European Innovation Council

Last updated

The European Innovation Council (EIC) was introduced by the European Commission to support the commercialization of high-risk, high-impact technologies in the European Union. The fully-fledged EIC was launched March 2021 under Horizon Europe and is incorporated within the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). [1] Its goal is to aid researchers, start-ups and SMEs bring their innovations to market by providing funding, networking and partnership opportunities, and business acceleration services. In its latest form, the concept has been put forth by the EU Research Commissioner Carlos Moedas in mid-2015. [2] The EIC has a budget of €10.1 billion to support innovations throughout the lifecycle from early stage research, to proof of concept, technology transfer, and the financing and scale up of start-ups and SMEs. [3]

Contents

Pilot Phase (2018–2021)

The EIC pilot phase was launched in 2018, incorporating existing instruments under the Horizon 2020 programme, in particular the SME instrument and Future & Emerging Technology (FET) programme. These funding schemes were brought together in single work programme to provide direct support to innovators throughout Europe.

The EIC pilot phase, together with the existing instruments, supported:

Funding Opportunities

EIC Pathfinder

The EIC Pathfinder programme supports the research of ideas for radically new technologies. Applicants participating in EIC Pathfinder projects are typically scientists, entrepreneurial researchers and, research organisations, start-ups, high-tech SMEs and industrial stakeholders interested in technological research and innovation. Grants of up to €3–4 million support early stage development of future technologies up to proof of concept.

EIC Transition

Building on technologies generated by Pathfinder, the EIC Transition funds innovation activities that go beyond the experimental proof of principle in laboratory to supports both:

Grants of up to €2.5 million and more are available to validate and demonstrate technology in application-relevant environment and develop market readiness.

EIC Accelerator

The EIC Accelerator supports individual Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), in particular start-ups and spinout companies to develop and scale up game-changing innovations, from TRL5 to market deployment and scale-up. In some cases small mid-caps (up to 500 employees) are supported.

The EIC Accelerator provides substantial financial support, with a combination of:

The EIC Accelerator covers all areas of technology, with the goal to support the development and effective deployment of any European innovation benefiting Europeans, economically or socially. It is the first instrument developed on the idea that Europe needs to ascertain its "sovereignty" or "strategic autonomy" over technologies.

In addition, EIC selected companies receive coaching, mentoring, access to investors and corporates, and many other opportunities as part of the EIC community.

The EIC Fund

The EIC Fund is new feature of the EIC, introduced in 2020 under the Pilot phase. The EIC Fund provides in the form of equity from €0.5 million to €15 million the investment component awarded under the EIC Accelerator to selected breakthrough innovation companies. The EIC Fund is a unique entity owned by the European Union represented by the European Commission and established to make direct equity investments in companies.

The EIC Fund:

EIC Ambassadors

A number of influential innovators are chosen as EIC Ambassadors to speak about the EIC and its impacts and developments in local, national, and European media, and to support the improvement of the EIC with their insights and feedback. There are currently 33 EIC Ambassadors for 2021–2027: [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eureka (organisation)</span> Intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding

Eureka is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying through Eureka programmes can access funding and support from national and regional ministries or agencies for their international R&D projects.

Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term seed suggests that this is a very early investment, meant to support the business until it can generate cash of its own, or until it is ready for further investments. Seed money options include friends and family funding, seed venture capital funds, angel funding, and crowdfunding.

Brent Shawzin Hoberman is a British entrepreneur and investor. During the dot-com boom, he co-founded lastminute.com with Martha Lane Fox in 1998, where he was CEO from its inception, before selling the business to Sabre in 2005 for $1.1bn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development</span> Science funding in Europe

The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the European Research Area (ERA). Starting in 2014, the funding programmes were named Horizon.

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is an independent body of the European Union with juridical personality, established in 2008 intended to strengthen Europe's ability to innovate. The EIT is an integral part of Horizon 2020, the EU's Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is a United Kingdom government agency that carries out research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astronomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Science Park Aston</span>

Birmingham Science Park Aston, formerly known as Aston Science Park, is a science park located in Birmingham City Centre, United Kingdom. It is located adjacent to Aston University and the Eastside area.

The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) of the European Commission is meant to improve the competitiveness of European companies facing the challenges of globalization. The programme is mainly aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which will receive support for innovation activities, better access to finance and business support services. It will run from 2007 to 2013.

Enterprise Capital Funds are financial schemes established by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in the United Kingdom to address a market weakness in the provision of equity finance to UK small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Government funding is used alongside private sector funds to establish funds that operate within the "equity gap"; targeting investments of up to £5 million that have the potential to provide a good commercial return. The first five funds supported under the scheme were launched in 2006-7 following a pathfinder competition. A further three funds were awarded ECF status in 2007. As of November 2019, 29 ECFs have been launched.

The Enterprise Europe Network provides support for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) with international ambitions. Co-funded by the European Union's COSME and Horizon 2020 programmes, the Network's aim is to help businesses innovate and grow internationally.

NDRC is a national accelerator programme in Ireland, for "globally ambitious" entrepreneurs, delivered by a consortium led by Dublin-based Dogpatch Labs, and supported by multiple venture capital firms. It offers a "mentorship-driven" approach, with €100,000 "founder-friendly" funding, and early stage supports including non-equity pre-accelerator programmes available to entrepreneurs across Ireland. It also runs a Masterclass Series for companies working in the start-up space, teaching them how to support young digital venture teams with significant scale potential. It succeeded a previous version of the concept, run by a team on behalf of five Irish third-level institutions.

Entrepreneur First is an international talent investor, which supports individuals in building technology companies. Founded in 2011 by Matt Clifford and Alice Bentinck, the company has offices in Toronto, London, Berlin, Paris, Singapore, and Bangalore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau</span>

Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau (ITIB) is one of the policy bureaus under the Government Secretariat of the Government of Hong Kong and is responsible for policy matters on the development of innovation and technology and information technology which are the key drivers in this endeavour. The Bureau is led by the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, currently Dong Sun.

Science and technology in KazakhstanOutlines

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Defence Fund</span>

The European Defence Fund (EDF) is a component of the European Union's (EU) Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) which aims to coordinate and increase national investment in defence research and improve interoperability between national armed forces. It was proposed in 2016 by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and established in 2017. The fund has two stands; Research and Development & Acquisition. In July 2018, the European Commission announced that the EDF budget for 2021-2027 would be €13 billion. This sum was later revised by the European Commission as part of the new EU budget proposed on May 27th 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to which the EDF will be allocated €8 billion over this budget period.

Dogpatch Labs is a startup and innovation hub located in the CHQ building, in the Silicon Docks area of Dublin, supporting the startup ecosystem through incubation and acceleration programmes, educational events and a tech community of over 500 members from 100+ startups. In 2019 it was listed as Crunchbase’s "top 10 incubators around the world you need to know".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angele Giuliano</span> Maltese businesswoman

Angele Giuliano is a Maltese businesswoman and president of the Maltese Foundation for Women Entrepreneurs. Giuliano has been CEO and managing director at AcrossLimits since 2001, as well as an expert evaluator for the European Commission and a European Innovation Council (EIC) ambassador. She is also a business angel engaged in mentoring start-ups and entrepreneurs in Malta and internationally.

Icehouse Ventures is a New Zealand-based venture capital firm. The firm is headquartered in Auckland and mainly focuses on the technology industry and has backed 200 companies. The firm also operates a variety of angel groups networks such as Ice Angels and Arc Angels. Icehouse Ventures was formally founded in 2019 as a separate company but had operated as part of the Icehouse group since 2001. In 2019, the founding CEO of the Icehouse stepped down as CEO and joined the board of directors of Icehouse Ventures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skeleton Technologies</span> Battery manufacturer and energy storage developer

Skeleton Technologies is a Global Cleantech 100 company and an energy storage developer and manufacturer for transportation, grid, automotive, and industrial applications. Skeleton uses a patented raw material, curved graphene, to produce solutions for the energy storage market, including high-power supercapacitors and high-energy solid-state batteries.

References

  1. "Official web site".
  2. "Exclusive: EU moves toward European Innovation Council pilot plan". Archived from the original on 2016-09-21. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
  3. "About the European Innovation Council". eic.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  4. "About the European Innovation Council". eic.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  5. "EIC Ambassadors (2021 – 2027)". European Innovation Council eic.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 31 July 2022.