The European Innovation Council has developed since 2017 its EIC Corporate Partnership Programme to allow EIC-funded companies to boost their network and meet relevant decision-makers from the largest corporates in Europe. Are you a corporation looking for innovations from startups and research projects? Would you like to engage in R&D activities as well as investing in high innovative companies? Then, this is the right place for you! The European Innovation Council is open for new collaborations with the largest and more innovative Corporations in Europe. To join the programme, please apply here.
The European Innovation Council (EIC) is determined to stimulate strong collaboration between European SMEs and large corporates to help them spark innovation and grow their business. To this end, and under its EIC Corporate Programme line, it has established an ambitious set of events to assist EIC awardees in accessing corporate partners.
From October 2017 until June 2021, 45 initiatives have been organised through “EIC Corporate Days”, “EIC Multicorporate Days” and enhanced cooperation initiatives as Planet.Tech or Energy4Planet with +60 corporate partners like: ABB, Airbus, BMW, CommerzBank, Enel, Ferrovial, Medtronic, Philips, Roche, Solvay, Suez or Telefonica.
Over 1000 EIC-funded startups/scaleups and +2000 corporate high-level representatives have been able to participate in these initiatives reporting a business impact of 43% follow-ups and almost 25% of business deals in less than 6 months, including numerous pilots, proofs of concept and other business collaborations. The satisfaction rate among corporate representatives has reached 100%, proving the efficiency of the concept: bridging the gap between innovative SMEs and large companies can prove to be a vital strategy for business acceleration and growth.
What are the conditions to join the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme?
In order to reach the highest impact for our innovative SMEs and innovators, the EIC looks specifically for:
1. Largest corporations in Europe (cumulative criteria):
- More than 1B EUR turnover.
- More than 1k employees worldwide.
- Presence in at least 10 EU27 Member States.
- Investment in startups-scaleups
2.Focus on the EIC portfolio needs. Main topics: Health, ICT, Energy and Transport, green technologies.
3. Corporate investment and experience in “Open innovation” and Corporate Venture Capital (CVC).
Before embarking on a collaboration, the EIC asks corporations to agree with the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme Declaration of intent.
Read the Highlights from Corporate Days to have an idea of what Corporate Days are, part of the Corporate Partnership Programme, and how they can help your business.
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.