On 24 September 2018, the EuroTech Universities Alliance organised a Roundtable on the European Innovation Council (EIC) in Brussels. The event brought together selected entrepreneurs and start-ups from the EuroTech Universities to jointly reflect on how the European Commission’s proposal for a European Innovation Council could be made as attractive as possible for students, scientists and innovation-driven entrepreneurs in deep tech ecosystems across Europe. Selected Commission officials were invited to parts of the discussion.
Here are the participants’ key conclusions:
- Target teams in deep tech
- Make the application light and fast, personal and ‘partly’ open
- Make the support substantial, but as milestone-based tranches paid upfront
- Prioritise grants
- Help the innovator move up the value chain: de-risk procurement & follow-up investment
- Act as stepping-stone through “EIC label”
- Act as single entry point
Workshop participants covered different stages and sectors and included:
- Marianne Thellersen Senior Vice President – Innovation and Entrepreneurship, DTU (Chair)
- Stefan Drüssler, UnternehmerTUM
- Jes Broeng, Crystal Fibres and DTU
- Heiða Gunnarsdóttir Nolsøe, Dropbucket and DTU
- Maarten Steinbuch, Eindhoven Medical Technologies and TU/e
- Francois Sylla, SourceLab Plasma and Ecole Polytechnique
- Jean-Marc Wismer, Mindmaze, EPFL Spin-out and Unicorn
EuroTech’s digital magazine Technologist recently published an article on innovation impact in Europe.
