About the Business Acceleration Services offered by the European Innovation Council (EIC)

All EIC supported projects and companies get access to coaching, mentoring, partnering and other EIC Business Acceleration Services

Business Acceleration Services

Under Horizon Europe, the EIC support goes far beyond funding and it aims at accelerating EIC innovations and growth of top deep tech companies. In order to further leverage the EIC investments, as EIC funded researcher, innovator or entrepreneur you will be provided with access to a range of tailor-made EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS) at any stage of development of your activities and of the EIC research and innovation cycle.

Tech to Market

The Tech to Market (T2M BAS) offer is designed to help researchers and innovators from projects funded under EIC Pathfinder and Transition funding schemes in transition from lab to market and to develop the pathway towards commercialisation (e.g. by start-up/spin-off creation) or other forms of technology transfer. 

Who can benefit and what services are offered?

All the EIC awardees (from the EIC Accelerator, EIC Transition, EIC Pathfinder and Women Tech.EU - implemented under the ‘European Innovation Ecosystems’ part of the Horizon Europe work programme funding schemes) have access to BAS. EIC Accelerator applicants invited to prepare a full proposal (successfully passed Step 1) can use 3 days of (remote) coaching and get support with the preparation of the full proposal (Step 2 application).

Some of the services are also available companies receiving the Seal of Excellence as well as to innovators and companies coming from other European or national initiatives that have entered into a specific agreement with the EIC. Seal of Excellence companies will have access to all BAS services except those linked to the direct management of the project like investor mentoring provided alongside management of the EIC equity and access to expertise.

EIC Community platform

These services are available through the EIC Community platform or provided through the EIC Investment Partners. The EIC Business Acceleration Services are structured around three main pillars:

• access to coaches, mentors, expertise and training
• access to global partners (leading corporates, investors, procurers, distributors, clients)
• access to innovation ecosystem and peers

Access to coaches, mentors, expertise and training

EIC researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs will be able to benefit from tailor-made coaching, mentoring, expertise and training delivered by specialised providers and adapted to their innovation stage. As part of the proactive portfolio management by Programme Managers, access to specific expertise, trainings, incubation or acceleration are provided to meet individual needs of the EIC awardees and their innovations.

Such services provided by professional service providers and ecosystem partners could include:

• expertise in the area of Intellectual Property protection
• legal & financial advisory
• privacy and data protection certification and standardisation
• competition analysis
• assistance in negotiations

Access will be provided to relevant entrepreneurial and innovation/IP strategy trainings, prototyping workshops, business plan development-oriented summer schools, boot camps, incubators and accelerators. Female members of EIC-funded projects, from researchers to entrepreneurs, wishing to bring their research to market, advance their business skills and/or take over leadership positions in business development, can join the EIC Women Leadership Programme (EIC WLP) to strengthen their entrepreneurial skills and expand their network. Each participant will work with a personal mentor and a business coach, facilitating the reflection on her career path and new business opportunities.

In addition to the coaching & training and access to corporates, investors and procurers, EIC-supported researchers, innovators and/or entrepreneurs can join  the EIC Greenhouse Gas (EIC GHG) programme to help reduce their carbon footprint.

Access to global partners (leading corporates, investors, procurers)

The Business Acceleration Services facilitate cooperation and co-creation with international business partners: leading corporates, investors, procurers, distributors, clients.

This includes:

• exploration of commercialisation potential with industry
• dedicated and impact focused matchmaking events (e.g. Corporate Days, Procurers Days)
• venture client model
• structured pilot and trials collaborations with corporates and private and public innovation procurers.

EIC funded SMEs will be offered a specific support when expanding to new markets within Europe and abroad in form of participation to global business trade fairs, visiting major European innovation hubs and specific soft-landing programmes. Learn more about the 2nd edition of the Overseas Trade Fairs Programme.

The EIC will facilitate collaboration with (co-) investors for the EIC Community. The service will be supported through a dedicated matching platform, for both investments and tailor-made services including mentoring, strategic advice, curated presentation to investors’ networks as well as investment readiness preparation and pitching sessions.

Unless specified otherwise, all above services are open to all EIC awardees and Seal of Excellence companies based on a proposal and, when relevant, selection process. The process involves a publication of a proposal by an interested EIC company or project on the EIC Community Platform and, depending on the type of service sought, a pre-selection by business partners/experts can be applied.

Access to innovation ecosystem and peers

The EIC ambition is to engage partners from across the European innovation ecosystem within the EIC Community, to benefit from cross-fertilisation and diversity inspiring innovation and creativity. It aims to stimulate unprecedented and unforeseeable encounters between peer inventors, researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs as well as other actors from the ecosystem, including corporates, investors, business angels, mentors and coaches, innovation procurers, innovation agencies, business associations, clusters, accelerators, incubators, technology transfer offices and many more. 

Source: European Commission, 2023