The European Commission has announced that it has awarded nearly €166 million to 36 companies, including five Irish startups, for projects to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the projects being developed by the five Irish SMEs are the development/production of bio-decontamination wipes and an antimicrobial coating for the protection of glass surfaces.
In addition, more than €148 million will be granted to another 36 companies, including a further three Irish SMEs, set to contribute to the recovery plan for Europe, bringing the total investment from Horizon 2020, the EU’s research and innovation programme, to €314 million in this round.
COVID-19 Seal of Excellence
Furthermore, 139 companies (including six Irish) tackling the coronavirus that could not receive funding in this round due to budget limitations have received the newly introduced COVID-19 Seal of Excellence, in recognition of the value of their proposal and in order to help them attract support from other funding sources.
The five Irish SMEs to receive funding worth between €1.2 million and €2.5 million to tackle the coronavirus are:
- Exvastat Limited (Dublin) is to receive a grant for Impentri, a pharmacotherapy for ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress syndrome) to lower mortality and improve quality of life of patients;
- Siriusxt Limited (Dublin) is to receive blended finance (i.e. grant and equity support) for Licent, a Lab instrument for cell nano-tomography;
- Remedy Biologics Limited (Ashbourne) is to receive blended finance for its Rapid COVID-19 Passive Therapy Response Platform;
- Aquila Bioscience Limited (Moycullen, Galway) is to a grant for ABwipe, an innovative, safe and effective bio-decontamination technology for non-toxic removal of biological agents, including coronavirus;
- Kastus Technologies Limited (Dublin) is to receive a grant for its Spyglass project - a disruptive antimicrobial coating for the protection of glass surfaces and designed to tackle the emergent crisis of resistant microbes and viruses.
For more on these and the funding granted, see: https://ec.europa.eu/research/eic/pdf/ec_rtd_cv-accelerator-projects.pdf
The three Irish SMEs to receive funding worth between €1.8 million and €2.5 million to help contribute to the recovery plan for Europe are:
- Kite Medical Limited (Galway) is to receive a grant for its (first) non-invasive device to detect kidney reflux in children;
- Provizio Limited (Limerick) is to receive a grant for its Accident Prevention Technology Platform;
- OneProjects Design Innovation Limited (Dublin) is to receive a grant for its Development and clinical validation of a novel smart device to provide real-time ablation + tissue analysis through advanced 4D imaging.