InnoMatch selects four buyers to pilot solutions from EIC awardees, with up to EUR 60,000 per test
- ›InnoMatch under the EIC Innovation Procurement Programme selected four buyers to run pilot tests with EIC awardees.
- ›Selected buyers are The Deep Group UG, City of Ghent, EH Group Engineering, and Medtronic Iberica with challenges across agriculture, AI for procurement, fuel cells, and medical device data.
- ›EIC awardees will be able to apply to solve these challenges and, if selected, receive up to EUR 60,000 and join a three phase Prepare, Deploy, Assess programme.
- ›The InnoMatch open call ran from 7 February to 6 June 2025 and attracted dozens of applications from 16 countries.
- ›InnoMatch intends to support a total of 38 pilots under the EIC Innovation Procurement Programme, but pilots face technical, regulatory, and procurement hurdles before scaling.
InnoMatch selects four buyers to test innovations from EIC awardees
The InnoMatch initiative, part of the European Innovation Council Innovation Procurement Programme, has announced four buyers chosen from a recent open call to work with EIC awardees on pilot demonstrations or proofs of concept. The open call ran from 7 February to 6 June 2025 and attracted dozens of applications from 16 countries. A panel of three independent experts reviewed submissions and selected The Deep Group UG, the City of Ghent, EH Group Engineering, and Medtronic Iberica to refine their challenge statements and participate in buyer to innovator matchmaking.
What was selected and why it matters
InnoMatch is intended to lower the market access barrier that many deep tech and innovative SMEs face by creating early customer validation through procurement driven pilots. The selected buyers propose challenges that touch on different parts of the EIC portfolio and the European innovation agenda. Selected proposals were judged to have potential for real world impact and cooperation with innovators but pilots still face the usual technical, regulatory, and procurement risks before any wider deployment.
| Buyer | Sector | Selected challenge | Buyer type | Country (where stated) |
| The Deep Group UG | Agriculture, Food and Beverages | Real time nitrate uptake monitoring to provide ground truth for soil carbon modelling and validation of carbon farming practices | Private buyer | |
| City of Ghent | Digital transformation and AI | AI tools for writing public procurement specifications | Public authority | Belgium |
| EH Group Engineering | Energy, Environment and Sustainability | Low platinum catalyst coated membranes for cost effective, high performance fuel cells | Private company | Switzerland (company information) |
| Medtronic Iberica | Health and Life Sciences | AI powered data extraction from medical devices for enhanced remote patient monitoring integration | Private company | Spain |
How InnoMatch will proceed and the funding on offer
The selected buyers will work with the InnoMatch team to refine and publish clear challenge statements. These refined challenges will appear in a new open call aimed at EIC awardees. Selected EIC awardees will receive up to EUR 60,000 to run a pilot or proof of concept under the InnoMatch programme and be supported through a three phase process.
| Phase | Core activities | Expected outputs and metrics |
| Prepare | Co-develop a Pilot Action Plan with the buyer setting objectives, KPIs, milestones and roles | Detailed plan, success metrics, risk assessment, data handling and compliance checklist |
| Deploy | Implement the pilot with regular progress checks, expert guidance and iterative adjustments | Pilot deliverables, data collection, interim reports, stakeholder feedback |
| Assess | Evaluate impact, feasibility for scaling, potential procurement or commercial paths forward | Final evaluation, scalability analysis, business case or procurement recommendation |
What EIC awardees should prepare and potential pitfalls
The InnoMatch route can accelerate market entry by providing an early customer and a funded test bed. That said there are common pitfalls. Pilots often expose integration gaps, regulatory hurdles, and mismatched expectations between buyers and innovators. Intellectual property and data ownership must be clarified up front. If the buyer is a public authority the procurement rules and public accountability will constrain contractual terms and timelines. Medical and energy related pilots face specific regulatory regimes that can delay or limit what can be demonstrated within a short pilot period.
Governance, transparency and next steps
The selection of these four buyers followed an expert review process. InnoMatch will publish refined challenges and open a call for EIC awardees to apply. Interested innovators are encouraged to follow InnoMatch on LinkedIn for announcements. For general enquiries the InnoMatch contact is info@innomatchproject.eu. The initiative sits within the EIC Business Acceleration Services ecosystem which offers a broader suite of supports to EIC awardees including coaching, investor outreach and procurement matchmaking.
The model aims to convert technical promise into buyer validated solutions but success is not guaranteed. Funding of up to EUR 60,000 lowers the barrier for initial testing. Scaling beyond the pilot will likely require additional investment, clear procurement strategies, and careful attention to regulatory and operational constraints. For innovators, procurement driven pilots remain a useful route to market if they enter with realistic scopes, robust compliance planning and clear agreements on IP and data.