Library FAQ
What Business Acceleration Services does the EIC provide?
Services include the Corporate Partnership Programme (connecting innovators with large corporates), Buyers Partnership Programme (connecting innovators with buyers), overseas trade fairs (4,700 meetings generating over €26 million in deals), specialised coachi...
What evidence is there of EIC companies scaling up?
The EIC Accelerator portfolio includes 91 'centaurs' (valuations over €100 million) and 2 'unicorns' (valuations over €1 billion), with the total portfolio valuation around €50 billion.
What is the EIC Community and what does it offer partners?
The EIC Community is a platform giving corporates, procurers, investors and partners access to 5,500+ quality‑stamped companies and over 408 research teams, serving as a one‑stop shop for scouting, communicating and evaluating start‑ups and scale‑ups and enabl...
What is the EIC Fund and when was it incorporated?
The EIC Fund is a dedicated investment fund for EIC‑backed start‑ups, incorporated in July 2020 to crowd in private investors and support scaling of deep tech companies.
What is the European Innovation Council (EIC)?
The EIC is Europe’s flagship innovation programme launched as a fully‑fledged programme in March 2021 (building on a 2018 pilot) to identify, develop and scale up breakthrough deep tech technologies and game‑changing innovations.
What networking and event outcomes does the EIC report?
The EIC reports over 12,781 networking events per year, about 1,250 corporates/investors/procurer representatives at events, 40% of pitching start‑ups having follow‑up meetings or deals within 6 months, and an 89% satisfaction rate.
What progress has the EIC made on women‑led start‑ups?
The share of women‑led start‑ups supported rose to 22% in 2020 (up from 15% in 2019); the EIC Advisory Board has set an annual target of 35% women‑led start‑ups.
What role do EIC Programme Managers play?
EIC Programme Managers proactively support follow‑up of emerging technologies into potential innovations via spin‑outs, IPRs, collaborations and other pathways.
When was the EIC launched and what preceded it?
The EIC pilot was launched in 2018 (seeds planted from 2014) and the fully‑fledged EIC was launched in March 2021 as part of Horizon Europe.
Which technology and sector areas does the EIC support?
The EIC supports deep tech across Digital and Industry (AI, cloud, quantum, photonics, robotics, Industry 4.0), Green technologies (batteries, solar, recycling, transport, waste management, precision farming), and Health (oncology, drugs, cell biology, clinica...
How large is the Horizon Europe EIC portfolio (2021–end 2023)?
It comprises over 500 start-ups, 275 advanced research projects, and 140 projects commercialising research results funded since 2021 up to outcomes announced until the end of 2023.
How many co-investors has the EIC worked with and which investor types are most common?
There are 280 unique co-investors under Horizon Europe. Venture capitalists represent the largest grouping by number of deals, and corporates including corporate venture funds are also significant participants.
How many companies have been approved for EIC Fund investment since the Horizon Europe restructure and what are the terms?
201 companies have been approved for investments worth €1.3 billion; 104 companies have signed 110 investment agreements (with further pilot agreements). About 68% received equity and the remainder quasi-equity (convertible loans and SAFEs). The average fundra...
How many unique innovations have EIC research projects generated?
EIC research projects (Pathfinder and predecessors) have generated 1,686 unique innovations.
How much follow-on investment have EIC companies attracted?
EIC portfolio companies have attracted over €12 billion of follow-on investments, primarily from venture capital, corporates and national promotional banks.
What are the EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS)?
BAS connect portfolio companies and researchers with corporates, investors, buyers, accelerators and venture builders to increase the likelihood of market entry and scaling through tailored support and matchmaking.
What are the EIC’s three core schemes?
EIC Pathfinder (early-stage research), EIC Transition (transforming research results into innovation opportunities), and EIC Accelerator (support to start-ups and SMEs to develop and scale breakthrough innovations).
What challenges for European deep tech does the report identify?
Overall EU investment in deep tech start-ups remains about one third of US levels; European funds are smaller and later-stage rounds above €15 million are limited. More progress is also needed to increase women-led deep tech start-ups and to help companies sca...
What does the full EIC portfolio include beyond Horizon Europe projects?
It includes projects and companies funded under the EIC pilot (2018–2020) and predecessor SME Instrument Phase 2 and Future and Emerging Technology projects since 2014.
What growth impacts have EIC-supported companies experienced?
Based on a subset of nearly 1600 companies, EIC-supported companies averaged 35% employment growth and 68% operating revenue growth in the first two years following receipt of EIC support.
What is the EIC Fund and what investments has it made?
The EIC Fund provides direct equity alongside grants under the Accelerator. It has taken over 200 investment decisions worth €1.3 billion in just over one year, and in the Horizon Europe portfolio supported 100 investment rounds securing co-investments from 28...
What is the European Innovation Council (EIC) and its budget?
The EIC is a flagship European Commission initiative to turn disruptive science into commercial propositions and accelerate deep tech scale-up, with a budget of over €10 billion under Horizon Europe (2021–2027).
What is the role of EIC Programme Managers?
Programme Managers select portfolios of projects for specific Challenges, develop Strategic Plans to coordinate joint activities and stakeholder engagement, and implement and evolve those plans based on new evidence to accelerate research-to-market transitions...
What is the valuation and scale of the full EIC-supported company portfolio?
The EIC-supported portfolio valuation grew from over €40 billion at the end of 2021 to nearly €69 billion (€68.9 billion), including over 150 Centaurs (valuations above €100 million) and 15 companies above €500 million, of which 8 are valued over €1 billion (U...