EIC Scale Up 100 and the Scaling Club: what was announced

On 1 June 2023 the European Commission announced the launch of the EIC Scale Up 100 initiative. The stated aim is to identify, promote and support 100 European deep tech companies judged to have the potential to reach a valuation above €1 billion. Those companies will be brought into the EIC Scaling Club, a curated network designed to deliver targeted business development, investor outreach, corporate partnerships and policy level visibility.

Structure of the initiative and who is involved

The Scale Up 100 action links a selection of companies to an ecosystem of partners and stakeholders. The Commission specified a minimum 'Scaling Club' membership of 400 quality ecosystem players split across four groups. Member states and Horizon Europe associated countries were invited to nominate companies from their ecosystems, with final selection managed through the EIC process.

Selection, sectors and link to existing programmes

Selected companies will be drawn primarily from high performing awardees of EIC financial schemes and other national and European innovation programmes. The action targets deep tech businesses in areas that support Europe’s green and digital transitions. Examples cited include sustainability with a focus on climate and energy, digital technologies and health. Member states and associated countries can nominate companies, but nominations still need to pass the EIC selection process.

Support on offer and stated ambitions

The Commission says the initiative will help companies to sharpen corporate strategy, reach strategic investors and partners, scale internationally and build relations with EU institutions and policymakers. The action includes two years of 'support actions'. The Commission published quantitative expectations for participating companies. These are framed as performance targets rather than guaranteed outcomes.

Who implements the Scaling Club

The Commission will implement the EIC Scaling Club with a consortium selected through an open call under the EIC Work Programme 2022. The consortium is led by TechTour and includes partners such as Bpifrance, 3ura, EurA, Universidad de Navarra - IESE Business School, Webrazzi and Hello Tomorrow. Operational responsibility rests with the European Innovation Council and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency EISMEA.

Context within EU policy and funding landscape

The Scale Up 100 initiative is presented as a contribution to the New European Innovation Agenda. That agenda sets five flagships including funding for scale ups, experimentation spaces and measures to address the innovation divide. The EIC Fund, the EIC's investment arm, was described elsewhere in EIC material as a major financing vehicle for deep tech with public capital and co investment mechanisms. The broader EIC ecosystem already runs the EIC Scaling Club programme which curates a larger set of scale ups and stakeholders.

Promises, plausibility and risk factors

The Commission sets explicit numeric growth expectations and frames the initiative as a pipeline for future unicorns. Those claims are headline grabbing and useful politically. For an informed assessment it is important to separate programme inputs from outputs and long term outcomes. Several structural challenges constrain deep tech scaling in Europe and temper the likelihood that 100 companies will become unicorns because of this action alone.

Other practical caveats are worth noting. The performance targets the Commission published are expectations of the programme rather than guaranteed outcomes. Attribution will be difficult because participating companies often receive multiple forms of public and private support simultaneously. The selection pool is likely skewed towards companies that already showed strong performance in EIC or national schemes. That makes it harder to determine how much incremental impact the Scaling Club produces versus what would have happened anyway.

Selection, evaluation and transparency considerations

The announcement says companies will be chosen among top performing awardees of EIC financial schemes and other innovation programmes. Member states and associated countries can nominate firms for consideration. The EIC process and criteria will determine the final list. The implementing consortium was selected through an open call under the EIC Work Programme 2022 and will operate the Scaling Club activities.

Practical timetable and operational details

The public announcement sets two years for active support actions. The 100 companies are to be selected from existing high performing cohorts. The EIC Scaling Club model itself predates the June 2023 announcement and has been running cohorts, events, roadshows and investor matchmaking in the preceding years. A prior call for partner organisations to run a Scale Up 100 coordination and support action ran in 2022.

How to follow progress and what to watch for

To evaluate whether Scale Up 100 meets its objectives stakeholders should track a few concrete items. These include a public list of selected companies and the services each received, independent baseline and follow up data on valuation, fundraising and hiring for audited cohorts, details of co investing arrangements and the names and roles of corporate partners, plus clear reporting on how public funds were allocated and what private capital was mobilised.

Final assessment

Scale Up 100 and the associated Scaling Club expand the EIC's toolbox for supporting growth stage deep tech in Europe. The initiative aligns with the New European Innovation Agenda priorities and plugs into existing EIC programmes and the EIC Fund. The combination of coaching, investor access and corporate matchmaking addresses real needs for scale ups. At the same time the headline growth targets and the aspiration to create unicorns should be read with caution. Structural constraints in finance, markets and talent make outcomes uncertain. Transparent data, external evaluation and careful reporting will be essential if the programme is to be judged on its real contribution to building durable European deep tech champions.