Each of the selected companies will receive a combination of grants and equity investments of up to €17 million. The funding will support innovations in areas including healthcare, digital technologies, energy, biotechnology, and space. This is the first group of companies to receive funding under the fully-fledged European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator.
Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said:
"The EIC Accelerator is a unique European financing instrument of the European Innovation Council. It supports the development of cutting-edge innovations through crowdfunding of private investors and offers a portfolio of services to support their dissemination. With the European Innovation Council, we aim to put Europe at the forefront of innovation and new technologies by investing in new solutions to the health, environmental, and societal challenges we face."
The EIC Accelerator offers startups and SMEs grants of up to €2.5 million combined with equity investments through the EIC Fund of €0.5 million to €15 million. In addition to financial support, it also offers access to leading experts, companies, investors, and ecosystem players. The EIC was launched in March 2021 as part of the Horizon Europe program following a pilot phase between 2018 and 2020. It has a budget of over €10 billion, of which approximately €10 billion was allocated in 2021. 1.1 billion euros for the EIC Accelerator. The majority of this funding is open to innovations in all sectors, while EUR 495 million is earmarked for strategic health and digital technologies and Green Deal solutions.
Munich startups in the EIC Accelerator
Of the 65 startups that have now become part of the EIC Accelerator, eleven are from Germany. Only France has more participants. Of the eleven German companies, four are part of the Munich startup ecosystem.
Orbem: The Munich-based startup combines magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with artificial intelligence. Its first product, the Orbem Genus, enables the classification of chicken eggs even before hatching.
Stabl Energy: The startup has developed a modular battery solution that allows battery packs to operate not only at safe voltages but also with lower energy losses.
Ithera Medical: Ithera Medical is active in the field of optoacoustic imaging for medical diagnostics and has developed the laser light-based MSOT (Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography) technology.
Smartlane: The startup has developed cloud-based software for transport optimization and analysis. It enables fully automated transport planning and transport-specific process mining.
