EIC ScalingUp is a project dedicated to creating a model for European deep tech companies funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) to scale beyond Series B/C and to connect with strategic investors and partners for success and impact. The best 50 European Deep Tech EIC Beneficiaries were selected (out of 3.000+) in 3 Tracks: Digital, Health, Sustainability, through our honorary Selection Committee who considered:
- Financial criteria: Funding raised > €6 million or > €10 million valuation
- Business criteria: Deep tech innovation that disrupts existing markets, potential to scale and expand in new markets and fundraising potential for series B or C in the next 2 years
- Diversity: Gender and geography
The EIC ScalingUp project aims to raise the visibility across Europe and internationally of those most promising 50 EIC deep tech companies which have the potential to achieve substantial growth, and to become world-scale companies, or to realize a big exit or IPO.
Around 30 companies out of the EIC ScalingUp TOP50 will benefit from the FREE 1-year long EIC ScalingUp Collaborative Growth programme including:
- Growth access to investment, partnerships, markets, and talents
- Insights on key challenges in groups of fellow entrepreneurs and experts
- Visibility across Europe and internationally through 40+ pitch sessions in 2022; large-scale media & PR
- Contacts with 200+ strategic investors and corporates & governmental partners
You can download the list of 50 companies from here.
We also asked Jean-Michel Deligny, EIC ScalingUp Selection Committee Chairman, and Senior Advisor at Silverpeak, to tell us more about the project and its value for European deep tech companies.
How does EIC ScalingUp help the European deep tech ecosystem?
JMD: Deep Tech is all about making bets, large bets, with patient capital. The traditional VC model doesn’t lend itself well to this game, and only the very large funds can afford the risks and amounts which need to be played with. EIC Scaling Up supports the selected Top50 scale-ups to grow and raise their funding levels. It also allows the smaller European funds to be cost-effectively exposed to a wider, pan-European curated deal-flow, allowing greater participation. And of course, we hope we can attract new investors to the European market too! In turn, selected companies get greater visibility, to a wider section of the investor market.
Why is EIC ScalingUp necessary?
JMD: Scaling Up is an inaugural edition of a new entrepreneur-centric collaborative approach. The obvious opportunity is to bring about more connections, both ways, which otherwise would not have been made. The challenge is to make it worth the participants’ while, both companies and specialists in various fields who hopefully can help the companies drive their message to specialised investors and partners. The other challenge is of course to deliver value with a rather limited input. And of course, extract lessons to make the programme even more relevant next year.
Why did you join?
JMD: I am impressed by the quality of the tech which is produced everywhere in Europe. At least on par with what comes out of the Valley. But I am also frustrated by how much we invest in research and the few large companies we produce. Even more frustrating, it often takes larger US VCs to make a success big in Europe. Hopefully this programme can help sophisticated European investors take the lead investing in more European deeptech companies while inviting other investors and partners. It goes back to the vital question of being seen – but also being able to engage the very best of investors.
If you want to learn more about the project, visit eicscalingup.eu. You can download the report with the 50 most promising EU deep tech Series B/C companies from here.
