As part of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Program for 2022, the Commission has selected 78 startups and SMEs to receive up to €470 million in funding.
Depending on their needs, each company will receive grants and/or equity investments of up to €17.5 million.
The latter is through the EIC fund and is now “fully operational” after appointing Luxembourg-based Alter Domus as an external fund manager, streamlining the equity payment process and avoiding past delays.
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The heart of high tech comes to the heart of the Mediterranean
The companies selected span 17 EU and EEA countries, in addition to Israel and the UK.
Among them, 17% of startups and SMEs are located in Germany, 14% in the Netherlands and 12% in France and Spain. Together these countries account for 53% of the total selection.
Below is a detailed graph of the number of companies selected for each country.
Also, as you can see from the map below, the selected startups are mainly in Western and Northern Europe, with the eastern EU/EEA countries not represented at all.
Notably, the sector in which EIC has attracted the most funding is health, with 51% of the companies selected providing technology for medical solutions. Other industries include mobility, climate management, energy storage, agriculture, manufacturing and AI.
Here are three notable examples of finalists:
- Spain’s Inbrain Neuroelectronics is designing graphene for the development of neural interfaces, aiming to revolutionize the treatment of neurological disorders.
- Estonia-based Efenco reduces the need for natural gas and carbon emissions in industrial applications by enabling the industry’s transition to hydrogen with its new Plasma Assisted Combustion (PAC) technology, HERC Aiming to be
- Italy’s Energy Dome is working on a long-term battery energy storage system based on a thermodynamic closed loop using CO2 as the working fluid. Thanks to the properties of carbon dioxide, the system can store energy efficiently and cost-effectively.
These 78 companies join the 314 companies so far selected for funding by the European Innovation Council. This will continue to grow as the EIC’s accelerator fund secures his €1.13 billion for 2023.
