EU´s forskningskommissær Carlos Moedas (i midten) besøgte DTU Skylab i 2017 til det andet High Level Innovators møde forud oprettelsen af European Innovation Council, EIC. Nu er Carlos Moedas tilbage for at lancere to nye EU-fundingmuligheder for startups.

EU launches new funding programme for DeepTech Innovators

EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas kicks off EU roadshow for new funding opportunities for start-ups with a visit to DTU.

Two new funding schemes—EIC Accelerator and EIC Pathfinder—are to ensure better funding opportunities for researchers and start-ups. The new funding schemes are provided by the European Innovation Council (EIC), which can—for example—grant investments of up to EUR 15 million per project for knowledge-based start-ups.

EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas marks the launch of the new funding opportunities with a visit to DTU on 6 June.

“I truly believe that we’re going to make a difference with the European Innovation Council. We’re facing a great challenge in Europe in finding venture capital, so that our entrepreneurs can bring innovative ideas to the market. We’re now providing a solution to this with the new funding programmes, EIC Pathfinder and EIC Accelerator. They’ll help future researchers and start-ups develop technology, establish themselves, and upscale on the European market,” says Carlos Moedas, and continues:

“This isn’t the first time I visit DTU, and I know that it’s a University with a successful track record in nurturing start-ups. I hope that your students and researchers will embrace EIC Pathfinder and EIC Accelerator. DTU is also interesting from a European perspective. You participate in strategic partnerships with innovation ecosystems in other European countries, for example via the EuroTech Universities Alliance. I think that much of the future economic growth in Europe will come from such international innovation ecosystems,” says Carlos Moedas.

Better DeepTech opportunities
Senior Vice President – Innovation and Entrepreneurship Marianne Thellersen agrees that the new funding schemes provide much better opportunities for researchers and entrepreneurs within DeepTech with heavy technical elements to develop their projects in Europe.

“The new funding schemes are a major step forward for the innovation environment. We’re pleased that DTU can contribute to creating awareness of the schemes, so that they become known among researchers and students,” she says.

Experience from USA
The event is held in English and consists of two parts. In part one, Jim Snabe, Chairman of A.P. Møller – Mærsk and Siemens; Anja Boisen, Professor at DTU Health Tech, and Vice Chairman of Innovation Fund Denmark, as well as Lars Frølund, Research Director at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, present their thoughts on the new funding scheme in relation to an improvement of European competitiveness.

The discussion will include a presentation of experience from the US research funding programme from DARPA, which is aimed at pioneering innovation projects.

“One of the major reasons why the United States is successfully converting research into market-creating platforms is the use of program managers. They work closely with research and innovation environments and identify technological breakthroughs that can be brought to the market. These program managers make stringent demands on the teams and projects they fund. The EIC will have its own EIC program managers, and I have great expectations for this hands-on approach,” says Lars Frølund.

In part two, the European Commission presents the application process for EIC Pathfinder and EIC Accelerator. The event concludes with networking.