EIC Tech to Market Info Session: Journey towards Entrepreneurship and Venture Building

Brussels, April 29th 2024

Summary

›The EIC Tech to Market Info Session is scheduled online for 29 May 2024 from 15:00 to 16:45 CET and will present the Entrepreneurship and Venture Building offers.
›The session will describe services, show participant testimonials, and run a Q and A. Registrations were open until 27 May 2024 and an access link was later circulated for direct joining.
›The EIC Tech to Market programme has supported projects since January 2023 and reports onboarding more than 280 projects, although metrics are not independently verified.
›Eligibility is limited to projects from specific EIC schemes and the programme has parallel calls for external experts and entrepreneurs in residence, but applications are currently closed.

Info session and the EIC Tech to Market offer

The European Innovation Council Tech to Market Programme is hosting an online information session titled "Journey towards Entrepreneurship and Venture building" on 29 May 2024. The session is intended for EIC-funded beneficiaries and for external participants who might act as experts or entrepreneurs in residence. Organisers say the T2M Entrepreneurship and Venture Building services have been active since January 2023 and that more than 280 projects have been onboarded to receive support.

Event at a glance

Item	Details
Date and time	29 May 2024, 15:00 to 16:45 CET
Format	Online, hosted on Webex
Agenda highlights	Presentation of Entrepreneurship programme, presentation of Venture Building programme, testimonials, Q and A
Registration	Registrations were open until 27 May 2024. An event access link was circulated a few days after registration. A public Webex link was later provided for direct joining.
How to contact organisers	Use the EIC Community contact page and select the relevant T2M category

Detailed agenda

Time (CET)	Session
15:00 - 15:05	Welcome by EIC
15:05 - 15:45	EIC Tech to Market Entrepreneurship Programme presentation. Topics include services offered, ongoing and upcoming activities, and a participant testimonial.
15:45 - 16:25	EIC Tech to Market Venture Building Programme presentation. Topics include services offered, ongoing and upcoming activities, and a participant testimonial.
16:25 - 16:40	Q and A session
16:40 - 16:45	Closing

What the Entrepreneurship offer covers

Purpose of the Entrepreneurship Programme:The Entrepreneurship strand aims to help deep tech researchers supported by EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition to translate research into marketable innovations. It targets researchers with entrepreneurial aspirations and focuses on value proposition development, business model validation and pitching skills.

Core services and methods:Services include customised training, expert coaching, business model development using Design Thinking, validation of product market fit, and stakeholder exchanges with industry and market players. The programme emphasises practical validation steps such as customer discovery and iterative refinement of the business model.

Programme components:The Entrepreneurship Programme is modular and includes five components. Innovation Discovery Training are two half day online sessions covering entrepreneurial basics and pitching. The Bootcamp for innovative researchers is a four day intensive workshop covering value proposition, team, roadmap and pitch. The Pioneer Programme is a 4 to 5 month immersive series of weekly collective sessions plus individual coaching that covers IP, industrialisation, regulation, team management and finance. The Business Idea Validation Bootcamp is a four week sequence of workshops, team coaching and interviews to pre validate a business model. The Business Validation Programme is eight weeks of online courses, masterclasses and coaching focused on market orientation and customer discovery.

What the Venture Building offer covers

Purpose of the Venture Building Programme:Venture Building is designed to create start ups from promising research results. The service takes selected EIC beneficiaries through stages from idea identification to team formation and venture support.

Main phases of the Venture Building journey:Entry is through Tech Demo Days that showcase technologies and gather market feedback. Opportunities exploration provides expert feasibility guidance and recommendations. Team creation supports recruitment and access to Entrepreneurs in Residence and talent brokerage events. Venture support services offer needs analysis and advisory expertise across IP, finance, HR and other domains. On demand services can be provided through proactive management by the EIC.

Eligibility and target audience

Who should attend the info session:The session is open to anyone interested in EIC T2M activities. It is particularly relevant for beneficiaries eligible to participate in the programmes and for individuals interested in joining as external experts or Entrepreneurs in Residence.

Project eligibility for Entrepreneurship programme:Projects eligible for the Entrepreneurship strand include those funded under EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition, EIC Seals of Excellence, Women TechEU, FET Flagships and ERC Proof of Concept schemes.

Project eligibility for Venture Building programme:Projects eligible for the Venture Building strand are those funded under EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition.

Calls for external experts and Entrepreneurs in Residence

Call for external experts:The T2M programme ran a Call for Expertise to onboard external professionals experienced in bringing deep tech to market. Roles included mentoring, market validation, and supplying niche advisory services such as market intelligence, regulatory guidance and technology transfer support. Benefits for experts included early visibility on emerging technologies and chances to engage as mentors, suppliers, partners or investors. According to the call page, applications are currently closed and reopenings are expected to be announced on the programme page.

Expression of Interest for Entrepreneurs in Residence:An Entrepreneur in Residence role offered a part time six month placement to co create ventures with scientific teams. Activities included co creating company vision, validating use cases, defining business models, leading business development, designing pilots and building founding teams. Candidate profiles sought serial entrepreneurs with early stage experience and domain knowledge in areas such as advanced materials, energy, food chain technologies, biotech, medtech, quantum, space and other deep tech fields. Applications are currently closed and will be reopened as announced on the programme page.

Engagement guidelines and timeline:Guidance published with the calls indicated that talent matchmaking and expert engagement would be ongoing throughout the programme implementation period which was described as continuing until the end of 2024. The programme team would contact selected candidates when their profiles matched onboarded beneficiaries. Details on retribution for Entrepreneurs in Residence were to be discussed with the programme team upon selection.

Administrative notes and current status

EIC communications stated that the Tech to Market Entrepreneurship and Venture Building services began in January 2023 and that more than 280 projects had been onboarded to date. Other EIC pages further note that the Tech to Market Programme was paused and expected to resume in 2026. Implementing service providers for both streams were listed as active until December 2024. Readers should be aware that programme availability, calls and timelines changed over 2024 and 2025 and that registration or application windows may already be closed.

Practical joining instructions and contact

How to register or join the session:Original messaging invited registration up to 27 May 2024 and stated that registrants would receive a Webex access link a few days after registration. A later notice indicated that registration was closed but provided a public Webex join link for the session. If you missed registration, check the EIC Community pages and the programme page for any updates and links.

How to contact the EIC T2M team:Use the EIC Community contact page and choose the relevant subject line. For the Info Session choose "EIC T2M Programme - Info Session". For Entrepreneurship programme enquiries choose "EIC T2M Entrepreneurship Programme" and for Venture Building choose "EIC T2M Venture Building Programme". The EIC helpdesk is the recommended channel for specific questions.

Implications and practical advice for researchers and experts

The EIC T2M offers a structured set of interventions that can help bridge the gap between research and commercialisation. The Entrepreneurship stream focuses on skills, pitching and business model validation. The Venture Building stream aims to create companies by assembling teams and providing advisory services. These services can add value for teams that already have a promising technology but still need market validation, team building and operational know how.

Caveats and considerations:Public claims such as numbers of onboarded projects are useful indicators but deserve scrutiny. Outcomes vary by technology readiness, market timing, regulatory complexity and the quality of the founding team. The programme appears to have had active operations through 2024 but was described as paused with planned resumption in 2026. That creates uncertainty for teams seeking continuous support. Access is limited to specific EIC funded projects which narrows eligibility compared with open incubators.

Practical next steps if you are interested:If you are a beneficiary with EIC funded work, review eligibility and FAQs on the EIC T2M programme page, prepare a clear value proposition and evidence of market interest, and contact the EIC Community helpdesk for guidance. If you are an expert or potential Entrepreneur in Residence, watch for reopening dates of calls on the programme page, register your interest, and prepare a succinct profile showing prior founding, sector experience and availability.

Sources and further reading

Primary information was published through EIC Community news and the EIC Tech to Market programme pages. Event notices, call pages and the EUSurvey notice supplied logistical details and access links. For the latest status of calls and programme availability consult the EIC Tech to Market programme page and the EIC Community contact channels.