantum-classical toolchains that aim to tackle optimisation, Monte Carlo simulation and machine learning tasks where conventional methods struggle. Investors should distinguish between near term software value that runs on classical or near-term quantum hardware and longer horizon bets that depend on fault tolerant quantum machines.

Edge ML and network optimisation:Deploying machine learning at the network edge means running inference or lightweight models close to users rather than in centralized clouds. This reduces latency and can improve user experience for streaming, gaming and telemedicine. Business models often depend on telecom or CDN partnerships and the ability to integrate with operator infrastructure.

How this event fits into the EIC’s investor ecosystem

The ePitching was presented under the EIC Ecosystem Partnerships and Co-Investment Support Programme. That programme expands the EIC’s Business Acceleration Services by building a network of specialised partners and by promoting co-investment with the EIC Fund. Its stated aims are to prepare EIC beneficiaries to interact with investors and to enable matchmaking through dedicated events. The activity is one of several EIC instruments intended to move companies from grant funding to follow-on private capital.

EIC Fund and co-investment model:The EIC Fund is an equity investor that co-invests alongside private capital. The model is intended to de-risk participation for private investors and to mobilise additional funding into European deep tech companies. The EIC also runs Business Acceleration Services offering coaching, procurement support and trade fair exposure to portfolio companies. Past EIC communications reported co-investment leverage metrics and summaries of deals but investors should evaluate each opportunity on its own merits.

Partnerships, data handling and third party roles

The EIC and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency act as data controllers for application and investor matchmaking processes. For the investment component the EIC Fund and EISMEA are joint controllers. The EIC and its fund use third party service providers and partners to support selection, due diligence, investor outreach and pitching activities. Notable named partners in the EIC data protection notice include the European Investment Bank as investment adviser, Alter Domus for know your company checks and accounting, and Dealflow.eu for investor presentation and dealflow management.

Role of EIB, Alter Domus and Dealflow in brief:The European Investment Bank provides investment advisory services and helps with due diligence for the EIC Fund. Alter Domus assists with company identity, valuations and paymaster duties for the fund. Dealflow.eu provides an investor facing platform to present portfolios, support e-pitching and help structure follow-up investor interactions. All partners operate under contractual confidentiality and data protection requirements.

Data protection, retention and user rights

Personal data collected during application, evaluation and investor registration processes are processed under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. Data collected includes contact details, CVs, professional information and in some cases identification documents needed to organise jury interviews or to enable access to physical premises. The EIC and EIC Fund outlined retention periods for different categories of records, with short term logs for interviews and longer retention for funded projects. Applicants and investors retain rights of access, rectification, restriction and objection and can contact EISMEA or the EIC Fund data protection officers or the European Data Protection Supervisor where appropriate.

What to look out for as an investor

Participation in an EIC ePitching can be a useful sourcing channel. The EIC screens and curates companies and provides ecosystem context. However investors should treat presentations as early screening material rather than complete diligence. Key follow-ups should include independent technical review, customer and reference checks, market validation and clarity on capital needs and dilution if the EIC Fund participates. For technologies such as quantum and advanced AI investors should be clear about timelines and the extent to which near term revenue is feasible.

Practical next steps

Investors interested in similar future events should register on the EIC Co-Investment Platform and the EIC Community Platform to receive invitations to ePitchings, sector roundtables and investor-readiness activities. For EIC awardees and applicants the Business Acceleration Services provide coaching, procurement matchmaking and trade fair support designed to increase commercial traction and investor readiness.

Context and a critical note

The EIC offers a large and visible channel for early stage deep tech in Europe and aims to catalyse private capital. Policymakers frame the instrument around scaling sovereign capabilities and reducing fragmentation across member states. That stated goal is coherent with ecosystem needs. At the same time, investors should be cautious about headline metrics because reported leverage ratios and success statistics are aggregate and do not substitute for deal level analysis. The real test for the ecosystem is whether more portfolio companies achieve sustained commercial scale with diversified private capital and global customers.

Contacts and resources

For questions about the event organisers recommended contacting the EIC team via the EIC Fund helpdesk addresses published on the EIC website. Investors were advised to sign up to the EIC Co-Investment Platform, and to consult the EIC Business Acceleration Services and EIC Community Platform for details on coaching, procurement and internationalisation programmes.