EIC Ecosystem Partnerships and Co-Investment Support Programme
A. Ecosystem Partnerships
About
With the Ecosystem Partnerships, the EIC aims at being an active connector in the European Innovation Ecosystem.
The EIC seeks to partner up with different actors able to provide to the EIC beneficiaries and Seal of Excellence holders access to services such as, incubation, acceleration, growth and scale up. The programme will try to meet the SMEs needs in terms of their sectorial knowledge, business development, networking and market knowledge. The EIC beneficiaries will be able to improve their competences and acquire tailored made knowledge in different fields such as: pitching, networking events, specialised trainings (e.g. on intellectual property protection, technology due diligence etc.), innovation bootcamps and summer schools. EIC Beneficiaries and Seal of Excellence holders will receive support to validate/accelerate a technology, will have access to mentorship, business coaching, co-investment opportunities, access to tech infrastructures, piloting plants, testbeds etc.
The EIC categorizes the Ecosystem Partners services in following way:
- Standalone Services: such as workshops or matching processes focussing on a specific topic.
- Individualized Services: specific services that are critical to EIC-beneficiaries in particular situations, such as usage of specific laboratory equipment or technological due-diligence.
- Programme Services: Uptake in accelerators, incubators, or venture builders. A large advantage of cooperating with EIC-Partners is the possibility to integrate into their accelerators, incubators, or venture builders.
Eligibility
This EIC Partners services under this programme are open to beneficiaries from: EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition, EIC Accelerator, Seal of Excellence and Women Tech EU.
Every specialized and active peer in the European Innovation Ecosystem can apply to become an EIC partner.
The applying innovation actor shall have in mind that their aim will be to leverage on thematic synergies between the EIC portfolio companies and their expertise to enhance tailored and specialised business acceleration service support to EIC beneficiaries and strengthen the pipeline of excellent start-ups in strategic, high tech and tough tech sectors and technologies receiving EIC funding. They should be willing to enhance EIC beneficiaries' access to resources (labs, equipment, tools and spaces like clean rooms, integrated circuit design, pilot lines, etc.) to further mature their products and technologies. They will have to ensure the EIC Global Business Acceleration Service offers' complementarity and close collaboration with other business acceleration service providers and will interlink the pan-European ecosystem of business acceleration service providers by providing networking opportunities and encouraging the exchange of best practices.
Learn more
The EIC Partners’ Service Catalogue
EIC beneficiaries can access a searchable database of all the services being provided by the EIC Partners. The EIC Partners’ Service Catalogue gathers all the unique service offers open to EIC innovators and allows them to search services by category, project stage, country and date of service implementation.
Log in to the EIC Community to learn more and access the catalogue.
B. EIC Co-Investment support
About
The Co-Investment Support by the EIC to the selected Beneficiaries is a key step in ensuring that the Beneficiaries become investor ready and can gain access to the best co-investment opportunities from the private sector.
- The EIC Fund does so through its well-designed support strategy which includes several key activities, which the EIC pursues in the benefit of Beneficiaries, including, amongst other:
- Providing venture building services, in the form of reviewing, improving and redesigning Beneficiaries’ pitch decks (e.g., storyline, content, layout and design), financial models or business plans.
- Facilitating EIC’s Beneficiaries’ access to the investors through its Co-Investment platform (total of around 800 investors). Co-investing in companies carefully selected by the European Innovation Council (EIC) is a great investment opportunity as well as an opportunity to support breakthrough, market-creating innovations across Europe and beyond. Investors such as VCs, CVCs, BAs, family offices and other relevant asset managers - interested in accessing the EIC Fund co-investment platform and discover the EIC companies, should fill in this form.
- Fostering matchmaking opportunities between Beneficiaries and qualified as well as relevant investors through tailored investors lists, outreach support and where possible direct introductions.
- Organizing dedicated events aimed at building relations with potential investors included in the EIC Fund co-investment platform (e.g., ePitching events and investor roundtables in the different sectors in which Beneficiaries are present). More than 20 investor events have been organized in 2022 covering different sectors (such as Space & Transport, Sustainability and Tech, Medtech, Biotech, ICT, Hardware and Software, Foodtech etc ) and showcasing more than 130 companies
Together, these four key support activities enable EIC innovators to connect with potential investors, while at the same time, giving the investor community access to the promising EIC projects.
Eligibility
The focus on the co-investment activities is EIC blended companies and grant-first.
Timeline
The EIC runs at least one investor activity per month.
Please check the Open Calls & Upcoming Events page.
Testimonials
Jean Botti, CEO at VoltAero:
The EIC Investor Day is a great forum for European entrepreneurs where startups can display their uniqueness and can expose to investors what the DNA of the company is all about. This gives the chance to everybody to compete for funds that will help startups pass the Valley of death and contribute to their future growth and achieve their dreams.
Yun Luo, ROSI SAS, who pitched in the "EIC Scaling Up: Powering the future of sustainability and tech":
We animated relationships with the investors we were already in contact with, talked to new investors and met many startups with a similar mindset. It's like a community.
Fabiana Fantinel, Founder and Managing Partner of CO2Bioclean:
The company has participated in several pitching events, but Fantinel noted that they “don’t all have the same quality”, which is why knowing that a pitching event was organized by the EIC is very important to them.
For a short impression of our Investor-events, please check the YouTube video below.
FAQ
Find all the answers on the EIC Ecosystem Partnerships and Co-investment Support Programme in the FAQ.
Contact us
Should you have any questions regarding this programme, please contact us via email: events@eicfund.eu.