On October 23, the European Innovation Council (EIC) joined forces with EuroQuity-Bpifrance to deliver yet another successful Investor Day in Paris. The showcase gathered 18 EIC innovators and 60+ investors with some of the top VCs in Europe. It was a full day of pitching sessions dedicated to the groundbreaking Healthcare solutions in the EIC Fund portfolio, which led to 150+ one-to-one meetings.
Throughout the day, the selected EIC innovators stepped up to present their solutions, which are tackling some of the most crucial challenges in the Healthcare field, such as Alzheimer's, cancer, heart disease and multibacterial resistance.
The selection of the companies was led by a jury-panel of investors from specialized, high-profile European funds such as 50Partners, Adbio Partners, Angelini Ventures, Cap Horn, Debiopharm, Dieter von Holtzbrinck Ventures, Earlybird Venture Capital, EIT Health, Elaia Partners, FASE - Financing Agency for Social Entrepreneurship, HTGF, HV Capital, Invivo Capital, Karista, Karot Capital, Kurma Partners, LifeX Ventures, Miura Health Capital, Novartis, Omnes Capital, Panakès Partners, Seroba Life Sciences, Speedinvest, Supernova Invest, Truffle Capital, Verge HealhTech Fund, Vesalius Biocapital, Verve Ventures, Yaya Capital.
Meet the innovators redefining Healthcare
Slim Chiha is the CEO and Co-Founder of Prosion Therapeutics, a German biotech company with the goal of redefining druggability by unlocking disease drivers inside the cells responsible for Cancer, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.
As an EIC-funded company, Prosion didn’t hesitate to join what they consider “a flagship event where we can gather a lot of investors at one spot and have these important discussions that we need to have for our fundraising plan”. Chiha also highlighted the knowledge and quality of the investors, pointing out that the “questions coming from the audience seemed to show a lot of interest from their side as well.”
Eva Kovacova, CEO of Glycanostics, revealed that she already had positive experiences participating in EIC initiatives, but this Investor Day exceeded her expectations.
“In the morning, even before the event started, I already had two investors that came and wanted to talk to me. Which is really unusual for any kind of different event.”
Based in Slovakia, Glycanostics has developed a technology that can diagnose up to 11 types of solid tumors by analysing glycans from blood serum. For startups like theirs, Kovacova revealed, this type of gathering is an important tool to raise visibility and get attention from investors. “I can’t image better help”, she added.
Bruno Santos, CSO and Co-founder of IMMUNETHEP, was representing a company with a different mission. Based in Portugal, IMMUNETHEP is working on the first multibacterial vaccine to address Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
The nature of their solution made this Investor Day a good match. “As [AMR] is specific, a very specific problem, it’s important for us to be in places where we have specific investors from the field.”
During the first half of the day, Santos revealed that he had already managed to network with some investors IMMUNETHEP had wanted to reach out to sooner.
Isabelle Decroos, CFO of FEops, is another veteran from previous EIC pitchings. FEops’s technology is a software for cardiologists, which aims to improve and expand personalized management for patients with structural heart disease. The idea started with the notion that, aside from helping to create better implants, it was crucial to help each and every heart patient by giving them access to the most optimal combination to manage their condition.
“We always know that when it’s organized with the EIC, that the events are mostly of high-quality, they are well-organized”, Decroos asserted, adding that they would “recommend it to everybody, if they have the chance to participate in such an event, just do it.”
What do investors like about the EIC Companies?
Throughout the day, there was ample opportunity to ask the jury members exactly why the EIC Investor Days and the companies on the EIC portfolio appealed to them.
Claire Corot, Senior Partner at Truffle Capital, was a first timer at EIC events, but confessed that she was impressed by the quality of the pitches, as well as the dynamic nature of the sessions.
“Very short presentations, five minutes and very clear presentations with different thesis. It was quick for us, easy to get”, she complimented. The jury pre-selection, that defined which EIC healthcare companies would get to come to Paris, and in which Corot participated, seems to have yielded results. According to her, all the pitching companies were “very innovative in their product and also bracing important markets”.
Tiago Menezes, Investment Analyst at Yaya Capital, gave us some extra insight into why the EIC portfolio is attractive to investors.
“I think the best thing is that the process of getting to the EIC is so, so strict that once the companies get to here, they have reached that level that we like to see them at”, he explained, adding that these companies “know how to pitch. They’ve been through it, they know what the investors are looking for. They know the goals that they have to attain to close that round.”
Menezes summed up the appeal of the EIC companies with a simple term: “top-tier flow, as investors, that’s what we want.”
Which Healthcare companies were pitching in Paris?
The full list of EIC companies featured in this Investor Day included Actome GmbH, Capri Medical, Celeris Therapeutics, CorWave, FEops NV, Glycanostics s.r.o., IMMUNETHEP, INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, InVera Medical, MethinksAI, NETRIS Pharma, Neuroclues, ORIXHA, PROSION Therapeutics, SquareMind, TILT Biotherapeutics, Tucuvi and Yonalink.
GrayMatters Health and iLoF were also selected to pitch but did not manage to be present at the venue.
About EuroQuity-Bpifrance
Operated by Bpifrance (the French Public Investment Bank), EuroQuity is a matchmaking platform dedicated to economic development and an essential source of financing for SMEs. Its mission is to accelerate the growth of companies throughout Europe and beyond by giving concrete credentials to companies to maximize their opportunities to meet and match with investors, through their membership in e-communities and e-labels.
The EIC and EuroQuity-Bpifrance have previously teamed up to deliver a number of successful ePitchings and Investor Days.
About the EIC Ecosystem Partnerships and Co-Investment Support Programme
The Ecosystem Partnerships and Co-Investment Support Programme is expanding the EIC’s Business Acceleration Services (BAS) by creating a network of specialized, sector-focused partners that can help innovators access the services they need. It is also dedicated to promoting co-investment along with the EIC Fund, by preparing beneficiaries to interact with investors and connecting them through matchmaking and dedicated events.
Should you have any questions regarding the event, please contact us through the email: events@eicfund.eu.
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.