The EIC Tech to Market (T2M) Venture Building Programme keeps working on its mission of supporting the creation of deep-tech startups. One more project, Wavelens, just finished the Opportunities’ Exploration phase, the second phase of the Programme. We had the opportunity to speak with Emmanouil Vergis, representing this project, to hear about his experience so far on the Programme.
In this phase, the projects work closely with experts, who evaluate and offer recommendations on the project’s feasibility from a technical, team, and business perspective to guide participants to the most helpful next step. So far, the Programme has onboarded 46 projects and produced 56 reports, including Feasibility Assessment reports, and Patentability and Freedom to Operate (FTO) studies.
The Wavelens project was first enrolled in the EIC T2M Venture Building Programme last September, in the Tech Demo Day on Medical technologies and medical devices. After that, they have gone through the Opportunities’ Exploration activity and are entering now on the last phase of the programme, where they will receive tailor-made Venture Support Services. Recently, Wavelens launched their spin-off, KYMATONICS, that aims to exploit and commercialise the Wavelens device and software – a modular, re-configurable adaptive innovative device for precision light control with multiple applications and use-cases.
We met Emmanouil Vergis to talk about Wavelens’ journey in the Programme. He is the Chief Operation and Financial Officer at KYMATONICS and a Research Associate at the Foundation for Research and Technology (FORTH). Keep reading to know more!
Can you briefly describe your role in the Wavelens project?
My main role in the Wavelens project was to do the market analysis, create a business plan and monitor the technical achievements of the team concerning the TRL increase of our technology. Now that we have started our spin-off named KYMATONICS, I am doing most of the administration procedures needed and I have an advisory role for the confinement strategy and sales development.
Can you let us know more about your innovation and its key market advantages?
Our key innovation is the modular, re-configurable adaptive optoelectronic device Wavelens, as a stand-alone prototype product in the form factor of a standard microscope objective lens suitable for precision illumination and light control in a variety of use cases/applications namely: i) microscopy, ii) automotive external adaptive lighting systems, iii) cryptography and secure communications, iv) photolithography and v) optical fiber drivers. Our innovation has a disruptive potential in microscopy in terms of aberration-free illumination, diffraction tolerance and high-resolution imaging.
In general terms, what activities did you do during the Opportunities’ Exploration phase of the EIC Tech to Market Venture Building programme?
The activities we did were the Market Opportunity Towards Commercialization and Team Roadmap.
What do you see as the main benefits for your project from having participated in the Opportunities’ Exploration phase?
There were many benefits, such as expert guidance regarding the market and exploring alternative paths of our business model that may better suit our strengths and market opportunities. This feedback and iteration with the “Towards Commercialization” activity really helped us to refine our Spin-off strategy. Additionally, the programme really helped us to further elaborate on our team dynamics. Finally, the programme provided us with an FTO (Freedom to Operate) analysis of our IP, which played an important role in our market entry strategy.
Did you find the inputs provided by the different experts fruitful for your project? In what ways?
Discussions with experts helped us identify and address key challenges and obstacles that we encountered along the way. Their suggestions and recommendations provided practical solutions and strategies for overcoming hurdles and moving the project forward. An example is the customers' priority change regarding our business model, increasing our potential for being an investable project.
What do you think was the most relevant part of this phase of the programme?
When starting the programme, we had already decided to proceed with the launch of our Spin-off, so the most relevant part was exploring the market opportunity towards commercialisation, which provided us with important feedback for refining our strategy and led us to changes in our business model.
Do you think your participation in the EIC T2M Venture Building Programme helped your team to launch your spin-off KYMATONICS? If so, can you please tell us more?
As mentioned, the change in our business model and the refinement of our strategy were very important for us in order to make a strong start.
What do you still wish to achieve with your participation in the EIC Tech to Market Venture Building programme and how do you see this matching with the first steps of your company?
At this point, our company already has two sales and made the first revenue. However, we are at a crucial step in discussing with VCs and Angel Investors. We either raise funding from an investment or proceed with our long-term strategy with the risk of losing focus and diffusing our resources and time, which are quite limited and valuable at this point. Matching with investors and microscopy producers is our next short-term plan, and we believe that experts from the EIC Tech to Market Venture Programme can really help us along the way.
Wavelens is currently starting the fourth phase of the Programme –Venture Support Services – where they will have access to tailor-made support in needs’ analysis and advisory expertise on key domains for venture creation, such as finance, legal affairs or human capital development.
About the EIC Tech to Market (T2M) Venture Building Programme
The EIC Tech to Market Venture Building Programme aims to help build start-ups to exploit promising research results through venture building services, comprising a range of activities from identification of promising business ideas to venture creation and development.
If you’re interested in knowing more about the Programme and our open calls, please visit our page on the EIC Community Platform.
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DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.