Following two days packed with inspiring talks, workshops, awards ceremonies and networking sessions, the lights went down at Tour & Taxi (Brussels, Belgium), where the EIC Summit 2025 took place on 2 and 3 April. The first day, the EIC beneficiaries' day, was dedicated to EIC Awardees, while the second, the EIC flagship event, was open to all interested stakeholders.
If you could not be with us throughout the whole event and you missed the main takeaways about EIC Business Acceleration Services (EIC BAS), here are some major highlights of what happened!
The EIC Summit 2025 highlights
The EIC Summit welcomed over 1,400 participants for two days full of initiatives: from thought-provoking talks and workshops to networking opportunities and award ceremonies. It has also been an opportunity for 24 EIC Accelerator innovators to step on stage to pitch their solutions to top investors present. The conference brought together the best of the European innovation ecosystem, supported by more than 70+ top-tier investors, and 115 outstanding speakers, including the European Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva, former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, CEO and co-founder of Amadeus Capital Anne Glover, Alice & Bob CEO Théau Peronnin, and other key figures in European deep-tech and policy.
The conference gave the chance to EIC beneficiaries and interested stakeholders to explore how to scale, partner, raise funds, and conquer new markets through a full track of sessions dedicated to the EIC Business Acceleration Services (EIC BAS).
And that’s not all. The visitors had the pleasure of meeting the minds behind the 23 EIC-backed projects featured in our project exhibition, true examples of innovation in action!
It has also been the occasion to present the EIC Impact Report 2025, which demonstrates the significant progress the EIC has made to become the investor of choice for European deep tech entrepreneurs. Here are some highlights from this year’s edition.
Learn from the speakers: deep dive into the EIC Business Acceleration Services
The first day was fully dedicated to EIC beneficiaries with workshops covering diverse issues, such as investments, IP or scaling up your company. This has been the perfect opportunity to deep dive into the EIC BAS and its programmes.
In the picture: Yousef Yousef, CEO (LG Sonic and EIC Board Member); Agnieszka Stasiakowska, Head of Sector of EIC Business Acceleration Services Global Offer (EISMEA), Ana Casaca, Global Director of Innovation (Galp); Armand Raudin, Head of Video & Innovation Program (SNCF Security Directorate)
If you are wondering what they are about, Yousef Yousef, CEO of LG Sonic and EIC Board Member, presented them during the workshop “EIC Business Acceleration Services: Discover EIC support beyond funding!”
You can see Business Acceleration Services as your business partner, you can go for guidance, or for some advice, but you can also understand what there is in the market. There is a close loop between the market, its needs and you as an entrepreneur.
In the same workshop, Agnieszka Stasiakowska (Head of Sector of EIC Business Acceleration Services Global Offer, EISMEA) perfectly summed up the spirit of the EIC BAS and what’s new in 2025:
We want to offer smart money. We offer everything you need in order to grow, put your innovation in the market, and succeed.
(...) We’re always seeking better ways to meet the needs of innovators. In 2025, three programmes created in 2024 will take full speed: Access+, InnoNext, InnoMatch.
In the workshop "Corporate Venturing – Lessons from the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme", the audience had the chance to meet an EIC corporate partner, Galp, a Portuguese multinational energy corporation, represented by Ana Casaca, their Global Director of Innovation. Galp collaborated within the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme and, at this regard, she reported:
We signed contracts with beneficiaries, and they would not have been within our radar without the EIC support.
(...) To support startups, it's all about giving them space and the chance of testing the solution they are working on. The procurement process we have gave me the trust to work in a smooth way with startups.
(...) Indeed, we have very good ones in Europe, we just need to put them in contact with the right corporates.
During Accelerate Your Business with Innovation Procurement, the workshop dedicated to the EIC Innovation Procurement Programme, Armand Raudin, Head of Video & Innovation Program at SNCF Security Directorate, talked about the support they received during the EIC – SNCF collaboration:
When it comes to innovation, innovation procurement is a fantastic tool. We discovered it in 2018. Through it, we managed to find many SMEs and startups to work with on public transport. We managed to fill some gaps. The project is not over but we will have the help of the EIC to continue to develop the activities.
In this article, we couldn’t recount all the workshops and plenary sessions. But, if you missed something, don’t worry! Plenary sessions are now available to rewatch on the EIC Summit website, and more workshop materials will be uploaded in the coming days.
About EIC Business Acceleration Services
Under Horizon Europe, the EIC strives to ensure that financial support is only the beginning of your journey as an EIC beneficiary, with mechanisms available to bring your innovations to the market and grow your business. As an EIC-supported innovator, you can benefit from access to a range of tailor-made EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS) available at any stage of development of your activities and of the research and innovation cycle. Learn more by visiting the official website and the page dedicated to resources, which includes the EIC BAS brochure.
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.