In the context of its summit, which took place from Monday 18 to Wednesday 20 March in Brussels, and Research and Innovation Days, the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Commission have made a number of announcements.
The European Commissioner for Research, Iliana Ivanova, announced the first cohort of 48 innovative companies involved in disruptive technologies to join the EIC “Scaling Club”. This initiative aims to create the next generation of European groundbreaking technology ‘unicorns’.
The 48 companies selected will benefit from a two-year acceleration programme. They will benefit from mentoring activities, help in developing their brand strategy and information on investments and potential partners.
These activities will begin at a high-level gathering in Brussels on 9 and 10 April.
A second cohort of companies has been announced for autumn 2024.
Iliana Ivanova also unveiled the new EIC ambassadors. These 48 people, charged with being the voice of EIC and promoting the opportunities offered by the organisation, are stakeholders in the cutting-edge research and innovation ecosystem. 22 are new EIC ambassadors and 26 ambassadors are from previous groups and have extended their role.
Elsewhere, at the European Humanitarian Forum, the European Commission unveiled the winners of the first European Prize for Humanitarian Innovation (InnovAid), supported by the EIC under Horizon Europe.
The winner is the International Rescue Committee (IRC Deutschland), which will receive a prize of €250,000. The first and second runners-up are GOAL 3 B.V. (The Netherlands) and Humanitarian Logistics Cooperative (France), which will receive €150,000 and €100,000 respectively.
Link to the InnovAid page: https://aeur.eu/f/bff
Link to the list of EIC ambassadors: https://aeur.eu/f/bfc
Link to the Scaling Club selection: https://aeur.eu/f/bfe (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)