EIC funding pays off twice: the EU's Business Acceleration Services

In addition to EIC funding, benefit from the EU's Business Acceleration Services: EIC-funded companies or research institutions have the opportunity to exchange ideas in a pan-European innovation ecosystem and receive support from co-investors.

A coveted ticket to further benefits: the EIC funding programmes

Competition for European funding is fierce. The programmes of the European Innovation Council (EIC), for example, are particularly popular. Since 2021, the EIC has been funding highly innovative and groundbreaking, but also high-risk projects through its three funding instruments: EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition and EIC Accelerator. As well as receiving funding, beneficiaries also have access to Business Acceleration Services (BAS). These have been well received: A diverse and vibrant community of successful applicants from a wide range of sectors has now emerged.

What are the EU's Business Acceleration Services?

In order to maximise the impact of EIC investments, the EIC enables all successful applicants, including researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs, to access a wide range of different services designed to support business growth. There is something for every stage of research, development and innovation cycle.

For example, Business Acceleration Services include coaching, mentoring and matching with potential partners. All EIC grantees benefit from BAS as part of their project implementation. The initiative complements the EIC's funding budget to build a pan-European network of specialised, sector-based partnerships, providing innovators with access to a range of helpful services and brokering contacts with investors.

1. access to coaches, mentors, experts and training,
2. access to international partners, including leading companies, investors and producers, and finally
3. access to the innovation ecosystem and other grantees.

 Within the first category of EU business acceleration services, there is the EIC coaching programme on a wide range of topics. This gives beneficiaries the opportunity to be trained according to their stage of innovation. The EIC Women Leadership Programme is aimed directly at women and offers them the opportunity to strengthen their entrepreneurial skills and expand their network. Each participant is paired with a personal mentor and business coach to reflect on her career path and explore new business opportunities. The EIC Tech to Market Programme is designed for researchers and innovators who are in the process of moving from the laboratory to the marketplace and working on their commercialisation strategy. The focus of the programme is to support technology transfer.

The second category of BAS aims to strengthen the international cooperation of EIC beneficiaries and to enable partnerships with leading companies, investors, producers, distributors or even customers. To this end, the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme has been set up to initiate cooperation between beneficiaries and European companies. There is also the EIC Innovation Procurement Partnership Programme, which supports the procurement of innovation. The aim of the programme is to facilitate access to procurement markets in the EU and globally for world-class EIC innovators and to increase their market opportunities. Through the EIC Overseas Trade Fair Programme, the EIC promotes participation in internationally recognised trade fairs and supports EIC beneficiaries in entering new markets. The EIC Co-Investment Support Programme prepares successful applicants for their investment rounds and EIC Scale Up 100 describes an action to support 100 selected companies to become global technology champions.

Finally, the third category of BAS is the EIC Ecosystem Partnership Programme, where the EIC acts as a liaison between partners and EIC grantees and applicants who have not received funding but have been awarded a Seal of Excellence. The aim is to provide access to incubation, acceleration, growth and scale-up services.

Upcoming events for EIC grantees at IFA and Gastech

Applying for EIC funding is worthwhile: successful applicants benefit from financial support, as well as the opportunity to network across disciplines, meet investors and develop through the many coaching and mentoring opportunities offered by the EU's Business Acceleration Services.Exciting events are also taking place this autumn for EIC grantees, including participation in the EIC Overseas Trade Fairs Programme 2.0 at IFA 2023 in Berlin (1-5.9.23), the largest trade fair for technology and innovation, and Gastech 2023 in Singapore (5-8.9.23), the trade fair for gas, LPG, hydrogen and low carbon solutions. For more information on Business Acceleration Services, please visit the EIC pages.

Are you interested in applying for EIC funding? Whether EIC Pathfinder, Transition or Accelerator – we know the European Innovation Council's funding instruments and are happy to guide you through the application process. Simply contact us to let us do a funding check now!

Text: Christina Tanosova