A new set of 51 companies have been selected to receive European Innovation Council (EIC) funding, combining grants and equity, following the second 2023 EIC Accelerator cut-off in March.

The companies were selected in a highly competitive process, in which 139 companies were interviewed by juries of experienced investors and entrepreneurs, out of a total of 551 full proposals submitted.

The 51 selected companies will together receive €260 million(US$283.24million) of funding in a combination of grants and equity investments. The equity investments will be made through the EIC Fund. The selected companies have a geographical spread spanning 17 countries, including three widening countries. Almost 30 per cent percent (15 of the 51 companies) have a female CEO, CTO (Chief Technology Officer) or CSO (Chief Scientific Officer).

The March cut off saw the first ‘Plug In’ applicant that was put forward by a national innovation programme to be recommended for funding. There was also another successful company from the ‘Fast Track’ scheme, whereby other EU programmes such as the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) selects relevant companies for the EIC Accelerator.

Here are some examples of the innovative projects and companies that will receive support:

Project SUBRACABLE (company Subra a/s from Denmark) – making superconducting power grids a feasible solution for Europe)

Project Twinspect (company Twinsity from Germany) – first fast and automated (<5 min) AI-based inspection to increase operational safety of large critical infrastructure, e.g., bridges, dams, and oil & gas platforms and refineries

Project WIDMO cities (company SGPR.tech from Poland) – providing complete subsurface information of the urban areas

Project Adapte (company Cephalgo from France) – a novel and accurate emotion recognition system for real-time and continuous patient monitoring in psychiatry

Project PATS (company Mu-G Knowledge Management BV from the Netherlands) –automated insect control platform to eradicate pests

In most cases, the companies will receive the grant financing within the next two to three months, while the first investment decisions will be made within two months.  A further 88 applications that met all the criteria at the remote evaluation stage and that were assessed positively by the EIC jury, but not recommended for funding, will be awarded a Seal of Excellence to help them find alternative sources of funding, including from the Recovery and Resilience Funds and European Regional Development Funds

Background information

The EIC Accelerator offers start-ups and SMEs grants of up to €2.5 million combined with equity investments through the EIC Fund ranging from €0.5 to €15 million or more. In addition to financial support, all projects benefit from a range of Business Acceleration Services that provide access to leading expertise, corporates, investors and ecosystem actors.

Companies can submit their ideas to the EIC Accelerator at any time, which are then evaluated within approximately 4 weeks. For ideas meeting the EIC criteria for excellence, impact and risk-level, companies are invited to prepare full applications to submit to one of the regular cut-off dates. The next cut-off for EIC Accelerator full proposals is on 4 October 2023.