A new report proposes how to encourage Europe’s next generation of entrepreneurial talent to realise Europe’s deep-tech innovation potential.
A group of innovation experts has published a report arguing that the European Innovation Council (EIC) should expand its focus to proactively realising the entrepreneurial talent of Europe’s scientists. Given the EIC’s mandate to realise and accelerate breakthrough innovation for rapid market growth, its existing funding instruments already cover the entire innovation journey from the earliest stages of technological development to market entry and beyond. The expert group, established to advise the EIC on tech-to-market activities, proposes that the focus should be broadened to also nurturing scientific entrepreneurs who can bring the development of breakthrough technologies to market.
The report assesses that, for Europe to achieve its mission-oriented objectives, it is necessary to develop an expanded, early-stage pipeline of deep-tech innovations, led by entrepreneurial scientists and engineers. Although Europe has a history of outstanding support for basic science, funding and support for early translational endeavours is sparse, since they fall into the gap between the fundamental research focus of most research-intensive universities and focus of corporations or private investors on more proven technologies representing a lower investment risk. This is evident particularly in the limited availability of funding for prototype development and access to advanced experimentation facilities. There are also important gaps in engagement between academic scientists and engineers and the broader entrepreneurial ecosystems necessary to bridge new concepts with market needs and drive impact.
These shortfalls represent a fundamental problem for the EIC’s approach to project selection. In particular, the Pathfinder Challenge programme relies on the ability of programme managers to compare possible research avenues and select the most valuable ones, and build the strongest risk-adjusted portfolio. In this way, an important enabling condition of the Challenge programmes is the existence of a sufficiently large pool of potential EIC Innovators testing different ideas and complementary approaches. The initial phase of project selection, therefore, already assumes that there are multiple projects to select from, an assumption that may well be valid for some dense, mature innovation ecosystems. In contrast, in a nascent innovation ecosystem, such a process of strategic selection remains almost impossible, when there are in fact few potential options. Many innovation ecosystems, particularly in fields critical to addressing key global challenges and ensuring European strategic autonomy, are underdeveloped in this way, requiring complementary measures to nurture the talent in these fields.
The proposed solution is for the EIC to actively seed the innovation ecosystem with skilled potential solution providers (i.e. our entrepreneurial scientists) to have enough to select from and invest into. It should take the responsibility to grow the human talent, the scientific entrepreneurs who can bring the development of breakthrough technologies to the market. To attain these goals, the report recommends that the EIC create two ambitious deep-tech training programmes – the Trailblazer and the Pioneer – to foster technological solutions and realise human entrepreneurial talent.
The first of these involves awarding Trailblazer Fellows, from among talented PhD candidates and post-docs (potentially also principal investigators) that are part of projects funded by the EIC Pathfinder and Transition instruments. It is often critical for the commercial success of a project that one or several of the people on the project team take responsibility for the first steps of transitioning the invention to the market. The programme would naturally include the core elements of a deep-tech training programme, working as an internal accelerator targeting proto-entrepreneurs. It should be regarded as an elite programme that brings together only the most promising talents and “their” breakthrough inventions, giving them the opportunity to pursue commercialisation as an alternative career pathway.
The EIC should have its own types of grants related to “excellence” in bringing an invention to the market, for example by creating a special prize and/or grant for such EIC Trailblazer Fellows. They could use this grant for additional market research beyond the project grant, or for additional training. The EIC might also consider promoting talented researchers with an ERC Proof of Concept grant into the programme.
The second proposed initiative, the Pioneer programme, would function more broadly as deep-tech add-on modules to existing programmes in the member states (and potentially in EU associated countries). This programme would not target talented scientists already funded by EIC, but rather those that one day will apply for EIC funding. It would seek to ignite the ambition to become a deep-tech entrepreneur. The add-on modules of the Pioneer Programme would be sponsored by EIC but the curriculum should be tailored and delivered locally. The programme should (like the Trailblazer programme) have in-person modules to facilitate the formation of cohorts among the Pioneers across national boundaries, allowing them to support and learn from each other over time. As an essential first step, the EIC should map the current state of deep tech training across the EU as well as outstanding programmes globally. Against this background, the EIC can evaluate with the member states the deep tech modules that create additionality as well as the appropriate funding model. The report supplements these proposals with a series of recommendations on how to proceed, including a broader mapping of existing deep-tech training programmes, a gradual implementation accompanied by metrics looking at the programmes’ effectiveness, and promotional activities. It remains at the moment unclear how the EIC will take up these recommendations as it adapts its work programme for the next years of Horizon Europe.