Every year millions of tons of plastic waste end up on our streets, in our rivers and covering our forests. A large part of this waste comes from packaging. The plastic bags we use, for only a few minutes, can last as long as 15 to 1,000 years in the environment and, according to a recent study, people could be ingesting or inhaling approximately 5 grams of plastic every week. The Finnish start-up Paptic Ltd, founded in 2015, addresses this environmental challenge with a sustainable alternative to plastic films. Paptic material has all the advantages of plastic - it's versatile, reusable, light-weight, soft, but it's made of renewable raw materials and it’s recyclable.

On 29 and 30 June 33 EIC-beneficiaries went on a digital tour of the Netherlands during the EIC Corporate Day with Dutch giants. During the event, the SMEs matched up and explored business opportunities and collaborations with four of the Netherlands’ largest corporates: Eneco, KPN, Rabobank and Unilever.

A crisis often comes unexpected! During the past months, every business had to adapt to the new reality imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak. Companies are from a sudden facing adaptations to new work environments and habits. Teams need to be reskilled and leaders are struggling to ensure business continuity or – even beyond - encounter a drastic business change! This is why we decided to launch a dedicated online EIC Summer School. In partnership with the DO School, we offer you training opportunities to help you to better prepare and lead your company in times of crisis. Topics are manifold:, from improving your social media presence to preparing a roadmap for your personal crisis response.

It’s been three years since the EIC Business Acceleration Services dove into Corporate Days, gathering innovative European SMEs and large corporates to take full advantage of partnering opportunities. Starting off in Sweden, together with ABB, in 2017, the EIC Corporate Days brought SMEs and corporates from across Europe. Read our highlights from Corporate Days to get a grasp of what the programme offers.

Raising capital and attracting investors are some of the key concerns of many of our EIC beneficiaries. On one side, they must consider how to approach investors, and on the other how to be best prepared to meet them. With the EIC Community Talk: Ask me anything about Investors on 26 June 2020, 30 EIC-beneficiaries had the chance to receive insights from peers and have an in-depth discussion regarding investment rounds.

In addition to facilitating Series A funding for selected companies through accelerator events, InvestHorizon offers an individual programme customised to the investment-readiness needs and challenges of each company. The programme aims to support 500 European Deeptech entrepreneurs in raising EUR 500 million over two and a half years. Would you like to increase the investment and valuation amount of your Deeptech solution? Then, this is the right opportunity for you. The next deadline for applications is 30 July.

In 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations shifted to remote working arrangements that have made cybersecurity risks a bigger threat. Many start-ups are facing new challenges to ensure social distancing directives while continuing to serve their customers. To help SMEs answer to the evolving cyber problems, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) is developing a booklet with best practices. Wondering how secure your organisation is? Don’t miss this opportunity and work together with ENISA to respond to your challenges.

The EIC Fund, which will provide equity from €0.5m to €15m to breakthrough innovation companies selected for EIC Accelerator blended finance support (grant and equity), has become an official entity. This is the first time the European Commission will make such direct equity investments in companies, with ownership stakes expected to be in general from 10% to 25% in start-up companies. The European Investment Bank, as advisors of the EIC Fund on behalf of the European Commission, will manage the ownership stakes of the European Commission.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is often praised for its ability to make objective and rational decisions, unlike humans, who deal with reality in a subjective manner. The researchers from the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) project TIMESTORM trained robots to learn some of these subjective abilities of humans, focusing on time-perception.

Are you eager to learn more on how to attract investors and all investment opportunities the European Innovation Council Business Acceleration Services present you? Is your company almost ready to raise capital through a funding round, but you still think you could better prepare yourself? Then the EIC Business Acceleration Services invite you to apply to this online session on 26 June 2020 at 9h30 CEST, in which former participants of EIC ePitching sessions to Investors, who have secured a funding round, share their experience and answer any question you may have on this process.

The Irish company, developing cutting-edge technology to help cure cancers, has secured a significant new Series C round of approximately €18 million, bringing the total equity funding to around €37 million. The capital was led by existing shareholders, including Seamus Mulligan, an experienced biopharmaceutical executive.

On 9 June 2020 the European Innovation Council hosted an EIC Community Training on HR for start-ups in the process of scaling. In this session 21 EIC-funded SMEs had to chance to learn and interact with Jose Martinez, EIC business coach specialised in leadership and HR, and EIC community member Diana Špakauskaitė, HR-manager at Ruptela.

On 16 June 2020, 1 pm (CET) the European Innovation Council (EIC) will host an ‘ePitching with Investors’ on SaaS and ICT-solutions. Six EIC-funded SMEs are gearing up to pitch their innovations to investors from Amadeus Ventures, BTOV, DN Capital, Experior Venture Fund, IdInvest, Omnes Capital, Kurma Partners and Speedinvest.

Dr. Regina Luttge is an expert in medical and biological microsystems having bio-inspired functionalities. She coordinates CONNECT, a Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) project, which aims at providing better treatment for neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

On 3 and 4 June 2020 the European Innovation Council celebrated the launched of a brand-new initiative specifically focused on the EU Green Deal. The EIC Planet.tech brings together EIC-backed start-ups/scale-ups with four large corporates, namely AB inBev, DEME, Nestle and P&G, with the objective to develop a number of impactful Proof of Concepts (PoC).

NOVIRUSES2BRAIN is an ongoing research project, funded by the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) program. Its ambition is to develop a unique drug able to eradicate multiple viral species simultaneously.

The EIC is pleased to invite all eligible start-ups to participate in our monthly EIC ePitching with Investors. This edition will focus on Internet of Things (IoT) & Smart Cities and will take place on 2 July 2020, 1 pm CET, mark your calendars! A limited number of EIC-backed up SMEs will have the chance to show their innovative solutions via an online tool to a jury of investors –consisting out of representatives from Breega Capital, Indico Capital Partners, SAP, United Ventures, SET Ventures, Tengelmann Ventures, Primoglio SGR.

The European Innovation Council (EIC), in collaboration with BBVA and Ferrovial, organised an online Corporate Day on 26 and 27 May 2020, bringing together 19 EIC-backed SMEs with over 50 corporates representatives. The online Corporate Day was the second event of its kind to be organised this month and gave SMEs and corporate representatives the opportunity to find synergies and explore business opportunities and further collaborations.

Are you looking to scale up your company in the near future? Do you believe people are your most important asset, but find it difficult to overcome the challenges of a growing team? If you answered yes to these questions, the European Innovation Council (EIC) Business Acceleration Services invite you to apply for this online Community Training, on 9 June 2020 (14h30 CEST), in which participants will receive insights that will help them manage Human Resources (HR) when scaling up.

Greening agriculture is one of the main challenges in the fight against climate change. In line with the European Green Deal, the European Commission adopted a comprehensive new Biodiversity Strategy to bring nature back into our lives and a Farm to Fork Strategy for a healthy and environmentally friendly food system. Many pesticides and antibiotics are being banned to ensure healthier food, boost organic farming and privilege the use of eco-friendly solutions. Founded in 2018, the EIC-funded innovation developed by Agrosustain is a good example working on this domain. The Swiss start-up is trying to reduce food waste and promote sustainable agriculture with natural solutions for pest management.

Which app would make your life easier? Perhaps you’re looking for ways to learn a new language faster or have those guitar lessons that you always wanted to try. Many mobile apps are providing us with disruptive and useful solutions to execute tasks easily with just a touch on the smartphone screen. From health check-up to learning platforms, here are 7 EIC-developed apps that you shouldn’t miss.

The European Innovation Council organised its first online Corporate Day on 12 May 2020 together with Enel, the global energy company. Originally planned as a physical event to be held in March, it was fully digitalised for the convenience of the SMEs and corporate representatives. 33 EIC-backed SMEs had the chance to pitch their innovations in the field of renewable energy, smart cities and grid solutions, among others. Over 40 Enel representatives were present to listen to the pitches and scout interesting projects.

Starting this May, the European Innovation Council will send fresh monthly updates about the latest news, business opportunities, project stories and events relevant to EIC Pathfinder, EIC Accelerator, and EIC Horizon Prizes. Sign up now and don’t miss the opportunity to receive these latest hand-picked articles, news and more directly in your inbox.

The EIC is pleased to invite all eligible startups to participate in our monthly EIC ePitching with Investors. This edition will focus on Software-as-a-service (SaaS) and ICT-related innovations and will take place on 16 June 2020, 1 pm CET, mark your calendars! A limited number of EIC-backed up SMEs will have the chance to show their innovative solutions via an online tool to a jury of investors –consisting out of representatives from Amadeus Ventures, BTOV, DN Capital, Kurma Partners, Omnes Capital and Speedinvest.