EIC launches third edition of Corporate Partnership Programme with new dealmaking support and wider corporate reach

Brussels, May 30th 2024

Summary

›The European Innovation Council has launched the third edition of its Corporate Partnership Programme to strengthen links between EIC-backed startups and large European corporations.
›A consortium led by Hello Tomorrow with Dealflow.eu and EU-Startups will run the programme after winning an open call for tenders.
›The programme claims more than 1 200 EIC-backed startups and 2 500 corporate representatives from over 100 large companies have participated to date.
›The new edition plans 31 business acceleration activities over the next two and a half years and adds dedicated dealmaking support and improved project and data management.
›The EIC is inviting large European corporations to apply to become corporate partners but the programme’s headline impact figures will need independent verification and clearer deal metrics.

EIC reinforces corporate engagement with third edition of Corporate Partnership Programme

The European Innovation Council has unveiled the third edition of its Corporate Partnership Programme. The initiative, first launched in 2017, is intended to connect EIC-backed startups and scaleups with large, established corporations across Europe. The stated goals are to help startups secure customers and strategic partners and to give corporations access to disruptive technologies emerging from the EIC portfolio.

A consortium led by non-profit Hello Tomorrow and including Dealflow.eu and EU-Startups will deliver the programme’s acceleration services after being selected through an open call for tenders. The renewed programme will run over the next two and a half years and aims to organise 31 business acceleration activities during that period.

What the programme says it has achieved so far

EIC communications cite participation by more than 1 200 EIC-backed startups and scaleups and over 2 500 senior representatives from more than 100 large companies since 2017. The programme has run multiple formats of curated matchmaking events and reports a number of follow ups and deals, sometimes finalised within six months of contact. Those figures are presented as evidence that the format supports rapid commercial engagement between deep tech scaleups and corporate customers.

Data caveat:The headline participation numbers are specific but opaque on one important point. The EIC does not publish a standardised public dataset showing number of confirmed contracts, average deal size, or the share of introductions that led to concrete commercial agreements. That makes it difficult to independently assess overall economic impact beyond activity counts and satisfaction surveys.

What is new in edition three

The refreshed programme introduces three main changes according to the EIC. First, an enlarged set of corporate partners to broaden industry reach. Second, a dedicated dealmaking support service to help facilitate business deals before, during and after events. Third, the organisers say they will integrate best practices in project, tasks and data management to improve efficiency and traceability of outcomes.

Planned scale of activity:The third edition aims to deliver 31 business acceleration activities over 30 months. That is a measurable target but it does not by itself reveal the intensity of engagement per activity or the resources allocated to post-event deal execution.

Who will run the programme

A consortium led by Hello Tomorrow will provide the acceleration service, with Dealflow.eu and EU-Startups listed as partners. The selection was done via an open call for tenders managed by the EIC. All three organisations are known players in European startup-corporate matchmaking and innovation events. Hello Tomorrow is a deep tech nonprofit that runs challenges and events. Dealflow.eu provides corporate-startup engagement and dealflow services and acts as an intermediary in some co-investment and corporate venturing initiatives. EU-Startups operates media and events focused on European early stage companies.

Role of the consortium partners:Hello Tomorrow will lead coordination and event design. Dealflow.eu is expected to support curated matchmaking and dealflow operations. EU-Startups will contribute outreach and visibility to attract startups and corporate participants. These roles reflect their respective market positions but the EIC will retain programme oversight.

Who the EIC wants to involve from the corporate side

The EIC is actively inviting applications from large European corporations to join its ecosystem and participate in the Corporate Partnership Programme. The initiative’s materials set clear expectations for corporate partners to be mature, open to integrating startup technologies and able to engage in deal activity.

Corporate eligibility and format options:The Corporate Partnership Programme has previously targeted large firms with substantial scale and presence. Past EIC documentation and calls for partnership indicate corporate partners typically meet cumulative criteria such as annual turnover above €1 billion, more than 1 000 employees worldwide and presence in multiple EU Member States. Activity formats include single-corporate 'Corporate Days', sector-focused 'Multi-Corporate Days' and a 'Corporate Clients Capitalisation' model in which corporations act as intermediaries to help startups access their commercial networks.

How the programme works in practice

The EIC provides a curated matchmaking service. That generally involves analysing corporate challenges, scouting relevant EIC-backed startups, preparing shortlists, and facilitating one-to-one meetings and pilots. The renewed programme emphasizes adding hands-on dealmaking support intended to bridge the persistent gap that often exists between initial meetings and signed commercial or pilot contracts.

Dealmaking support explained:Dealmaking support commonly covers structured meeting agendas, negotiation roadmaps, legal and procurement guidance, pilot templates, and post-event follow-up support. The EIC says the new edition will provide dedicated assistance to accelerate contracts. How deeply the support goes into contract negotiation, IP rights, procurement rules or co-investment structuring will depend on the programme implementation and any constraints from public procurement or state aid rules.

Programme formats and terminology

The Corporate Partnership Programme uses a mix of in-person and online formats. Different formats serve different strategic aims. Single-corporate days are designed to generate the deepest commercial engagement with one firm. Multi-corporate days broaden sector exposure but typically dilute the intensity of bilateral negotiation. The Corporate Clients Capitalisation format attempts to scale deployment by leveraging a corporation’s own customer network to validate and buy startup solutions.

Item	Data / description	Source / note
Launch year	2017	EIC programme history
Consortium running edition 3	Hello Tomorrow (lead), Dealflow.eu, EU-Startups	Selected via open call for tenders
Participation to date	More than 1 200 EIC-backed startups and 2 500 corporate representatives	EIC public communications
Corporate partners engaged historically	Over 100 large companies including ABB, Airbus, BMW, Enel, L Oreal, Novo Nordisk, Roche, Shell, Siemens Energy and others	EIC programme partner lists
Planned activities in edition 3	31 business acceleration activities over 2.5 years	EIC announcement
Main claimed improvements	Expanded corporate partners, dedicated dealmaking support, improved project and data management	EIC announcement
Corporate eligibility cues	Large companies with global scale and investment experience, often >€1bn turnover and >1 000 employees	EIC Corporate Partnership Programme criteria

Context within the EU innovation ecosystem

The EIC Corporate Partnership Programme sits inside the European Innovation Council and the EISMEA agency which manages it. It is one of several business acceleration and ecosystem services the EIC offers to support scaling of deep tech in Europe. Curated corporate engagement is a widely used tool in EU innovation policy to help bridge demand-side adoption hurdles faced by startups, particularly in sectors with long sales cycles such as health, energy and industrial technologies.

A credible corporate engagement service can reduce the common 'pilot purgatory' effect where startups run multiple pilots with corporates but fail to convert them into commercial deployments. The EIC’s emphasis on deal facilitation acknowledges that matchmaking alone is rarely sufficient to secure sustainable commercial outcomes.

Critical questions and limits to the claims

The programme’s reported participation and satisfaction metrics are useful but they do not substitute for transparent impact measurement. Key performance indicators that remain necessary include number of confirmed commercial contracts, pilot-to-contract conversion rate, average deal value, follow-on revenue for startups, and distribution of outcomes across countries and sectors. Without standardised publication of such measures there is a risk that activity counts are conflated with economic impact.

Other practical constraints are worth noting. Corporate procurement rules and compliance needs can slow or block deals regardless of matchmaking quality. Intellectual property ownership, data protection, and liability terms are frequent sticking points. The programme’s promise of dealmaking support should be judged by how effectively it helps parties navigate these legal and procurement complexities.

Procurement and public funding rules:When public funds or EU-backed contracts are involved, procurement and state aid rules can limit how quickly and under what terms corporations and startups contract with each other. Programmes that offer legal templates and procurement-aware processes therefore have a higher chance of converting pilots into commercial relationships.

What interested corporates and startups should know

Large European corporations that want to join the programme should expect a selection process and a declaration of intent to join the EIC network. Participating corporates will be asked to present their challenges and commit resources to evaluation and pilot activities. For startups, participation continues to be limited to EIC-backed companies and the programme remains a curated pipeline rather than an open marketplace.

The EIC provides further information and application criteria on its website. Corporates that plan to apply should be prepared to engage beyond showcase meetings if they want to turn introductions into material deals.

Bottom line

The EIC Corporate Partnership Programme’s third edition formalises an expanded vendor and service model for corporate-startup matchmaking with added deal facilitation and a professional consortium to run activities. That is a sensible evolution given long standing commercialization bottlenecks for deep tech. The announcement is notable for its targeted delivery plan of 31 activities and for naming experienced private partners. However the programme’s longer term contribution to scaling Europe’s deep tech companies will depend on transparent reporting of verified deal outcomes and on practical support to manage procurement, IP and regulatory obstacles that routinely stall corporate adoption.

For now the programme offers a structured route for large European corporates to access EIC-backed innovation. Interested companies and startups should review the EIC information pages and the programme criteria to decide whether to apply and how best to align expectations with measurable deal outcomes.