As part of the EIC International Trade Fairs Programme 3.0, 15 EIC-backed companies travelled to Las Vegas (USA) on 6-10 January 2025 to showcase their tech innovations at CES 2025. Known as one of the world’s largest tech shows, this event brought together key leaders from the tech industry, offering the EIC cohort a great platform for business opportunities.
This year, CES gathered over 4,500 exhibitors including 1,400 startups, and attracted 141,000 visitors from the tech industry across the world. The week was packed with events of key relevance for our European delegation, including the inauguration of the European Pavilion, the European Night reception, the European Day panel series, and over 200 pre-arranged business meetings for the selected EIC companies.
In the run-up to the event, the 15 selected EIC companies benefited from training, coaching, and matchmaking services provided by the EIC International Trade Fairs Programme 3.0, and had the opportunity to participate in CES Unveiled Amsterdam.
On Monday 6 January, just before the official launch of CES, the European delegation attended the Silicon Valley Funding Summit. The event, held at the University of Nevada, provided companies with the opportunity to pitch their technologies to an audience of US -based venture capitalists and corporate investors. EIC-funded Multiverse Computing stood out from the competition, winning the pitching award, which was personally presented by Jean-David Malo, Director of the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA).
European Pavilion official opening
The ribbon cutting ceremony at CES was even more special than previous years. For the first time at CES 2025, Jean-David Malo, Director of the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA), did not only open the European Pavilion together with Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) behind CES, and Kinsey Fabrizio, President of the CTA, but accompanied them to the opening of many other European Member States’ Pavilions including France, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland.
European Night
The European Night at CES 2025 represented a premier gathering of European innovation excellence on the global stage.
Building on its rising reputation, this exclusive, invite-only networking activity has been growing throughout the years. In its 2025 edition, it hosted nearly 500 distinguished guests from 20+ European nations, alongside key US venture capitalists, corporates executives and investors in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), cleantech, blockchain and digital health.
Organised by the EIC in collaboration with Belgium, Estonia, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine and the network of Choose Europe, the European Night exemplifies the EU’s motto ‘United in Diversity’, demonstrating Europe's collective strength in innovation while celebrating every one of its national uniqueness.
Agenda highlights
European Day
Another highlight of this edition was the European Day, a full day dedicated to interesting panels and discussions involving all the European delegation present at CES 2025 as well as the network of France Digitale.
During this day, policy officials, startups, investors and big companies gathered together to discuss and address some of Europe’s most pressing challenges such as scaling innovation, driving sustainability, and maintaining competitiveness in a fast-changing global landscape.
The first panel, ‘Sustainable Innovation: Technology’s role in achieving Europe’s green goals’, explored how cutting-edge technologies and entrepreneurial projects drive Europe’s ambitious green transition. The panel featured 4 innovative startups working on sustainable finance, carbon reduction technologies, circular economy, and renewable energy, alongside a Silicon Valley-based VC investor.
The second session, ‘Harnessing AI and IoT for Sustainable Industrial Transformation’, offered insights to startups into industry trends and collaboration opportunities to scale their technologies with global leaders. Three startups and the French aircraft engine manufacturing giant Safran discussed current and emerging AI and IoT breakthroughs transforming industrial production, focusing on predictive maintenance, autonomous manufacturing, supply chain efficiency, and design optimisation.
The third panel ‘AI-Driven transformation across sectors’, centered on how AI accelerates change in healthcare, manufacturing, energy, and mobility, with potential to revolutionise diagnostics, optimise operations, and redefine mobility. The session featured 5 European innovators, who discussed breakthroughs in touchless gesture control, voice AI for customer engagement, smart building energy solutions, AI-powered computer vision for security and automation, and autonomous mobility for smart cities.
The last session, ‘Investing in Deep Tech: the role of Corporate and Venture Capital’, delved into how corporate and venture capital investments are driving the commercialisation of deep tech innovations, addressing strategies to bridge the European scale-up gap, foster public-private partnerships, and strengthen Europe’s competitiveness in strategic sectors.The panel included high-level speakers such as the Jean-David Malo (EISMEA), Luisa Marotta, Innovation Zone Manager of the Italian energy giant Terna SPA.
Reverse Pitches and side visits
In addition to the European Day, the European Pavilion stage remained active, hosting technical presentations and open discussions with major corporations, including:
- Lauren Thorpe, Product Manager of TV Platforms at Netflix
- Rodrigo Maia, Vice President and Global Head of Research and Innovation at Capgemini
- Shaquille Cruz Entrepreneurship Coordinator at the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED)
Additionally, two tours were organised, offering companies the opportunity to engage in group discussions and one-on-one meetings with leaders from companies such as Abbott, Merck, Siemens, or Digi International.
Awards for the EIC Beneficiaries
Special congrats to Multiverse Computing 👏🏻 (1st Prize “Silicon Valley Funding Summit”) and to .lumen👏🏻 (1st Prize “DoD - US Department of Defense”).
Jean-David Malo, Director of the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA)
“The most important indicator for us is the satisfaction of the companies. In this sense we are glad to have contributed to the business goals of the companies, which is after all our “raison d’être”. Our role as the EIC is to act as a catalyser to spread the strengths of European Innovation in the US market and we will keep working on this in the future.”
Kinsey Fabrizio, President of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, reflected on the partnership between the EIC and CTA: “The EIC is a great partner for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) ®, owner and producer of CES, helping to launch thousands of products to the global marketplace. Together, we’re supporting innovation that solves big global challenges and supports inflation-curbing economic growth. In addition to CES, CTA and the EIC worked together in 2024 on CES Unveiled Amsterdam, an event that connects attendees with iconic brands and promising startups from across Europe, top-level government officials, industry leaders, and media in the leadup to CES each year.
Looking ahead, European innovation was on full display at CES 2025, from major household names like Volvo Group to emerging startups that will show real-world applications in healthcare solutions, sustainability technology, advanced mobility, accessibility tech and beyond.”
About the EIC International Trade Fairs Programme 3.0
The EIC International Trade Fairs Programme 3.0 supports the internationalisation of European SMEs, scaleups and startups, 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.
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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.