Receiving support from the European Innovation Council (EIC) can mean considerably more than receiving a grant or investment. The EIC has developed a range of services designed to help innovators find customers, investors, corporate partners and other organisations that can contribute to their growth.
The European Commission describes these services as a way of bridging the gap between breakthrough innovation and market success. They cover areas such as coaching, mentoring, networking, business partnerships, access to investors, procurement opportunities and international expansion.
For startups and SMEs developing deep-tech innovations, this can be particularly important. A promising technology still needs customers, industrial partners, investors and routes to market. The EIC’s support is designed to address some of these challenges. In other words, the EIC’s role does not necessarily end when a company receives funding.
These are some of the most relevant services offered by the EIC:
- Business Acceleration Services: practical support beyond the grant or investment.
- EIC Venture Days: connecting innovative companies with investors.
- EIC Procurement Days: opening doors to public buyers.
- EIC Corporate Days: creating opportunities with large companies.
- EIC Scaling Club: helping deep-tech companies move into the scale-up phase.
And why do these services matter for companies building a European growth strategy? Keep reading below!
EIC Business Acceleration Services: support beyond the funding
The EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS) form the wider framework connecting EIC-supported companies with the business ecosystem.
BAS can provide access to coaches, mentors, experts, training, innovation ecosystems and peers, as well as potential customers, business partners and investors. Services can also support companies entering new markets and accessing testing and scale-up facilities.
The programme is not limited exclusively to companies that have already received EIC funding, but also for other recognised groups such as Horizon Europe Seal of Excellence and STEP Seal holders among the eligible participants, depending on the service.
The practical support available through BAS includes coaching, investment-readiness assistance, matchmaking and activities with corporates, investors and public buyers.
As an EIC-certified partner, STRATA’s services are included under EIC’s BAS and are eligible for EIC funding (up to 50% funding rate according to today’s programme). Our services include capital acquisition, IP strategy and business development.
EIC Venture Days: connecting innovators with investors
Access to private capital is one of the recurring challenges for companies developing new technologies. EIC investor-focused activities have therefore been part of the Council’s broader acceleration approach.
The EIC has organised investor and venture-focused events where selected companies can present their businesses to investors and establish new contacts. These activities are supported by coaching and preparation intended to help companies communicate their opportunity effectively.
The idea behind these activities is relatively straightforward: funding from a public programme can help a technology reach the market, but companies often need additional private capital to expand production, enter new markets or accelerate commercial growth.
EIC Procurement Days: finding public-sector customers
For many innovative companies, the public sector can be an important potential customer. Hospitals, cities, utilities and other public organisations drive significant demand for new technologies, but selling to public buyers can be difficult for young companies unfamiliar with procurement processes.
The EIC has therefore developed activities around innovation procurement. Earlier EIC Procurement Days were designed to connect EIC companies with public procurers through early market consultation and thematic procurement activities. Companies could also receive procurement training to prepare for these encounters.
The approach has continued within the broader EIC Innovation Procurement Programme. Current EIC Business Acceleration Services include access to procurement markets and support for companies seeking business opportunities with public buyers.
For a startup, the value of this type of support is not simply another networking opportunity. Establishing contact with a potential public customer can help a company understand what the market actually needs, what procurement requirements it must meet and where its technology could be tested or deployed.
EIC Corporate Days: meeting large companies
Another route to market is collaboration with established corporations.
The EIC Corporate Partnership Programme is designed to create business relationships between EIC-backed startups and large companies. The programme can involve targeted calls around corporate challenges, followed by pitching, coaching, matchmaking and networking with decision-makers.
These activities have been organised as EIC Corporate Days and other corporate matchmaking formats. These initiatives have involved over 100 corporate partners, including Galp, Vattenfall, Holcim, ABB, Airbus, BMW, CaixaBank, CommerzBank, Enel, Ferrovial, L’Oreal, Medtronic, Neste, Novo Nordisk, Roche, Saint-Gobain, Shell, Siemens Energy, Solvay or Telefonica, among others.
The potential benefit for an innovative company is access to an established industrial partner. Depending on the opportunity, this can lead to collaboration, testing, commercial relationships or other forms of business development.
There are already examples of this approach producing concrete results: the Dutch company Circularise developed a collaboration with Neste following an EIC Corporate Day, with the companies working together on traceability software for circular polymers and chemical supply chains.
Corporate matchmaking is therefore not simply about increasing visibility. It can provide a route for young technology companies to reach organisations with the resources, infrastructure and market presence needed to develop their solutions further.
EIC Scaling Club: support for companies ready to scale
For companies that have already reached a significant level of development, the EIC Scaling Club takes the concept further.
The Scaling Club is an EIC-funded curated community bringing together 120 European deep-tech scale-ups with investors, corporations and other ecosystem stakeholders. The current network includes more than 400 ecosystem players, including investors, corporations, mentors, government agencies, media and clusters.
The initiative focuses on companies with the potential to build world-class businesses and address major global challenges. Its activities include peer exchange, access to strategic partners, coaching and mentoring, networking and events designed to support growth in funding, partnerships and talent recruitment.
The Club has already operated across several technology areas, including agri-food technology, energy storage, cardiovascular therapies, clean fuels and hydrogen, biotechnology and space.
Its purpose is therefore different from an early-stage accelerator. The focus is on companies that have moved beyond the initial development phase and need the relationships, expertise and visibility required to become larger European technology businesses.
Why these services matter: it’s about building companies, not just funding projects
Taken together, these initiatives show why the EIC describes its support as more than financial assistance.
A grant can finance research and development. An investment can provide capital for growth. But companies also need people who can help them refine their strategy, investors who can finance the next stage, customers willing to test a new solution, corporations that can provide industrial opportunities and networks that can open international markets.
The EIC’s Business Acceleration Services are designed to bring these different elements together. The EIC’s own 2026 programme states that direct financial support is complemented by access to expertise, corporates, investors and other ecosystem actors.
For innovators, this means that EIC support can extend beyond the original funding period. Venture and investor activities can help with access to capital; procurement activities can connect companies with public buyers; Corporate Days can create industrial partnerships; and the Scaling Club can support companies entering a more advanced stage of growth.
For deep-tech companies, where commercialisation can take years and the route from laboratory to market is often complex, these connections can be as important as the initial funding itself.
The EIC’s approach is ultimately built around a simple idea: helping European innovators does not stop at financing the technology. The next challenge is helping that technology find the customers, partners, investors and markets that can turn innovation into a sustainable business.
About the author of this post
Sara Gavidia
Communications Manager
Funding Expert
LinkedIn
sara.gavidia@strata.team
Hello! I’m Sara 👋🏻 I’m the Lead content editor at Strata. Are you looking for funding? Then contact our Team of experts: they will offer personal support to review your case and help you prepare a great application!
