In May, the EIC Tech to Market (T2M) Venture Building Programme hosted 5 Tech Demo Days in different areas: Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Energy Storage, Energy & Sustainability, and Medical technologies and medical devices. In total, 39 innovative projects participated in the Tech Demo Days, which are the entry door to an enriching venture building journey with the EIC.
These Tech Demo Days had the collaboration of the EIC Programme Managers Enric Claverol, Francesco Matteucci, Franc Mouwen, and Marco Pantaleo.
The beneficiaries’ experience
We had the opportunity to speak with Aarushi Sharma, representing the project PHRASE at the Tech Demo Day on Medical technologies and medical devices, Anders Mikkelsen, representing the project InsectNeuroNano at the Tech Demo Day on Artificial Intelligence, and Iulia Prodan, representing the project BIGALPS at the Tech Demo Day on Energy & Sustainability.
PHRASE is developing a RGS ecosystem, which comprises technologies that can be used in different phases: inpatient, outpatient, and at home. The technologies are developed to train cognitive and motor impairments in stroke patients. The ecosystem is based on VR/AR technology.
InsectNeuroNano is working on a novel chip hybrid platform for energy-efficient, fast artificial neural networks and integrated sensor arrays. Inspired by insects, it can be used for example to monitor crops, water supply and hard to access environments inside microdrones.
BIGALPS is developing an innovative and environmentally friendly technology for transforming soils into rocks tackling some of the most pressing challenges related to soil stabilization such as erosion, landslide, difficult soil conditions for constructions.
For Anders Mikkelsen, participating in this first phase of the Programme was very helpful in various ways, such as “to formulate our ideas for an audience beyond our usual scientific and technical one. (…) With the in-depth discussions with the experts, we were able to see that we weren’t communicating our ideas well”. The representative of InsectNeuroNano added that “it helped us thinking on how we should start defining the use cases of our technology for a commercial audience”.
Aarushi Sharma highlighted the feedback from the panel of experts: “some of the points mentioned by the experts were the minute details about our presentation skills, market strategy, and what defines/separates us from our competitors. Additionally, we have received feedback on current laws related to the market, which gave us insightful points to ponder”. The PHRASE team expressed that “getting feedback from the experts was mind-opening and interesting as it showed us in which direction further work is required”.
The representative of BIGALPS, Iulia Prodan, shares the same opinion. For her, the discussion with the experts and the individual support session were the most interesting parts of the first phase, as it “helped in building capacity to better structure our message”. The feedback from the experts also “helped me look at certain non-technical aspects that are also important in the path to the market of our technology”, mentioned Iulia.
What’s next?
These three projects moved to the Opportunities’ Exploration phase in the Programme, where they will receive guidance on feasibility from a team of experts with business insights that can support them with recommendations for improvement.
The experts’ point of view
We had the opportunity to hear from Natalia Álvarez Liébana, Open Innovation Senior Analyst at Repsol, who participated in the Tech Demo Days on Energy and on Energy & Sustainability, Neema Nelly, CEO at EMEA Venture Builder, who participated in the Tech Demo Day on Artificial Intelligence, and Thomas Seguin, Founder at Luni Energy, who participated in the Tech Demo Day on Energy Storage.
For Natalia Álvarez Liébana, programmes like the EIC T2M Venture Building “play a vital role in transforming scientific research into market-ready innovations, providing the necessary support, resources and network to help researchers succeed in the competitive business environment”. For the REPSOL representative, “it was very interesting to see scientists and researchers demonstrating how their theoretical work and lab experiments translate into real world applications, trying to bridge the gap between research and commercialization. Demo days are a unique blend of science, innovation and entrepreneurship”.
Neema Nelly explained that “researchers often face the challenge of translating their innovations from the lab to real-world applications, often lacking the skills in market validation, business development, and making their projects investment-ready”. For Neema, “programmes like EIC Tech to Market Venture Building are vital to equip researchers in navigating these complexities. Such programs accelerate the adoption of innovations from research to market, thereby contributing to economic growth through new technological advancements”.
Thomas Seguin added that the most interest thing about the Tech Demo Day “was learning about new processes, methods and ideas related to energy storage, as well as meeting new players in the field”.
We asked Natalia, Neema and Thomas if they could give two pieces of advice to our early-stage innovators, what would they be. Natalia said “my first advice would be, when you present your project, to think that you are talking to your mother or grandmother. Make it easy to understand and adapt the pitch to your audience (with or without expertise in the field). It is always good to use analogies and stories to make complex concepts more relatable and engaging”. Natalia continued to add “my second advice is to not fall too much in love with your technology or product trying to make it more accurate or beautiful. Try to get, as soon as possible, early adopters or potential users/customers to validate it and obtain feedback from them”.
Natalia also added that a key point for early-stage innovators is to “build a diverse team including not only researchers but also individuals with expertise in the industry or in business development”.
Thomas Seguin also provided advice for early-stage innovators: “First of all, fall in love with the problem and not the solution. Innovation is a means to an end and not an end itself. It needs to serve a purpose and solve a problem. Secondly, if you think you found a problem and a solution for it, talk to people from the industry (whoever could look like potential users) and validate your assumptions as early as possible and be ready to pivot”.
Neema Nelly’s advice for early-stage innovators “would be to focus on problem-solving and to iterate based on feedback. These strategies help to meet the market needs and achieve sustained growth”.
The EIC T2M Venture Building Programme is organising more editions of the Tech Demo Days in Health & Biotech and in Quantum tech & Electronics. If you are interested in applying, read more and express your interest here.
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.
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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.