Bright and Bold innovators to Receive €94.25 Million EU Funding to Scale Up Their Businesses
57 small and medium-sized companies have been selected for funding under the Horizon 2020 European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot, which aims to nurture breakthrough innovation. The companies, which underwent face-to-face interviews with a jury of innovators, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, will receive a total amount of €94.25 million.
Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said: “With the European Innovation Council pilot, we set out to support high-flying entrepreneurs with breakthrough ideas and a clear ability to create new markets. This very first group of innovators certainly has that potential.”
Examples of the projects include a 3D printer for food, an innovative treatment for breast cancer, multi-active cardboard packaging that extends the shelf life of vegetables by 40% or a new type of biodegradable bioplastic. Each project will receive up to €2.5 million (€5 million for health projects) to finance innovation activities such as demonstration, testing, piloting and scaling up.
The companies will also benefit from free business coaching and business acceleration services. Most companies come from the fields of health, engineering and information & communication technology (ICT), and are based in Spain (13), the Netherlands (6), followed by France and Finland (both 5) and thirteen other countries.
The funding comes from the SME Instrument, which has been brought under the umbrella of the EIC pilot. The EIC pilot was launched in 2017 bringing together the parts of the research and innovation programme Horizon 2020 that provide funding, advice and networking opportunities for those at cutting edge of innovation.
