The European Innovation Council announces the 277 SMEs funded under the SME instrument phase 1 and the 13 collaborative projects under the FTI programme.
As the European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot ramps up, the results from the first call in 2019 are released. A total of 277 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Europe have been selected for funding, sharing €13.7m under the latest round of the EIC SME instrument phase 1. In addition, 13 collaborative projects involving 54 partners will receive a total of €33.12m in this round of the Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) under the EIC.
Beneficiaries of the SME instrument phase 1 will receive lump-sums of €50’000 each to explore and assess the technical feasibility and commercial potential of their breakthrough innovations. Additionally, they will obtain coaching and other business acceleration services and facilitated access to risk finance. The majority of companies selected are in the field of information and communication technology (ICT), health and engineering. Swiss companies were highly successful, with 23 beneficiaries, second only to Spain (46) and ahead of France (22). The quality of Swiss applicants also stands out, with a success rate of 23% compared to the overall success rate of 9%.
The SME instrument phase 1 will be discontinued after the third cut-off of 2019, planned for September, as the EIC turns its focus to its (other) new funding programmes. In particular, the next call of the SME instrument phase 2, due to be published in June, will offer the option of applying for equity investments of up to €15m in addition to the grant component of up to €2.5m. The SME instrument phase 2 is highly competitive with an overall success rate of 3%. The success-rate of Swiss proposals seems to be on the rise also here. Under the last call, there were 9 Swiss candidates among the 137 invited for the interview stage (of which approximately half will be selected for funding).
In the FTI programme, there are three Swiss participants among the 54 partners funded under the latest call. One of them, Sensars Neuroprosthetics Sàrl, will take on a coordinating role for a project on restoring sensory ability for natural walking of amputees. FTI is a bottom-up measure promoting innovative activities at the close-to-the-market stage under the European Innovation Council pilot. It provides up to €3m to support mature innovative concepts that have already been tested. Supported activities include systems validation in real working conditions, testing and piloting, validation of business models and standard setting and pre-normative research.
Swiss participation is also strong in other programmes under the EIC pilot, with 13 Swiss partners among the 274 participants in FET Open, and 6 Swiss partners among the 168 participating entities in the FET Proactive instrument. A further important part of the EIC pilot where Swiss candidates may also be successful is the EIC Horizon Prizes, rewarding innovations within particular fields such as humanitarian aid, blockchains for social good and early warning for epidemics.