First cohort of 48 deep tech scale-ups joins EIC Scaling Club as Brussels initiative targets next generation of European unicorns

Brussels, March 19th 2024

Summary

›The European Innovation Council announced the first cohort of 48 companies joining the EIC Scaling Club on 19 March 2024.
›The cohort is split evenly between companies from the EIC portfolio and from the wider European innovation ecosystem and is almost half women led.
›Selected companies work across four market opportunities: Digital Security and Trust, Next-Gen Computing, Smart Mobility and Renewable Energies.
›Members enter a two year acceleration programme with mentoring, branding support, and investor and partner roadshows, starting with an Ignition Forum on 9 and 10 April 2024.
›The Club is an EIC backed initiative coordinated by Tech Tour with partner organisations and aims to build a pan-European scaling network, but concrete long term impact and metrics remain to be defined.

EIC Scaling Club launches first cohort of 48 deep tech scale-ups

At the EIC Summit on 19 March 2024 the European Innovation Council announced the first group of companies joining the EIC Scaling Club. Commissioner Iliana Ivanova presented the initial cohort of 48 scale-ups that will be part of the Club. The initiative is positioned as a flagship effort to help create the next generation of deep tech unicorns originating in Europe. The Club pairs hand picked scale-ups with investors, corporates, mentors and other partners through an organised two year acceleration programme.

Who is in the first cohort and what they do

The 48 companies are distributed equally across four market opportunity areas that the Club has prioritised for this first cohort. The organisers say half of the companies come from the EIC portfolio and half from the broader European innovation ecosystem. Organisers also highlight that almost half of the cohort is led by women. The EIC and partner organisations describe the group as pioneers addressing major societal needs within their domains.

Market opportunity	Companies (first cohort, comma separated)
Digital Security and Trust	Hadrian Security, Probely, QuoIntelligence, Salv, Sekoia.io, SettleMint, Sherpa.ai, ThreatMark, Tilkal, UMNAI, VaultSpeed, XXII GROUP
Next-Gen Computing	.lumen, Axelera AI, Basemark, Dispelix, GScan, Multiverse Computing, QuiX Quantum, Quobly, Quside, sensiBel, VisIC, XTPL
Renewable Energies	Aerones, bound4blue, CorPower Ocean, Eneida, Eologix-ping, Focused Energy, GA Drilling, Heimdall Power, Modvion, ROSI, SWEETCH ENERGY, Sympower
Smart Mobility	Daze, Dronamics, Easelink, Elaphe Propulsion Technologies, KONUX, Manna Drones, SHIPPEO, Tallano Technologies, Teraki, Transmetrics, Vay Technology, Vianova

What the EIC Scaling Club offers

The selected companies will join a curated community that the EIC describes as part of a broader hub of high growth deep tech firms and ecosystem partners. The Club provides tailored mentoring, branding support, introductions to corporates and investors, leadership coaching and visibility through events and media. Organisers say the cohort will be surrounded by more than 400 scale-up focused stakeholders and that the long term target is to form a community of over 100 high growth deep tech champions supported by hundreds of investors, corporates, mentors and media partners.

2-year acceleration programme:Companies will enter a two year programme of supporting activities that include mentoring, branding work and investment and partner roadshow events. The activities for cohort one were due to begin with an Ignition Forum on 9 and 10 April 2024 in Brussels and Leuven and the Club planned to add a second cohort in autumn 2024.

Partners and organisers:The EIC Scaling Club is coordinated by Tech Tour and run in partnership with Bpifrance (EuroQuity), Hello Tomorrow, Tech.eu (Webrazzi), EurA and IESE Business School. The EIC and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, also known as EISMEA, are responsible for the initiative at EU level.

Selection, criteria and composition

According to published material, companies were selected from the EIC portfolio and from national and other European innovation programmes. Selection criteria emphasised the transformative potential of the companies' deep technologies in the chosen market opportunities, and their growth performance. The Club also says it will provide participating companies with access to quality business partners such as large corporates and lead investors.

Half from the EIC portfolio:The organisers note that about 50 percent of the first cohort are companies that already feature in the EIC award portfolio. The other half were sourced from the wider European innovation ecosystem.

Gender balance:Officials highlighted that almost half of the selected companies are led by women. The EIC has increasingly emphasised gender balance in recent years as part of a broader diversity goal across grant and investment programmes.

Context: how this fits into the EU innovation landscape

The EIC Scaling Club is presented as part of the European Innovation Council's wider strategy to close the gap between deep technology R and D and international commercial scale. The EIC itself is an EU programme that provides grants, blended finance and co-investments, and is implemented by EISMEA and supported by the EIC Fund. The broader EIC initiative and the EIC Fund are substantial EU tools for scale-up financing and support and are often cited as essential components of Europe’s ambition to generate more high value technology companies.

Deep tech explained:Deep tech refers to companies built around scientific advances or engineering innovation. These companies often face longer product development cycles and require specialised capital and talent to move from prototype to industrial scale. Areas in the first Club cohort include hardware intensive fields such as quantum computing and advanced power systems, and complex software disciplines such as cybersecurity and fleet optimisation.

EIC budget and investment context:The EIC and its associated instruments represent a major EU commitment to backing advanced technologies. Public material around EIC activity cites multi billion euro funding envelopes. The EIC Fund also aims to crowd in private capital. Public figures previously released by EIC programmes indicate that public co-investments are intended to leverage additional private investment, but crowding in sufficient patient capital for industrial deep tech remains a structural challenge in the European market.

What is left unsaid and what to watch

The Scaling Club frames itself as a catalyst to accelerate category creation among European deep tech companies. There are several questions that remain relevant when assessing whether the Club can deliver on that ambition. Key issues include measurable targets and transparency on impact, the effectiveness of matchmaking to secure long term industrial partnerships and growth capital, and whether two years of structured support will materially change the financing and market access trajectories for capital intensive deep tech firms.

Questions for organisers and policymakers:How will success be measured beyond membership numbers and events participation. Will the EIC publish metrics such as follow-on private investment raised by Club members, jobs created, industrial partnerships concluded or revenues scaled. How will the programme reduce regulatory and market fragmentation that often slows pan European scaling. Finally, what are the pathways for companies that need patient, industrial scale capital beyond the two year programme.

Analysis: structural barriers to scaling deep tech in Europe

A short programme of curated services and introductions can add value. But deep tech scale-up often depends on structural changes in capital markets, procurement practices and industrial policy. European scale-ups frequently face a series of systemic challenges. These include an investor base that is concentrated in later stage growth capital or focused on faster return software businesses, regulatory differences across member states that complicate cross border roll out, limited deal flow for large industrial investors, and recruiting technical talent at scale. Any initiative that aims to create more 'unicorns' will need to engage with these systemic issues in addition to providing targeted company level support.

Implications for stakeholders

Investors should treat the Club as a curated sourcing channel while continuing to perform independent due diligence. Corporates can use the Club to accelerate scouting and pilot opportunities but should be prepared for multi year integration timelines when working with hardware intensive firms. Policymakers should monitor whether the Club improves cross border scale and follow-on private investment in a measurable way. For companies, the Club may be useful for visibility and introductions but is not a guaranteed path to large scale capital or market dominance.

Programme timeline and next steps

The Club plans to launch the activities of the first cohort with a high level gathering on 9 and 10 April 2024 in Brussels and Leuven. Selected companies will enter the two year acceleration programme immediately thereafter. Organisers expect a second cohort to be added in autumn 2024 and to continue building the Club to a community of more than 100 leading deep tech companies supported by several hundred ecosystem partners.

Ignition Forum and media access:The EIC and coordinated partners said they would provide more information at the Ignition Forum and that a press briefing for journalists would be available. Journalists interested in attending were directed to use the contact form published by the organisers.

Background references and governance

The EIC Scaling Club is an EIC funded initiative implemented in partnership with external ecosystem organisations. The EIC and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, EISMEA, are responsible for the EU side of the programme. The Club is coordinated by Tech Tour and includes partners such as Bpifrance, Hello Tomorrow, Tech.eu, EurA and IESE Business School. The EIC and EISMEA operate within EU funding rules and data protection frameworks. The selection pools for evaluators, coaches and jury members draw on the Horizon Europe experts database and on public calls for expressions of interest.

The announcement is part of a wider EU push to improve Europe’s track record at scaling deep tech firms into global market leaders. The Scaling Club is positioned as a cure for market failures in later stage support. It could complement other public interventions but will need to be evaluated against clear outcomes to determine whether it materially improves long term scale-up success compared with existing national and European instruments.

Contact and further information

Further details were available on the EIC and EISMEA websites and through contact forms published by the organisers. The Club also published the cohort company list and described the programme, partners and upcoming events in its public communications.