On 29-30 September 2020, the EIC Accelerator organised the second Virtual Coordinators’ Day of the year, with a record number of 240 participants. The aim was to bring together SMEs that signed a grant in the last two calls to answer possible questions, solve common challenges and collect thoughts from the beneficiaries on their needs and expectations for the programme.
On 29 September, CEOs and/or coordinators from the recently awarded EIC Accelerator projects had the chance to exchange and learn more about Project Management under the updated EIC Pilot. From a session focused on Community events, to an introduction of the activities with large corporates, the online event provided the “full picture” of the European Innovation Council programme.
It’s all about timing
Volker Kruempe, Co-Founder of Minespider AG, was already familiar with the Business Acceleration Services, but during the Virtual Coordinators’ Day finally met the team behind the Corporate Days, Investor Days and Procurement events. The Blockchain company, based in Germany, developed a platform that allows companies to create digital passports for their raw materials. These digital passports allow customers to keep track of the origin of the product, as well as the conditions under which they were produced. Since its founding, Minespider has launched several traceability projects with industry players like Volkswagen or Google, but the start-up doesn’t want to stop there. Volker was looking very closely to all the procurement activities developed by the EIC and addressed the importance of timing:
“I think we are an interesting startup for the big corporates and procurers that were mentioned during the session, but we also want to understand when it’s the right time to address these people. And I think this is something relevant for the other SMEs as well. We get the money to establish something, to build up our product, but when is the right moment to meet them? I hope to explore this together with the EIC”, he explained.
The Virtual Coordinators’ Day also featured members of the European Investment Bank, as a support group to the EIC fund. In addition, the participants received more details about a newly added component to the EIC Pilot: blended finance.
Initiated earlier this year, the EIC offers blended finance in the form of an optional investment in equity to single for-profit SMEs. Julia Flötotto, from the company Smart4Diagnostics, was particularly interested in this panel. Their product, the world’s first digital fingerprint for human blood samples, convinced the European Innovation Council and European Investment Bank and the funding is now helping to continue its growth and market access.
“The EIC grant is currently financing most of our product development and it was important for us to receive this support in this early stage”, explained Julia. “This online event was very helpful. I had to pay a lot of attention because we were receiving important information in a compact session, but it was definitely a great alternative to the physical events”, she added.
In addition to grant, EIC Accelerator-supported companies receive equity funding and have access to mentoring, business coaching and matchmaking with investors, corporates and likeminded entrepreneurs. Check the EIC Community regularly to learn more about what we do. A helpdesk is available here: https://community-smei.easme-web.eu/contact. To explore other opportunities, keep an eye on our events page.
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.