Evaluation criteria
All proposals are evaluated based on three award criteria:
- Excellence: your project has high innovation potential and is beyond the state of the art. It has a strong added-value, it is viable and better than existing solutions.
- Impact: your innovation meets a pressing need on European and global markets, it will generate revenue and create jobs and has an international dimension.
- Implementation: your work plan is efficient and coherent with a realistic time-frame. Your team has hte technical and commercial competence to deliver.
Steps of the Evaluation
In EIC Accelerator proposals are evaluated in two steps. In Step 1, proposals are evaluated remotely by four independent expert-evaluators with different profiles.
The experts are carefully chosen to guarantee proposals are evaluated independently by experts with different profiles with expertise in for example technology a specific industry sector, business and finance. Proposals are ranked in descending order and the best scores get funded until available budget is exhausted. All applicants are informed about the outcome through the Participant Portal with a letter and an Evaluation Summary Report (ESR).
Companies that pass the initial selection stage, will be invited to pitch their innovation projects in front of a panel of jury experts, consisting of private investors, business angels and other players in the innovation ecosystem. This Step 2 complements the existing paper based assessment in order to take full account of the personal qualities and motivations of the applicant innovators. At this stage around 50% of the companies will get selected for funding.
The face-to-face interviews will be in English and last 30 minutes. More question time may be granted for proposals asking for blended finance. Companies selected for the interview will receive a pitch document in the invitation to participate to the second step - a template will be attached to the invitation letter.
The dates for the Jury interviews in 2019 are:
- interview week for 1st cut-off date: 11-15 February 2019;
- interview week for 2nd cut-off date: 13-17 May 2019;
- interview week for 3rd cut-off date: 8-12 July 2019;
- interview week for 4th cut-off date: 18-22 November 2019.
The dates for the interviews in 2020 are:
- interview week for 1st cut-off date: 17-21 February 2020;
- interview week for 2nd cut-off date: 11-20 May 2020;
- interview week for 3rd cut-off date: 29-3 July 2020;
- interview week for 4th cut-off date: 26 November-4 December 2020.
The Jury consists of around 15% business angels, 20% entrepreneurs, 20% venture capitalists, with other experts coming from larger corporates, innovation hubs and accelerators. The majority of the experts are women. The list of experts is regularly updated as new experts join the Jury. Around 70 members evaluate proposals during each interview week.
The maximum delay to inform applicants will be 4 months from the date of the cut-off. The indicative date for the signing of grant agreements is maximum 6 months from the date of the corresponding cut-off.
For full details on the evaluation procedure read the guidelines for applicants on the Horizon 2020 Funding and Tenders Portal.
List of EIC Jury Members
Name |
Affiliation |
Nationality |
Kristin Aamodt |
Managing Director Statoil Technology Invest |
NO |
Luis Acevedo | Founder and CEO of SpectCell with the University of Edinburgh - Researcher and project supervisor | ES |
Patrick Albert | Managing Director at PAt Partners Consulting Sàrl | FR |
Oriol Alcoba Malaspina | Director general at Esade Creapolis | ES |
Maria Elena Alfaro Martinez | Head of Data & Open Innovation BBVA | ES |
Remi Alquier |
President ID&SENSE; Toulouse Business School; INNOV@ Invest |
FR |
Andrea Alunni | Head of New Venture Support and Funding, Oxford University Innovation | IT |
Pedro Alvarez Bretones |
Partner Food Evolutions, Food Industry Changemaker |
ES |
Taryn Andersen | Investor Relations Director | ES |
Birgit Anderegg | Founder & CEO of ABC&D | DE |
Mauro Andriotto | Founder of AFS and EDSX | IT |
Anna Amati |
Founder and Owner META Group |
IT |
Vedran Wiliam Arnsson Arnautovic | Entrepreneur and investor at Wedran AB | SE |
Stefania Ascione | Head of R&I Advisory at Intesa Sanpaolo | IT |
Pascale Auge | Head of New Venture Support and Funding, Oxford University Innovation | FR |
Sergio Balassone | Innovation leader at EIT Digital | IT |
Alexander Banz | Venture Partner, Executive Board Member | NL |
Marta Baptista |
Innovation Manager at Beta-i - Association for the Promotion of Innovation and Entrepreneurship |
PT |
Ana Barjasic |
Director at EBAN; Founder and CEO Connectology Investments; Global Entrepreneurship Network |
HR |
Mali M. Baum | Founder & CEO of WLOUNGE ecosystem | IL |
Brigitte Baumann Gervais |
Founder and CEO of Go Beyond Investing, ex-EBAN president |
FR |
Dr. Barak Ben-Avinoam | Partner at Benhamou Global Ventures | IL |
Jonathan Berger |
CEO at the Kitchen Food Tech Hub |
IL |
Larissa Best |
LBAN; Executive Director Equilibre Luxembourg; serial entrepreneur; FJD (Young Directors Luxembourg) |
LU |
Sasha Bezuhanova | Founder and Chairperson at MOVE.BG | BG |
Claudia Blomgren-Hansen |
Founder and Partner of LIFE SCIENCE PLUS Advokater, Denmark; former Director of Alliance Management, Global R&D at LEO Pharma |
DE |
Julianna Borsos | Private Equity Investor and manager of growth fund | FI |
Christine Bosse |
Board member in international orientated companies (Allianz, TDC, BankNordik, Tele Greenland, Nunaoil, etc.) |
DK |
Mario Branciforti | Managing Director at Samsung NEXT Ventures | IT |
John Breslin | Professor at NUI Galway, Programme Director at TechInnovate; Co-Principal Investigator at CoPI; Funded Investigator at VistaMilk; CoFounder of PorterShed; Chair at WestBIC | IE |
Julien Bringer | CEO of Kallistech & Senior Security Expert Advisor | FR |
Csaba Bundik | Partner at HATCH Ventures, Vice Chairman of CEEC, Business Angel | HU |
John B. Carrigan |
Chief Scientist @ RebelBio Accelerator; Sean O Sullivan Ventures |
IR |
Andy Cars |
CEO @ Seedcap AB |
SE |
Manuel Castelo-Branco | Partner at PRP | PT |
Rui Castro | CoFounder of Student Keep, CIO of Grupo Somitel, President of Alpha Coimbra, Founder of RNC.pt | PT |
Ricardas Cepas | Chairman at Labas Ventures, USA | LT |
Dominique Chambas |
Owner, founder and board member (TRF Retail, aldata, SQLI) |
FR |
Andre Convents |
Innovation Leader at Procter & Gamble |
BE |
Carlos Correira Da Silva Bartolo | Co-founder and Chairman Glymt; Founder APBA ( Business Angel Association) | PT |
Baptiste Cota | Founding Partner of LeadBlock Partners | FR |
Steve Crossan | Executive in Residence at Atomico | UK |
Dilek Dayinlarli |
Managing Partner at ScaleX Ventures; Kauffman fellow |
TR |
Sara Paulina De Oliveira Monteiro |
Science and Technology Manager at the Navigator Company, Invited Jury at Start up Chile, Quadruple Helix Innovation Nexus Editor @Palgrave Macmillan |
PT |
Aletta Debernardi |
Director Operations of the Netherlands eScience Center |
NL |
Bruno Delepierre |
Managing Director at We Mean Business, Talent Scout at MIT |
BE |
Patricia Dimond |
COO Value Retail Management; IMD Switzerland; various C-level operating roles |
UK |
Eden Djanashvili | Founder Barcelona Deeptech Community | ES |
Barrry Downes | Managing Partner at Sure Valley Ventures | IE |
Lukasz Dziekonski | Managing Partner and CEO at Montis Capital Venture Fund | PL |
Javier Echarri |
CEO EBN, former Secretary General EVCA/InvestEurope |
ES |
Maria Echavarri | Investment Director at Fondo Bolsa Social | ES |
Harmut Ehrlich | CEO at ABIVAX | DE |
Aki Eldar | Executive Chairman at Sixgill, entrepreneur, advisor to startups and mentor | IL |
Anne Grete Ellingsen | Founder and CEO of Energy&Management AS | NO |
Marcus Erken | Founding Partner at Sunfish Partners | DE |
Leo Exter |
Chief Energizer at Hack Belgium; Founder @westartup |
BE |
Cristina Fanjul Alonso |
Managing Director CEEI Asturias |
ES |
Emma Fau Sebastian |
Founder of EU Capital, Investor of Sofia Square, Founding Member Startup Europe Africa Network, Consultant Business Development of Princip.al, Independent Board Member of Business Angels Europe |
BE |
Maciej Filipkowski | Investor at Filipkowski.IO | PL |
Anna Carla Filotico |
Partner at SpaceTec Partners |
IT |
Liz Fleming | Principal at Adara Ventures | IE |
Antonio Fonduca |
Managing Partner at Venture Diplomat, Director of Private Equity Global, Industry Advisor at Lean Ventures |
SE |
David Ian Ford | Investor, Chairman at SomaServe | UK |
Uli Fricke |
CEO at FunderNation; Triangle Venture Capital Group; Invest Europe |
DE |
Eli Frydman | Managing Director - Healthcare at Aurum Ventures | IL |
Ekaterina Gianelli | Partner at Inventure | FI |
Alex Gilbert | Director at Clean Growth Ltd | UK |
Maria Eugenia Girón Davila |
Corporación Financiera Alba; Executive Director IE Business School |
ES |
Angele Giuliano |
CEO AcrossLimits & iSmart; Business Angel with Rising Tide & Go Beyond Investing; President Foundation for Women Entrepreneurs |
MT |
Magnus Graf Lambsdorff |
Business Angel/Investor at Zeotap |
DE |
Cora Griffin | Life Sciences Business Development Director | IE |
Lidia Grzegorczyk | Founder & CEO of GBC | PL |
Giuseppe Gubello | Innovation Manager at Fondo Atlante Ventures | IT |
Ayşe Nil Güzel Sarigollu | Entrepreneur, Investor, Board Member, Chairwoman | TK |
Sylwia Hadaj | Principal at Evolution Equity Partners | PL |
Franz-Werner Haas |
Curevac AG |
DE |
Søren Hejnfelt |
CBDO @ Finestmedia; CEO @ Nordic 360, Startup Wise Guys Estonia |
DK
|
Isabella Hermann-Schön | Managing Partner at Round2 Capital Partners | AT |
Maria-Victoria Hernandez |
Board and C-level executive for Telcos, ICT, BPO and Fintech business; Shareholder at Sequeris |
FR |
Janneke Hoedemaekers |
Managing director MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology (@UT) and High Tech Factory |
NL |
Kristin Hollung |
Research Director, Food and Health at Nofima |
NO |
Magnus Holm | Senior Executive, Entrepreneur and Investor in Medical Devices and Digital Health | SE |
Anne Hovi Worsøe |
Portfolio Manager at Bakken & Bæck; Angel Investor No Isolation Oslo; Co-funder Nordic Innovation House; CEO of the Norwegian Venture Capital Association |
NO |
Xiaoli Hu | Head of Business Development at Xbrane Biopharma AB | SE |
Lina A. Huertas |
Head of Technology Strategy for Digital Manufacturing, MTC - Manufacturing Technology Centre |
UK/CO |
Bart Huisken | Managing Partner at HCP Global, serial entrepreneur and Business Angel | ES |
Sue Hunter |
Chairman of the Investment Committee at Frog Capital |
UK |
Clyde Hutchinson | Early Seed Fund Investor and Accelerator Co-lead | IE |
Barbara Imhof |
Executive Board Member at Women in Aerospace Europe; Co-Founder and Managing Director LIQUIFER Systems Group |
AT |
Jurgen Ingels | Organizer at Super Nova; Founder at Scale Ups.eu; Founder and Managing Parner at Smart Fin Capital | BE |
Tatiana Issaeva |
Managing Partner at Fluent Digital Capital |
FI |
Milen Ivanov | Founder & CEO of CEO Angles Club | BG |
Henri Jacobs | Chairman of the board at Techventures & Managing Director Forcit Benelux | BE |
Dariusz Janusek | Co-founder and CEO of SensoriumLab | PL |
Jonas Johansson | Director of Science & Innovation at AstraZeneca AB | SE |
Ada Jonuse |
entrepreneur Lympo, A.lot parking; PM screen group |
LT |
Sonja Jost |
Board Member of the German Startups Association; CEO and Head of R&D, DexLeChem GmbH |
DE |
Cynthia Jurytko | Investment Manager at Family Office Wille AG and Business Angel | CH |
Nora Kaarela |
Director & Head of Industry, Health and Wellbeing Finpro; several board positions |
FI |
Guus Keder | Partner, Board Member, CEO at Indra Scientific SA | NL |
Stavriana Kofteros |
Co-Founder Start-up Cyprus; Global Entrepreneurship Network Cyprus Board; VP European Start-up Network; WEF European Digital Leaders; Angel investor |
CY |
Michaela Kršková | Investment Manager at Neulogy Ventures | SK |
Tanja Kufner |
Managing Director at Rainmaking Innovation; Startupbootcamp Smart Transportation and Energy |
DE |
Sam Laakkonen | Contingent Managing Director Sustainability at Techstars | FI |
Fabio La Franca | Investment Director at Station12 Ventures | FR |
Raphaël Lanté | External Ventures Manager at Saint-Gobain | FR |
Giny Laroche |
Partner The Impact Lab sàrl |
LU |
Patricia Layola Castro |
Investment Manager & Co-founder at VICTORIA Venture Capital SCR-PYME S.A., Barcelona |
ES |
Anne Lebreton-Wolf |
Business Angel, member of FBA and Finance teacher at IFAM and ISEG |
FR |
David Lembo | CEO at Panoxyvir and Professor of Microbiology and Virology | IT |
Valérie-Anne Lencznar |
Managing Director Think Smart Grid |
FR |
Inna Leontekova | Deutsche Bank, Director. London Business School, Mentor Entrepreneurship | RU |
Monika Lessl |
VP Head of Corporate Innovation and R&D at Bayer AG |
DE |
Bruno Lindorfer | Senior Innovation Expert at ZSI | AT |
Jerneja Loncar | Founder at Good Tech Ventures | SI |
Jorge López Benito | CEO (Professional Expertise in Bussines Development / R&D&i) | ES |
Jesus Lozano | Founder and CEO of Silicon Seeds Capital. Serial Entrepreneur, Business Angel, and Author | ES |
Evert Jaap Lugt |
Managing Director at YES!Delft |
NL |
Massimiliano Magrini | Co-Founder and Managing Partner at United Ventures | IT |
Anna Maj |
FinTech Advisor – CreativeLink, PayTech; Mentor - PwC Startup Collider; European Women Payments Network (EWPN) |
PL |
Ron Margalit | Founding Partner at Venture Kinetics | IL |
Tomas Martunas | Founding Partner at Iron Wolf Capital | LT |
Mary McKenna |
Director Elemental-Software Derry, Entrepreneurship Expert Saïd Business School |
UK |
Aurelio Mezzotero | Partner at Innogest SGR | IT |
Luca Mion | Head of Innovation and Technology Transfer at Hub Innovazione Trentino; former Chairman of the Independent Investment Expert Group of the European Commission | IT |
Max Mohammadi | Founder & Chairman at Hippogriff.se | SE |
Philippe Moretto | Innovation and Standards Senior Adviser | FR |
Zlatolina Mukova |
Partner at NEVEQ Capital Partners; former Vice-Minister of Transport and Communications |
BG |
Francesca Natali | Managing Director of Meta Ventures & owner at Meta Group | IT |
Madalina Nazare |
Manager R&D Programmes at Digital Catapult |
RO |
Carl Friedrich Nising | Head of Corporate R&D at Bayer AG | DE |
Cosmin Ochisor | Partner at Gapminder Ventures | RO |
Iris Öhrn |
Investment Advisor Life Science/ Healthcare |
SE |
Drew O'Sullivan | Advisor to European Angel Fund Ireland. Lead Equity Advisor with InterTradeIreland | IE |
Florin Calin Paun |
Director Innovation Group at Akka Technologies; ex-Innovation Director Onera – The French Aerospace lab |
FR |
Tomasz Poniński | Founding Partner at Montis Capital Venture Fund | PL |
Theologos Prokopiou | Managing Director at i4G - Incubation for Growth | EL |
Sonia Powar | Partner at Boost & Co | UK |
Hugo Ramos | Co-Founder and Partner at Matching Ventures | PT |
Lise Rechsteiner | Partner at Propagator Ventures | NO |
Philippe Richard |
CEO at Pegase Croissance Accelerator; ex-VP Commercial & Business Development ONERA - The French Aerospace Lab |
FR |
Kerry Ritz | Advisor at Auquan, Non Executive Director at Krzana, Entrepreneur in Residence at Techstars | UK |
Erik Robertson |
Managing Director at Nordic Game Resources AB; CEO Redikod AB |
SE |
Andrea Rosen |
Chief Innovation Officer at CUBE gmbh Berlin |
DE |
Marie-Elisabeth Rusling |
CEO Business Angels Europe |
FR |
Jordi Safont | General Partner and CEO at Lanzame Capital | ES |
Yair Safrai | General Partner at Concord Ventures | IL |
Daria Saharova | Partner at Vito ONE | DE |
Diana Saraceni |
Co-founder & General Partner at Panakes Partners Milano |
IT |
Ayse Nil Guzel Sarigollu |
CEO Cardtec |
TR |
Anouk Schoors | VP Sales and Operations at Peregrine Inc. | BE |
Marcello Segato | Sustainable Mobility | IT |
Ana Segurado Escudero | Managing Director Alantra Partners | ES |
Marko Seppä |
Owner & CEO, Venture Capital Corporation VCC Oy; Co-Founder and Chairman, Global Enabler Corporation |
FI |
Cecile Sevrain |
Co-founder Tiime; Managing Director LBAN; Program officer EBAN Impact Investment Committee |
FR |
Mihai Sfintescu | Managing Director at Abilito Capital, Venture Capitalist & Start-up Mentor | RO |
Audra Shallal | Managing Director at BOSS Consulting | US |
Maria Shiao |
Senior IT and Telecoms business executive, Technology investor, expert and advisor (IoT, Smart Cities), ICT and Future Cities Executive Panel at Institution for Engineering and Technology. Lead investor and deal leader at Rising Tide Europe |
ES |
Eugene Smyth | Investment Manager with Dublin BIC Managed Funds/AIB Seed Capital Fund | IE |
Atle Søvik | Partner at Verdane Capital Advisors | NO |
Rita Sousa | Managing Director at Naves Venture Capital & Board Advisor at Hope Care | PT |
Nicolas Stephan | Investment Director, Innovative projects in Ecological and Energy transition, ADEME Investissement SAS | FR |
Lelde Stukle | Partner and Investment Manager at Commercialization Reactor Fund | LV |
Tanya Suarez |
Co-Founder of IoT Tribe; CEO at BluSpecs Innovation |
ES |
Hester Tak | Investment manager at Oost NL | NL |
Daria Tataj |
Founder & CEO Tataj Innovation; Digital Leader for the World Economic Forum; ex-Governing Board EIT |
PL |
Ewa A. Treitz |
Partner @Black Pearls VC; Kauffman Fellow; Mentor@Techstars |
PL |
Assaf Topaz | Investor at Topaz Tech Capital | LU |
Mari Vavulski |
Head of Startup Estonia |
EE |
Adiari Vazquez |
VC Investment Manager Caixa Capital; International Venture Club |
US/PT |
Guilhem Velvé Casquillas | CEO ELVESYS Microfluidic Innovation Center & CEO LongLongLife | FR |
Cristina Vicini-Rademacher |
International Board Director, Digital Innovation, Entrepreneur, Impact Investor |
IT |
Helena Vieira |
Director at BLUEBIO ALLIANCE; CEO and President BIOALVO SA |
PT |
Arturo Villar Menendez | Founder & Coordinator - Global StartupCities initiative | ES |
Claus von Riegen |
Vice President, Head of Business Model Innovation SAP |
DE |
Norbert Windhab | VP Strategic Projects Health Care at Evonik Nutrition and Care | DE |
Sandra Wycech |
Innovation Community Manager at Bank of Ireland |
PL |
Tatjana Zabasu Mikuz | Managing Partner at South Central Ventures (SCV Fund Management) | SI |
Martin Zadražil |
COO at Tescan Orsay Holding |
CZ |
Alex Zhigarev | General Partner at Speedinvest | RU |
Jesus Zurdo | Senior Vice President Innovation and Venture Partnerships at Rentschler Biopharma SE | SE |
Jose Zurstrassen | Chairman MyMicroInvest.com; Skynet; Proximus; Belgacom; Keytrade Bank | BE |