EIC ePitching on Smart Manufacturing: event overview

On 11 December 2025 seven start-ups supported by the European Innovation Council Accelerator presented at a targeted ePitching session run by the EIC Investor Readiness and Outreach Programme. The online session formed part of the EIC’s Business Acceleration Services and attracted roughly 40 investors from leading venture capital and corporate venture arms. The event is an example of how EIC outreach blends grant-backed validation with curated investor introductions to help deep-tech firms bridge the long and capital intensive path from prototyping to industrial scale.

Who pitched and what they presented

ValCUN: metal printing and a start-up view

ValCUN used the session to explain how its Molten Metal Deposition technology aims to remove barriers that persist in metal additive manufacturing when applied to aluminium. CEO Jonas Galle said the timing was right because the company is preparing a funding round and wanted access to VCs with manufacturing domain knowledge and customer introductions. He also noted the reputational effect of the EIC Accelerator grant, describing it as a validation that helps open investor doors.

ValCUN made a concrete performance claim: optimised aluminium fan blades could reduce data centre cooling energy losses by up to 30 percent, which they framed as multi-million dollar annual electricity savings for large facilities. Such downstream system level claims are a common way to quantify value but rely on independent validation, representative prototypes and real-world testing to be credible to industrial buyers and investors.

Multus Biotechnology: event winner and why media matters

Multus Biotechnology was judged to have delivered the strongest pitch. The company combines AI, robotics and cell biology to accelerate development of cell culture media. CEO Cai Linton described the MediOP platform as a differentiator that shortens media development from years to months by using high-throughput experiments and machine learning to find formulations that optimise cell performance and cost.

Linton said Multus is fundraising to scale the technology platform, extend its data moat and build commercial teams to monetise IP. He credited the EIC Accelerator award from 2022 with enabling risk-taking in R&D and improving investor conversations. Multus’s roadmap to profitability depends on both technical reproducibility and the ability to move from bespoke lab work to scalable supply and contract manufacturing pathways.

Investor takeaways from the event

Longstanding investors who participated reinforced familiar criteria for investability in deep tech. Christopher Sisserian, Head of Platform at Manta Ray Ventures, emphasised the importance of founder-problem fit and described EIC-backed companies as 'slightly quirkier' and often higher risk but de-risked by public funding. Svenja Nentwig, Investment Manager at eCAPITAL, characterised the session as a good source of curated deal flow and said EIC grants are a useful quality signal when screening technologies in areas such as software-defined automation, advanced materials, real-time sensing and AI-driven production.

Why the EIC programme matters and what it offers

The pitching session was organised through the EIC Investor Readiness and Outreach Programme, part of EIC Business Acceleration Services. The programme provides tailored investor readiness activities such as benchmarking, pitch coaching, valuation analysis and curated investor introductions. It also runs ePitchings and Investor Days and maintains structured follow up to help convert meetings into due diligence. For many deep-tech hardware and bio companies the combination of grant funding plus curated investor access is valuable because it shortens the signalling and deal discovery phases.

Technical and commercial caveats investors will watch closely

Several pitches included ambitious technical claims that will require careful independent validation. This is particularly true for companies making system-level energy claims or for firms asserting rapid timelines to industrial general intelligence in robotics. Investors typically demand reproducible third party testing, real world pilots and evidence of regulatory pathways where relevant, such as for biosensing in water or AI-driven control systems in safety critical environments.

A concrete example from the session is Superintelligence Computing Systems SICSAI AB which pitched a 'Physical AGI' foundation model that they say learns like a child and can control any robot. Public material from some robotics AI firms sometimes includes aspirational timelines. Investors will therefore press for demonstrators, safety assessments, robustness metrics and credible roadmaps to industrial adoption before committing large growth stage cheques.

What happens next and ecosystem implications

Participants reported early follow-up conversations between founders and investors. Multus said it has already identified investors to continue discussions. For start-ups that secured EIC Accelerator grants, the combination of grant backing and curated investor meetings can materially improve access to growth capital, but it does not eliminate the need for rigorous commercial traction and often additional translational funding rounds.

For the wider European innovation ecosystem, these curated pitching sessions illustrate the EIC’s role as a convenor. They also underline the persistent structural issues in European deep-tech funding. Europe has strong research and diverse early stage programmes. The next test is whether enough late stage capital, patient industrial investors and procurement channels exist to keep more companies rooted in Europe at scale.

Practical links and next steps for innovators

EIC-backed companies and applicants can apply to the Investor Readiness and Outreach Programme via the EIC Business Acceleration Services. The EIC BAS offers additional routes to customers and capital through corporate partnership days, procurement support and the EIC Scaling Club. Start-ups should treat EIC pitching as an accelerated step in investor discovery, while preparing to supply technical validation, pilot agreements and clear unit economics to convert introductions into investment.

The EIC BAS newsletter and the EIC Community Platform provide calendars for pitching events, investor days and partner programmes. Founders should also use these forums to gather structured feedback and to validate technical claims through third party or customer pilots.