At the recent EIC Summit, we caught up with Jean-David Malo, Director of EISMEA, the European Commission’s executive agency for the European Innovation Council and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).It was a timely encounter, coinciding with the release of the EIC Impact Report 2023, which highlighted that the total value of the overall portfolio of EIC-supported companies has now reached almost €70 billion (download the PDF here) and our own unveiling of the first 48 deep tech scale-ups to be supported by the EIC Scaling Club from earlier this week. We asked him about the purpose of the annual EIC event, which was part of the fifth edition of the European Research and Innovation Days. and some of the key take-aways for him both in terms of the impact report and the learnings from meeting several hundreds of stakeholders on-site in Brussels.Malo didn't shy away from highlighting the things that can be improved and accelerated within the EIC itself, while also taking stock of the achievements to date.Of course, we couldn't resist asking him about the EIC Scaling Club as well, to give more colour on why this initiative fits into the overall E(I)C plans.Enjoy!

The EIC Scaling Club team sat down with Fabrizio Del Maffeo on the sidelines of the recent Tech Tour Growth 50 Europe event in Paris. As the co-founder and CEO of Axelera AI, Del Maffeo kicked off the interview pitching his company as a 'small, fast-growing Nvidia'.That's intriguing enough on its own, but the entrepreneur of course told us a bit more about the backstory of Axelera AI, and what the team is busy building over in its HQ in Eindhoven and its many other offices located all across Europe.In essence, Axelera AI is developing a powerful and efficient AI-native hardware and software platform to accelerate computer vision on edge devices (such as cars, computers, medical devices and whatnot).As a capital-intensive business, the company has raised close to $65 million in funding according to Dealroom, and is also backed by the European Innovation Council through the EIC Accelerator program.Del Maffeo also talked about the importance of the EIC (and the EIC Scaling Club) for the European (deep) tech ecosystems, the ability to find enough talent to hire in Europe, events that bring innovators and investors together in person, and what keeps him up at night.Enjoy the interview!

Dr. Christian Nagel is a co-founder and partner of Earlybird, a technology investment powerhouse with more than €2 billion under management. Founded in 1997, Earlybird invests in all development and growth phases of tech companies, and has nestled itself among the largest and most experienced venture investors operating in Europe today.We caught up with Christian at the recent Tech Tour Growth50 Europe event in Paris, to gain some more insights into the firm's investment strategy and hypotheses. Aside from that 'VC elevator pitch', we delved into a number of topics, including what's hot in deep tech today, particularly attractive sectors (and geographies) for Earlybird, the ongoing pressure on the market, what is holding Europe back at the moment, and whether today is a good time to start a new company or not.Enjoy!

Amadeus Capital Partners has been investing in technology-enabled products and services for nearly three decades. Founded by Anne Glover and Hermann Hauser in 1997, Amadeus has backed more than 190 companies and raised over $1 billion for investment to date.When we had a chance to sit down with Anne on the sidelines of the recent Tech Tour Growth 50 Europe event, we seized the opportunity to ask her some questions about the state of the European deep tech entrepreneurship and investment ecosystem(s).After sharing some facts and figures about Amadeus Capital, we talked about how to navigate the current investment downturn (and use it to your advantage as a founder), the ongoing maturation of the European tech scene, the issue with the late-stage funding gap in these parts and the political reality sometimes hindering growth.On top of that, we discussed where deep tech innovation tends to happen in Europe, the availability of relevant talent and capital clusters and network, what the European tech ecosystem(s) needs to reach the next level, skills development both on the company and the investor side, and much more.

At the recent EIT Summit in Brussels, we sat down with the organisation's Director, Martin Kern, to discuss what's cooking over at the European Institute of Innovation & Technology.Kern, who's been part of the EIT leadership for almost a decade after a long career stint at the European Commission, told us more about the EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (the so-called KICs), which are essentially Europe-wide networks centered around addressing a specific societal challenge, from sustainable energy to climate change, healthy food and green transport. Keen observers will have noted that this is not dissimilar to our approach in defining 10 market sector opportunities in the deep tech space.In the 14 years since it was started, the EIT has supported and helped grow more than 8,000 startups, and built up an innovation network with more than 2,400 partners from top business, research and education organisations across Europe. Kern discusses the work the EIT is doing in more detail. In the interview, we cover more ground, including the EIT Deep Tech Talent initiative that aims to train 1 million people in various deep tech areas, the European Solar Academy that was launched at the event, and the EIT's evolving relationship (and the difference) with the European Innovation Council (EIC). Also make sure to check out our interview with EIT Urban Mobility CEO Maria Tsavachidis!

On the sidelines of the recent Tech Tour Growth 50 Europe event, we caught up with Jean Schmitt, Managing Partner at Jolt Capital, a growth capital investor in European B2B deep tech companies.Having been part of the predecessor programme of the EIC Scaling Club, Jean shared his views on the evolving deep tech scale-up creation and financing landscape in this part of the world, which barriers he considers are holding back the European tech ecosystem(s), and how they could potentially be overcome.Enjoy the listen!

Azeem Azhar has had a rich career as a journalist, entrepreneur, author, speaker, analyst, consultant, but now bills himself as an 'independent academic'. These days, he's perhaps best known for Exponential View, which offers weekly deep dives on AI and breakthrough technologies to a vast audience of investors, C-suite execs and global leaders who like to be challenged on thinking about the future. More than a newsletter, Exponential View has become a platform and community for those who are keen to learn about the exponential technologies that are shaping tomorrow.We caught up with Azeem on the sidelines of the recent DLD Conference in Munich, where he delivered a fast-paced talk on how to better understand the past, present and future of the digital transformation. For a summary of Azeem's presentation, and some additional insights on deep tech and the current technological transition we're in, have a listen to the interview and make sure to sign up for the Exponential View newsletter for much more of this!And while you're at it, you should subscribe to our monthly newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn and X if you aren't already.

We recently attend the EIT Summit in Brussels, where we had a chance to catch up with Maria Tsavachidis, CEO of EIT Urban Mobility, one of the organisation's so-called KICs.What is a KIC, you ask? As the EIT explains on its website, the acronym stands for "Knowledge and Innovation Communities" and they are essentially Europe-wide networks centred around addressing a specific societal challenge; from sustainable energy to climate change to healthy food and green transport.EIT Urban Mobility is among the earliest such communities, started in January 2019 to "encourage positive changes in the way people move around cities in order to make them more liveable places". EIT, which is a body of the European Union, provided co-funding of up to €400 million for the period 2020 to 2026 to make some moves (pun intended).In the interview, Tsavachidis provides some further background on EIT Urban Mobility and its raison d'être, the size of the problem that needs tackling and the three main initiatives that it's outlined to do so, examples of interesting startups and partners it's working with, and much more!

We had a very interesting conversation with the co-founder and CEO of clean energy scale-up Proxima Fusion at the recent DLD Conference in Munich, and fortunately for you we recorded it!Have a listen to this interview with Francesco Sciortino, whose deep tech company aims to build an entirely new generation of fusion power plants, using QI stellarators.Proxima Fusion is the first-ever spin-out company from the Max Planck Society Institute for Plasma Physics, which happens to have built and operates the most advanced stellarator on the planet, W7-X. Research over the past decade or so has now set the stage for the Munich scale-up to leverage modern optimisation tools and design capabilities, and accelerate fusion. To achieve that, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Tesla and Google X scientists and engineers have already joined the Germany-based company, and Proxima Fusion last year raised €7.5 million in a round led by Plural and UVC Partners and joined by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and the Wilbe Group.Have a listen to the interview to learn more about why Germany is fertile ground for innovation in the field of stellarators, how the design of a new generation of - continuous - fusion power plants could (and should) be accelerated in the current and next decade, and how the technology can be scaled in (and for) the future.Sciortino also talks about the need to build an ecosystem around fusion power, why Proxima has recently applied to receive funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator, his insights on the public and private funding landscape in Europe and on the availability of and access to key talent in this part of the world.

On the sidelines of the recent Tech Tour Growth 50 event in Paris, we recorded a short but sweet interview with Jennifer Schenker, founder and editor-in-chief of The Innovator, which she describes as a "pan-European publication with global aspirations".Having covered the European technology sector for 30+ years, the veteran journalist started The Innovator in late 2016 to cover digital transformation and sustainability, educating its readers - mostly senior executives at large corporates and SMEs - on how tech will impact their businesses.In the interview, Schenker notes that she's always been impressed with Europe's scientific and technological excellence, but frustrated at how little of that gets commercialised and turned into scale-ups, let alone global tech leaders. Acknowledging the progress that has been made of late by deep tech-focused accelerators and programs, the EU institutions and how universities are starting to work with startups and scale-ups, Schenker posits that the growing funding gap is an enormous issue hampering further growth. Schenker recently joined the EIC Scaling Club as Council Member to make an active contribution to levelling up the European tech ecosystem(s), and discusses in the interview how media companies can add value to our programme as stakeholder members.Do you also want to be part of the EIC Scaling Club? Express your interest in becoming a member, or sign up as a mentor (before 13 March).

On the sidelines of the recent Tech Tour Growth 50 Europe event in Paris, we had a chance to sit down with Timo Toikkanen, an early investor and advisor to, and these days chief executive officer of Finland-based professional mixed reality company Varjo.Toikannen talks about the origins and early, R&D-focussed years of the deep tech scale-up, lessons learned on the road to commercialisation, and the ongoing transition into a period of finding solid product-market fit and scaling the business in various verticals.Varjo's CEO also talks about making contrarian technology and business choices that turned out to be the right ones, the heated competition with giants like Apple and Meta through focus and specialisation.Keep listening after that, though, because Toikannen also talks about Europe's potential to build global, category-leading deep tech companies. Spoiler alert: he is skeptical about it.Enjoy the listen!

We jumped at the opportunity to sit down with Jennifer Webb, an Investment Director at Swisscom Ventures who leads investments in sustainable technologies. She joined from LGT Lightrock in London where she spent five years building the innovative sustainable technology investment vehicle with investments in B2B SaaS, healthcare and education.On the sidelines of the recent Tech Tour Growth 50 event in Paris, we recorded a quick interview with Jennifer in which she shared how Swisscom Ventures originally came about and what it has since become, insights in the Swiss (deep) tech ecosystem, why she made the move from London to Zürich, why she believes Europe needs more capital to generate scale-ups in the deep tech sector and other issues hindering the ecosystem(s) to level up.Take note, European Innovation Council, as Jennifer and Swisscom Ventures would love to build stronger relationships with the EIC and learn more about its programs!

Deep tech company Soter Analytics was started in 2016 to reduce workplace ergonomic injuries in warehouses and factories, drive-down claims costs, boost productivity and improve worker retention using smart safety wearables and AI-driven technologies.At the most recent OTB Ventures Summit, we caught up with the company's CEO, Matthew Hart, who explained what the company is building - and why it matters.Soter Analytics serves customers globally in the warehousing, manufacturing and logistics sector, but also has clients in the healthcare, construction, mining and oil & fas industries.The London, UK-headquartered safety tech company sells hardware devices at a low cost, but the majority of its revenue comes from subscriptions.With Soter Analytics' solutions, the company claims customers can get up to 86% of reduction in back and shoulder injuries, and achieve up to 67% of reduction in workers compensation costs.Hart also talks about how injuries can affect workers' personal lives, which is a big part of the reason why Soter Analytics aims to create a safer, healthier, and more productive work environment.In the interview, Hart also commented on the availability and quality of deep tech talent in Europe, and Eastern Europe in particular.

Managed by the European Investment Fund, the European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI) has allocated nearly €1 billion to four strategic funds in its first year, including Atomico and Keensight Capital, in an effort to propel forward the EU tech sector with potential leverage of up to €6 billion.The ETCI fund-of-funds was inaugurated in February 2023 with an initial pledge of €3.75 billion from the European Investment Bank Group and five EU member states (Spain, Germany, France, Italy and Belgium). The ETCI aims to bolster the European Union’s digital transformation and assist leading-edge scale-ups by focusing investments on deep tech firms in their late-stage growth phases, especially those seeking to raise over €50 million.Earlier this week in Brussels, the EIF gave an update on the initiative, and we had a chance to sit down with its deputy chief executive, Roger Havenith, to talk about the announcements, future plans, and its relationship with the EIC (Fund).

France-based deep tech company Cailabs is a global leader when it comes to designing, manufacturing and selling specialised photonics solutions for free-space transmission, industrial lasers, local area networks and telecommunications, among other use cases.An innovator in the world of 'complex light shaping', the high tech scale-up recently closed a €26 million financing round with the European Innovation Council, Bpifrance (DGA), NewSpace Capital and other investors.We recently sat down with Cailabs co-founder and CEO Jean-François Morizur for a dive into the company's technology offering and rather particular expertise, its decade+ (quite R&D-heavy) history and recent business growth trajectory.Morizur also discussed why the company decided to set up shop in Brittany's capital city of Rennes, its multiple interactions with the EIC (Accelerator), and much more!

We sat down with Jan Goetz, a quantum physicist and co-founding CEO of IQM Quantum Computers, building next-generation quantum computers right here in Europe.Goetz, who also served as an EIC Board Member in the past and recently - and graciously - accepted to become an EIC Scaling Club Council member, was kind enough to take time out of his day at the DLD Conference in Munich.The affable entrepreneur and executive talked about IQM's raison d'être, the history and future potential of quantum technology, how far along the company is in commercialising its own tech, in which fields quantum tech will be particularly impactful, and Europe's place in the world when it comes to scaling up deep tech companies (including the many challenges that come with it).Aside from trying to create a better world with IQM Quantum Computers, Goetz also discussed why he dedicates part of his personal time to help level up the European deep tech industry, by working with fellow founders who also face difficulties in scaling their businesses, and why he's agreed to become an EIC Scaling Club Council member.You can also check out this interview on the EIC Scaling Club website.

In recent times, the issue of space traffic has become a priority for the European Space Agency because of the threat posed by the increasing amount of debris orbiting the Earth.Decommissioned or abandoned satellites, parts of rocket boosters and solar panels, and even simple nuts and bolts are orbiting hundreds of kilometres above our planet and moving at speeds of up to 28,000 kilometres per hour, posing an increasingly high risk to current and future space missions.This is the problem being addressed by ClearSpace, a Switzerland-based deep tech company that's on a mission to make space - and particularly Earth's orbit - vastly more sustainable.We recently caught up with Luc Piguet, co-founder and CEO of ClearSpace, to describe in more detail the nature of the challenge, and what it takes to remove junk from space, and its ambitious plans for the future.You can also find the interview on the EIC Scaling Club website.

We interviewed Rafal Modrzewski, co-founder and CEO of ICEYE, a Finland-based micro-satellite manufacturer, at the recent OTB Ventures Summit in Poland.Founded in 2014 and backed by the EIC along the way, ICEYE essentially provides persistent monitoring capabilities for any location on earth (even at night and when it's cloudy).Owning the world’s largest synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation, the company enable objective, data-driven decisions for customers in sectors such as insurance, natural catastrophe response and recovery, security, maritime monitoring and finance, among others.The 'new space' tech scale-up has raised over $300 million in funding to date.

We caught up with Adam Niewinski, a partner at OTB Ventures, a Poland-based investment firm that backs deep tech startups and scale-ups from across Europe, particularly in the CEE region.The VC firm is investing primarily in four sectors, namely AI and automation, space tech, fintech infrastructure and cybersecurity.Check out our interview to learn more about OTB's investments thesis, the state of the CEE (and broader European) deep tech ecosystems from Adam's point from view, and much more.OTB Ventures is an early member of the EIC Scaling Club, and will join the curated community to connect with leading deep tech entrepreneurs, fellow investors and other industry stakeholders to grow the ecosystem(s) together.Want to join as well? Express your interest now!PS: in case you're wondering, 'OTB' stands for 'outside the box' ;-)

The EIC Scaling Club team had a great chat with Ana Maiques, co-founder and CEO of Neuroelectrics a Barcelona-based deep tech company that produces devices to stimulate and treat the brain. Founded in 2011, it is a spin-off of Starlab Neuroscience Research which was established in 2000.Ana was nominated by IESE as one of the most influential entrepreneurs under 40 in Spain in 2010. She received the EU Prize for Women Innovators from the European Commission EC in 2014. As an early member of the European Innovation Council Advisory Board, she assisted in advising the European Commission on the EIC pilot and provided guidance on designing a fully-fledged EIC for the next European research and innovation framework programme.Watch the interview to learn how her company Neuroelectrics aims to reinvent brain health and therapy.