And it’s a wrap! On 10 and 11 September over 850 top SMEs, investors, corporate representatives, researchers and influencers met to network and exchange knowledge in Berlin. The EIC Innovators’ Summit 2018 is over but discussions continue here in the EIC Community. Read the Summit takeaways, discover our personal highlights and see how to continue vibrating with the community on the EIC Community Platform.
Discussions keep up here
The EIC Community Platform is a new online meeting spot where EIC-funded companies, investors, coaches and the support team can interact with one another based on profile, interests and business goals. It will also act as a gateway for all Business Acceleration services, including registration for the events, contacts and feedback. You will be able to make new connections, share ideas and meet potential partners and investors through the ScaleUp EU tool — an automated matchmaking service based on company and investor profiles. Face-to-face meetings and corporate events will of course continue offline with our Business Acceleration Services.
The discussions from the workshops of the EIC Summit will continue in the group discussions created by theme. Join the debate!
Takeaway number 1: Prepare when meeting investors
The EIC Innovators’ Summit hosted over 140 investors and corporates from big institutions keen to make business with small companies. During the event 8 pitching sessions gave the opportunity to companies to shine in front of a Jury of investors and one thing is for sure, the Jury members did not preserve their candidates – team compositions, market segments, business plans and financial details were meticulously tested. Our first takeway from the event is that it’s better to be over-prepared than run short of ideas or get stuck in the muddy when asked pointed questions by investors.
And we’ve got you covered for that. Support with meeting investors is an important part of the Business Acceleration Services offered under the EIC pilot and there are plenty of pitching trainings planned for your meeting with investors and corporates at our dedicated events. Have a look at the investor events or corporate days organised in your field, and get a chance to win over your audience with your now perfected pitch. More information here or on our website.
Takeaway number 2: Look out for changes with the EIC
Winds of change are blowing over the EIC as new features including equity-based investments are expected almready next year. If you’re a small company considering EIC funding, stay on the lookout. A new programme called the EIC Accelerator will kick-off in 2021 with a pilot possibly starting already next year. More information will be available by the end of this year but if you want a sneak peak of what’s coming, watch the recording of Jean-David Malo’s session on the future of the EIC.
Highlight number 1: Insights from Nasdaq
All small companies that have started to float on the stock market would agree that getting listed is a challenging but rewarding process. We had the chance to interview Nasdaq Senior Vice President of Listings in Europe Adam Kostyal who explains what a small company needs to do to get listed. On his side, one of the 8 EIC-funded companies that have just started floating on Nasdaq first north, Flexiomobile, explains in the same interview how getting listed is a rewarding process as it forces you to consolidate your company.
In addition to, we also interviewed many other speakers, including Innogy’s HR guru Annemie Ress, Euronext’s Sebastian Grabert, Enel’s Fabio Tentori and Balderton venture’s Colin Hanna. You can watch all the interviews conducted at the EIC Summit here.
Highlight number 2: Meeting EIC-funded companies
We work the whole year to provide the best support and services to the small companies we fund, be it to help with grants, connecting companies with partners and investors, coaches or other types of business support. For us it’s a great pleasure to have met you all in person, so please keep in touch! And join us next year for the next EIC Innovators’ Summit!
All the pictures of the event and the wrap-up video are available for you to watch! See you next year!
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.