Four Irish medtech companies were among 74 innovative companies selected for European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator funding. They are Galway-based Venari Medical Limited and Loci Orthopaedics, Mayo-based Ovagen Ltd and Dublin-based Selio Medical Ltd.
The EIC Accelerator offers startups and SMEs grants of up to €2.5m combined with equity investments ranging from €0.5 to €15m. In addition to financial support, all projects benefit from a range of Business Acceleration Services.
The European Commission selected 74 innovative companies in total under the first 2022 EIC Accelerator cut-off. They are set to receive up to €382m of funding in a combination of grants and investments.
The companies were selected from over 1,000 startups and SMEs that submitted a full application for funding for the March 23, 2022, cut-off, of which 266 were interviewed by juries of experienced investors and entrepreneurs. The selected companies will each receive grants and/or equity investments, depending on their needs, up to €17.5m.
Mariya Gabriel, commissioner for innovation, research, culture, education and youth said: "The new wave of innovation is currently led by deep tech startups that target societal challenges. I am happy to see so many of them applying to the EIC, in particular from countries that are catching up in their levels of research and innovation performance. Thanks to the European Innovation Council, they will get the support they need to accelerate their growth and lead on the next wave of deep tech."
The selected companies have a wide geographical spread spanning 18 countries. 12% of them originate from Horizon Europe 'widening countries', which are catching up in their levels of research and innovation performance.
The selection confirms the high demand for EIC equity investments with 61 of the 74 companies requesting equity investments or grant first option. In most cases, the companies will receive the grant financing within the next two to three months, while the finalisation of the equity investment is expected during the autumn.
Most of the companies invited to the jury interviews and who were not selected for funding, will be awarded a Seal of Excellence and access to services to help them find alternative sources of funding.
Some examples of innovative projects and companies that will receive support:
- Seven Sense (Estonia) - using telehaptics to give mobility and independence to those who are blind and visually impaired;
- I-CREATE (Finland) – developing novel oncolytic immunotherapy to fight ovarian, head & neck and lung cancers;
- LAYER® (France) - developing an organic photovoltaic module that generates energy from ambient light;
- Magrail (Poland) – bringing frictionless mobility (levitating trains) to conventional tracks;
- Mushlabs (Germany) - using biotechnology to create the next generation of tasty, nutritious and sustainable foods from mushroom mycelium;
- Seawei Project, Seaborg (Denmark) - delivering clean, affordable, and safe nuclear energy with a new type of reactor.