European Innovation Council - SME Instrument

The European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot stimulates strong collaboration between the innovative companies it funds and large corporates, investors, technology giants and industrial leaders to spur new partnerships and help small companies scale-up their business. Interested? We've got you covered. Read here what we're planning for 2019.

In May 2018, the European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot’s funded company Sensius won the first EBAN-EASME Scaleup of the Month. As the winner of the ePitch, Sensius was invited to pitch at the EBAN Winter Summit. Two weeks ago in Luxembourg at EBAN’s (the European Business Angel Network) Winter Summit, Sensius stole the show by winning the Pitching Contest.

The European Commission received 1850 proposals for the European Innovation Council pilot’s SME Instrument Phase 2 before the latest cut-off date on 10 October 2018. SMEs from 38 countries submitted proposals. Results will come out end of 2018.

The European Innovation Council pilot’s SME Instrument is funding outstanding women innovators that break new grounds in technology, science and engineering. This year four women entrepreneurs funded by the SME Instrument have made it to Forbes' Europe’s Top 50 Women in Tech 2018 list. From the CEO of Ada Health to the Founder of SoapBoxLabs have a look at these remarkable innovators.

14 companies funded by the EIC pilot travelled to the Electrolux Innovation Factory in Italy to share their vision and explore business opportunities with Electrolux managers and partners.

One of the objectives of the Business Acceleration Services available to companies funded by the EIC pilot is to help bridge the gap between SMEs and big corporates. To this end, the EIC pilot and Solvay promoted a networking and pitching event bringing together 19 innovators working in the fields of advanced composites, material engineering and IT solutions.

Did you miss our keynote speeches at the EIC Innovators' Summit in Berlin? On 9-11 September we had the chance to hear notably from Corinne, Vigreux, Co-founder of Tom-Tom, HR guru Annemie Ries and Luc De Bois from Orange Business Services. If you didn't see them yet, not to worry - you can watch them all on our dedicated playlist.