EIC session on leveraging intangible assets for growth: patent strategy, valorisation and investor readiness

Brussels, March 5th 2026

Summary

›Replay available of an EIC ACCESS+ session on how deep-tech firms can protect, valorise and fund intangible assets.
›Three EIC Ecosystem Partners covered patent strategy, technology transfer and investor due diligence.
›Grants of up to €60,000 cover up to 50% of service costs from the EIC Service Catalogue, with a total budget of €3.45 million until 31 May 2026.
›Eligibility extends to EIC Awardees and Seal of Excellence holders in EU or Associated Countries, with first-come first-served selection.
›Speakers underscored pre-disclosure patent filings, freedom-to-operate analysis and clean IP ownership as non-negotiables for fundraising.

From research to investable assets: what the session delivered

The European Innovation Council hosted an ACCESS+ educational session titled Protect, Valorise, Fund that tackled a core challenge for deep-tech ventures in Europe. How to turn intangible assets into strategic value for scale-up and financing. The event, held on 26 February and now available on replay, brought together three EIC Ecosystem Partners to address the lifecycle from invention to market. They focused on patent strategy, technology transfer and investor readiness.

Cabinet M. Oproiu, represented by European Patent Attorney Raluca Vasilescu, outlined when and where to file patents, how to align IP decisions with product and financing roadmaps, and how to avoid novelty-killing disclosures. Teresa Sixto Anello from FEUGA explored intellectual property as a strategic asset for collaboration, licensing and spin-offs, including readiness and valuation concepts. Elio De Tullio from De Tullio & Partners examined IP governance in due diligence, the link between clean ownership and funding outcomes, and practical licensing and IP-backed finance routes.

Intangible assets and IP in deep-tech:Intangible assets cover patents, software, data, trade secrets, designs, brands and know-how. In deep-tech, these assets often represent most of a company’s value. Effective protection and governance convert research outputs into tradable and financeable business assets.

Practical guidance from the speakers

Patent strategy: decisions before disclosure

Vasilescu’s core message was unambiguous. Contact your patent attorney before any non-confidential disclosure. Premature publication on a website, in journals or during investor meetings without an NDA can destroy novelty in Europe and elsewhere. She advised mapping R&D milestones to filing events and synchronising IP actions with funding plans. Early warning signs of under-protection include missing novel features in the specification and the absence of filings in key markets.

European Patent Office and PCT routes:The EPO provides a centralised grant procedure covering many European countries, followed by validation in target territories. The Patent Cooperation Treaty enables a single international application that must later be nationalised in selected countries. Strategy depends on markets, manufacturing locations, budget and time to grant.

Patent specification basics:Patents typically include claims that define scope, a description with embodiments and optional figures. Claims interpreted with the description determine the legal protection. Comprehensive drafting at first filing is essential to capture all inventive features.

Valorisation: turning IP into collaboration and revenue

FEUGA’s contribution emphasised how IP can enable different commercialisation pathways. These include licensing, spin-offs and co-development. Strategic management of background and foreground IP in collaborations is critical. Partners should define what pre-existing knowledge is shared, what results will be jointly owned and how access rights are handled.

Background vs foreground in EU projects:Background is pre-existing knowledge or IP brought into a project. Foreground refers to results generated during the action. Agreements must set conditions for access to background and exploitation of results to avoid downstream disputes.

Technology Readiness Levels (TRL):TRLs gauge maturity from basic principles observed at TRL 1 to a proven system in an operational environment at TRL 9. Correctly assessing TRL helps determine appropriate protection and market timing.

Freedom to operate (FTO):FTO is the ability to commercialise without infringing third party IP. It requires searches to assess others’ active rights, their territorial coverage and remaining terms. Investors increasingly expect evidence of FTO as part of commercial readiness.

Investor readiness: clean IP, clear ownership

De Tullio underlined that IP governance failures can derail financing. Missing assignment agreements, contractor-owned code or unclear university collaboration terms regularly pause or terminate deals. Early IP audits, inventor assignments and open-source compliance reviews reduce transaction risk. He also discussed licensing structures, valuation approaches and the growing use of IP as collateral for loans.

Why investors care about IP:Strong IP signals defensibility and reduces replication risk. Investors probe ownership chains, patent scope and enforceability, territorial coverage, remaining protection term and litigation exposure. Without credible answers, valuations suffer and negotiations slow.

Key takeaways: Protect, Valorise, Fund

Protect: build a patent strategy early

File before any public disclosure. Align filings with technology development and funding milestones. Learn the basics of protection in jurisdictions of interest. Recognise signs of under-protection and correct quickly, including refiling or complementary filings if needed. Use NDAs, but do not rely on them to fix risky behaviours.

Valorise: convert intellectual assets into economic value

Choose commercialisation routes that fit maturity and market context. Structure collaboration agreements to clarify background, results, access rights and joint ownership. Treat IP as exchange currency to enable licensing and partnerships. Pair TRL assessments with market analysis such as TAM, SAM and SOM to support positioning.

Fund: use IP to strengthen investor readiness

Maintain a clean ownership chain with signed assignments. Conduct FTO analysis before approaching investors. Prepare a credible IP strategy and a commercialisation plan. Consider non-dilutive revenue through licensing and, where appropriate, IP-backed financing options.

About the EIC ACCESS+ educational series

The educational sessions are designed to address recurring challenges faced by EIC Awardees and Seal of Excellence holders. EIC Ecosystem Partners deliver use cases and tools to help beneficiaries navigate specialised offers listed in the EIC Service Catalogue and to choose services aligned with their maturity and needs.

Co-financed access to specialised services: how the EIC ACCESS+ call works

The open call launched in November 2024 provides up to €60,000 per company, covering up to 50% of eligible service costs drawn from the EIC Service Catalogue. Funding is first-come first-served following eligibility checks, with applications evaluated in weekly cohorts. The total call budget is €3.45 million and the call remains open until 31 May 2026. All selected services must be completed by 30 June 2026.

Service packages and caps:Beneficiaries can combine services up to a cumulative €60,000 grant cap at 50% co-funding across four packages. Research up to €60,000. Skills improvement up to €10,000. Business acceleration up to €30,000. Access funds up to €30,000.

Package	Examples of services	Grant cap per package
Research	Access to infrastructure and R&D support, prototyping, proof of concept	Up to €60,000
Skills improvement	Coaching and mentoring, HR and talent	Up to €10,000
Business acceleration	Acceleration, incubation, venture building, business planning, matchmaking, internationalisation	Up to €30,000
Access funds	IP and legal, due diligence, fundraising support	Up to €30,000

Parameter	Detail
Total call budget	€3.45 million
Max grant per beneficiary	€60,000 covering up to 50% of service costs, VAT excluded
Application window	1 November 2024 to 31 May 2026
Service completion deadline	30 June 2026
Selection	First-come first-served after eligibility check; weekly cohort evaluations
Target number of beneficiaries	180 companies
Payments	Up to €10,000 grants paid after completion; above €10,000 split into 50% pre-financing and 50% after completion against provider invoices

Eligibility and application steps

The call is open to EIC Awardees under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe including Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator, as well as Seal of Excellence holders. Spin-offs from EIC Awardees may apply with documented links and written consent from the project coordinator. Applicant legal entities must be registered in EU Member States or Associated Countries. Co-funding must not duplicate other public funding for the same service costs. Only technological, business or research activities are eligible, not project management.

How to apply. Confirm eligibility, select a provider from the EIC Service Catalogue, then join the EIC ACCESS+ Community Hub to access the form. Submit the application to receive an electronic timestamp. The committee reviews applications in cohorts within seven days from the last application date in the cohort. Required documentation includes the Open Call Description, Application Form, FSTP Agreement, Declaration of Honour and Eligibility Criteria.

What the EIC Service Catalogue and Ecosystem Partnership Programme provide

The EIC Ecosystem Partnership Programme extends Business Acceleration Services by partnering with accelerators, incubators, research and training organisations and other providers to cover specialised sector needs. Their offers are listed in the members-only EIC Service Catalogue, where EIC beneficiaries and Seal of Excellence holders can filter services by stage and category. ACCESS+ co-funding supports eligible beneficiaries to purchase these services. Examples of listed partners include IP firms such as De Tullio & Partners in Italy and Cabinet M. Oproiu in Romania, and knowledge transfer organisations such as FEUGA in Spain.

EIC Business Acceleration Services in context:Beyond grants and equity, BAS provide matchmaking with corporates, procurers and investors, coaching and global expansion support. Reported figures since 2021 include thousands of one-to-one meetings and deals, though these aggregate outputs reflect many interventions and should not be read as attributable to a single programme activity.

Operational caveats and points to watch

The ACCESS+ model offers useful co-funding, but the first-come first-served approach and the €3.45 million total budget limit the number of supported companies relative to the broader EIC community. Applicants need internal capacity to select and manage providers and to co-finance the remaining 50% of costs. The hard stop of 30 June 2026 for service completion may constrain complex engagements. As with any public support scheme, success hinges on selecting fit-for-purpose services and on disciplined execution.

On the IP side, the session’s recommendations reflect established practice. Filing before disclosure, clean ownership chains and early FTO are basics that many teams still miss. Startups should not assume grace periods apply in Europe and should understand that NDAs do not repair a public disclosure. Freedom to operate is separate from patentability. A granted patent does not guarantee the right to commercialise if others hold blocking rights.

Common diligence pitfalls that slow or stop funding:Missing inventor assignments. Contractor or freelancer ownership of critical code or designs. Unclear university IP terms. Unmonitored open-source licenses in product code. Weak territorial strategies and missed filings in key markets. Late FTO checks surfacing blocking rights.

Where to find more and how to get support

Replay the session and download the presentations through the EIC Community news page. Explore service providers via the EIC Service Catalogue. For questions on the Ecosystem Partnership Programme or ACCESS+, use the EIC Community contact form and select EIC Ecosystem Partnership Programme. You can also join the EIC ACCESS+ Community Hub for application materials and submit via the online form. To track opportunities across BAS, subscribe to the EIC BAS Newsletter or the Open Calls digest.

Key concepts mentioned in the session:Trade secrets require demonstrable confidentiality measures to be enforceable. Licensing can be exclusive or non-exclusive and structured by territory and field of use. IP valuation supports investor negotiations and licensing, using cost, market and income methods alongside legal strength analysis. IP-backed loans are emerging but depend on portfolio quality and enforceability.