From 3-6 March 2025, a delegation of 15 EIC-backed companies presented their innovative mobile communications and telecoms solutions at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025 in Barcelona, Spain. Hosted by GSMA, MWC is deemed the world’s largest and most influential event in the connectivity industry, offering EIC beneficiaries the opportunity to connect with industry leaders and a wide set of stakeholders across the telecom sector.
This year, MWC welcomed over 109 000 attendees from 205 countries and territories with a total of 2 900 exhibitors. Complementing MWC, the 4YFN (Four Years From Now) area focused on empowering start-ups by fostering collaboration between founders and investors, as well as driving global innovation. Exhibiting in this 4YFN area, the 15 selected EIC companies benefited from a central location within the EIC Pavilion.
On their road to MWC 2025, the companies received comprehensive support through the EIC International Trade Fairs Programme 3.0. This included preparatory activities such as training, coaching, and matchmaking services, as well as onsite assistance to maximise their impact at the event.
The week at MWC 2025 was filled with key events including the inauguration of the EIC Pavilion, a series of panels covering topics from EIC funding opportunities, Europe’s scale up gap to accelerating innovation in 5G and XR, and an exclusive investor dinner night. In addition, there were numerous pre-arranged business meetings for the selected EIC companies to foster connections and collaborations. Keep on reading to discover the highlights of each session!
EIC Pavilion official opening
The ribbon-cutting ceremony at MWC 2025 set the stage for an exceptional event. This year's edition had the presence of Stéphane Ouaki, Head of Department at the European Innovation Council, and Pere Durán, Director of 4YFN.
4YFN Investors Summit
The 4YFN Investors Summit featured Stéphane Ouaki, Head of Department at the EIC, and Victoria Hernández Valcárcel, Expert member of EU STEP Programme and the EIC Fund, in an official conference panel. This panel, exclusively open to investors, explored the topic of “co-investing with the EIC Fund to boost European deep tech”, with specific co-investment opportunities for private investors to foster growth and innovation.
Agenda highlights
Panels at the EIC Pavilion
Throughout the week, dynamic panels at the EIC Pavilion covered topics ranging from EIC funding schemes and bridging Europe's scale-up gap to advancements in telecommunications and connectivity. These discussions tackled critical issues shaping the future of Europe, bringing our 15 EIC-backed companies together with key stakeholders including investors, start-ups, policymakers, and major companies to engage in these critical topics.
Panel 1: Driving technology for Europe’s green transition – Innovation, challenges and opportunities
This session discussed how cutting-edge technologies and entrepreneurial breakthroughs can drive Europe’s ambitious green transition. The discussion highlighted the role of large corporates, start-ups, scale-ups, and researchers in addressing pressing challenges such as climate change, renewable energy, sustainable manufacturing, and resource efficiency.
Panel 2: Accelerating 5G and XR innovation – Addressing challenges in network capabilities, smart cities, and industry 4.0
This session explored overcoming infrastructure deployment hurdles, ensuring network reliability in high-density environments, and addressing the challenges of scaling XR technologies across various industries. Attendees gained insights from leading innovators and corporate players through case studies, collaborative strategies, and breakthrough technologies.
Panel 3: EIC BAS Support to innovation procurement – Bridging and derisking the demand and supply of innovative solutions
This session explored the evolving landscape of innovation procurement: a field where policy, corporate strategy, and entrepreneurial agility converge to drive sustainable change. The discussion highlighted the EIC Innovation Procurement Programme, part of the EIC Business Acceleration Services, and reflected on the relationships between policy, corporate strategy, and start-up innovation.
Panel 4: Will we ever mitigate the bias problem of gen AI? Can we achieve fair and equitable AI?
This session discussed how generative AI inherits bias from real-world data, reinforcing stereotypes and inequities in fields such as hiring, facial recognition, and media. Techniques like OpenAI’s RLHF and Runway’s synthetic datasets offer partial solutions, yet bias remains deeply rooted. Attendees examined whether achieving fair, equitable AI is possible or if bias is an inevitability.
Panel 5: Bridging Europe’s scale-up gap – The role of the EIC and venture capital in deep tech growth
This session examined the financial constraints that innovative firms in Europe face during critical growth phases, which often drive them to seek funding or relocate outside the EU, thereby hindering Europe's technological competitiveness. In addition, it evaluated the role and impact of the EIC Fund as Europe's largest deep tech VC investor within this context.
Reverse pitches and additional presentations
In addition to the series of panels hosted by the EIC Pavilion, the event featured reverse pitches with major companies, discussions in the panel investor area, and other significant conversations with partners. Highlights included:
- Reverse pitch sessions with CISCO and Alaian Alliance partners (Cellnex, KPN Ventures, Wayra Telefónica Open Innovation, NGP Capital).
- A presentation from PwC Strategy& on “The Path to Tapping into the AI Data Center opportunity”.
- A presentation of the Women TechEU programme initiative.
- Demos and speaking opportunities at the PwC Pavilion featuring Xelera and Video Systems.
We are here to help companies when they struggle at the beginning of the process and to help them to get to the scale up process.
Stéphane Ouaki, Head of Department at the European Innovation Council
To see the highlights of this successful week, watch our recap video here: https://youtu.be/gmfZN9StY0Q
About the EIC International Trade Fairs Programme 3.0
The EIC International Trade Fairs Programme 3.0 supports the internationalisation of European SMEs, scale-ups and start-ups, building on the success of its predecessor, the EIC Overseas Trade Fairs Programme (OTF) 2.0. If you’re interested in knowing more about the programme and our open calls, please visit our page in the EIC Community.
The EIC International Trade Fairs Programme 3.0 is an initiative of the EIC Business Acceleration Services. Stay tuned on upcoming calls and find additional information through our news, stories, and programme-related trade fairs available via the EIC Community Platform and the EIC Business Acceleration Services newsletter.
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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.