The European Innovation Council (EIC) recently announced that 72 companies from 23 European countries have been selected to join its prestigious EIC Scaling Club. These new members were introduced during the Scale 100 Forum, held in Athens, Greece, on October 21-22.
The EIC Scaling Club now comprises over 120 top “deep-tech scale-ups” from across Europe, with plans to expand the club to 200 members in the coming years.
Following this recent selection, Slovakia now has two representatives in the EIC Scaling Club, positioning the country alongside Poland as the most successful among the Visegrád Four (V4) nations (Czech Republic: 1, Hungary: 0, Poland: 2, Slovakia: 2). GA Drilling, focusing on renewable energy, was an early member, and is now joined by Glycanostics, a cutting-edge biotech company specializing in innovative platform technologies.
All companies benefit from the support of over 400 dedicated club members. Through funding support, mentorship, strategic partnerships, media exposure, and talent acquisition support, the club aims to accelerate growth for its members, potentially increasing their value by up to 40%. The ultimate goal is to scale 20% of them into unicorns.
The club’s group of 120 companies, actively operating across ten prominent deep tech markets, with a collective capital raised of over €3.4 billion, represent a diverse geographical landscape within the EU:
- Central & Eastern Europe: 19 companies (15.8%), with Estonia (5) and Bulgaria (4) leading
- Western Europe: 51 companies (42.5%)
- Northern Europe: 21 companies (17.5%)
- Southern Europe: 29 companies (24.2%)
New members of the EIC Scaling Club are nominated by a range of stakeholders, including investors, mentors, agencies, public funds, media, and other industry experts. A jury of investors evaluates these nominations based on criteria like strong management, innovative technology, a robust market strategy, and a high potential for meaningful, scalable impact, with a preference for diverse teams and sustainable growth trajectories.
The selected deep tech companies fall within six predefined market sector opportunities:
- Agri & Food Tech,
- Batteries & Energy Storage,
- Cardiovascular Therapies,
- Clean Fuels & Hydrogen,
- New Biotech Platforms,
- New Space Tech.
More information and the full list of EIC Scaling Club members can be found here:
Recently announced was also the launch of the EIC Trusted Investor Network, which brings together more than 50 of Europe’s leading technology venture capitalists and investors. This network aims to accelerate co-investments with the EIC Fund as well as to raise funding for selected high-potential startups.
Published October 30, 2024, slord
