Agenda 2021

Speaker: Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.

Speaker: Maive Rute, Deputy Director-General of DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW)

Moderator: Gilles Le Cocguen, Head of EuroQuity at Bpifrance.
Speakers: Almudena Trigo, BeAble Capital, Managing Director; Ilai Schwartz, Cofounder and CTO of NVision Imaging Technologies GmbH; Luca D'Alessandro, CEO and co-founder of Phononic Vibes s.r.l.; Cesare Maifredi, General Partner 360 Capital.

Early stage investment brings with it significant hurdles for investors as they are investing in a technology of which there is an immature or no prototype available yet. Most investors I In Europe there is higher are risk-aversity and thus less likely to investment in these type of deep technologies. Therefore, it is necessary to lay out the required prerequisites that will allow for early investment. A great and competent team a significant problem and market opportunity that the company are usual requirements, are there other?

Moderator: Audra Shallal, Founder and Managing Director of BOSS Consulting.
Speakers: Fannie Delavelle, Europe Manager for EuroQuity at Bpifrance; Mali M Baum, Serial Entrepreneur, Investor, Mentor and Community leader; Nora Stolz, Serial Entrepreneur, Leadership Coach.

According to the 2019 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report, 86% of French women entrepreneurs and 63% of German female entrepreneurs cited self-censorship and lack of confidence as obstacles. To overcome these challenges and help female entrepreneurs succeed in the long term, organisations across Europe are now leading Mentoring Programmes. The EIC Women Leadership Programme is one of the European schemes providing mentoring, coaching, trainings and networking events to go beyond the funding support. Testimonials, challenges and advice from who already experienced the leadership marathon can leverage confidence and promote gender equality. With this motto in mind, the EIC Summit Panel “Dialogue of Confidence” will dive into the experiences of 3 female leaders: Mali M Baum from WLOUNGE, Fannie Delavelle from BPI France, and Nora Stolz from the Women Breakfast Club will share all the tips and tricks from their own leadership race and talk about confidence.

Moderator: Raul Daussa, Lead Consultant – Ramboll.
Speakers: Mathieu Cribellier​​, Project Director CO2logic; Carlos Garcia-Borreguero​​, Project Director CO2logic - Partner​; Yousef Yousef, Founder-CEO of LG Sonic, EIC Board.

This webinar is meant for the SMEs that want to know more about what does it mean for strive for Climate Neutrality and the benefits it brings to your company.

The webinar will include:

• A description into general GHG management systems like Science Based Targets.

• A presentation of the context and dynamics of the voluntary carbon market.

• Some insights related to Climate Projects, how they can compensate for emissions not yet reduced to zero and the main principles behind that can guarantee the credibility of these projects.

• The difference between the Carbon Neutrality, Climate Neutrality, Net Zero, Climate Positive, etc.

• How companies can voluntarily obtain accreditation for Carbon Neutrality and how it benefits them.

• With limited places, the applications are on a first-come, first-served basis. Don't wait and join the EIC on this journey towards a carbon-neutral Europe.

Moderator: Kinga Stanisławska, General Partner and Founder of Experior Venture Fund and member of EIC Investment Committee.
Speakers: Carlos Rodriguez-Villa Förster, Managing Director of AlgaEnergy; Geert Van De Wouw​, Managing Director Shell Ventures; Suzanna Chiu, Head of Amadeus Ventures.

Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) has become popular over the last few years, achieving a portfolio performance that sometimes rivals that of the top VC firms. But there are still many doubts, myths and misunderstandings on CVC and they certainly do not offer a one-size-fits-all proposition.
Which are the differences between a CVC and traditional VC fund?
Which kind of value add CVC beyond the investment capital alone?
Are CVCs better positioned to help with commercialisation and an exit strategy?
What is the best strategy to engage with CVCs as an innovative entrepreneur?
How CVCs attract startups and scaleups?

Those questions and much more will be on the table at this workshop that will bring as speakers high level representatives of remarkable European CVCs, VCs and a top EIC-funded scaleup managing director with large experience in CVC investment, all in the framework of the recently launched EIC CVC Network.

Moderators: Samira Bousseta, Policy Officer at DG GROW; Bertrand Wert​, Innovation Maker & Innovation procurement, at the European Innovation Council, EISMEA Agency.
Speakers: Thomas Cottinet​, chef de l’EcoLab, Ministère Français de l’environnement; Mauro Draoli​, Strategie di procurement e innovazione del mercato, AGID Italia Digitale; Marlene Grauer​, International Project Manager at BME; Javier Quiles del Río​, Head of IT Department at Galician Healthcare Service - Area Sanitaria de Ferrol;

You always wanted to know more on how to engage with a procurement departments, public or private, and how to get a successful bid?

Based on real experience/testimonies we will introduce you to the procurement of innovation world and drive you with good tips and advices.

Moderator: Timo Hallantie​, Head of Unit EISMEA.E.1.
Speakers: Manuel La Rosa Betancourt​, Cofounder & CEO at Neutron Star Systems; Dr. Andrea Lani​, MEESST Project Coordinator, KULeuven; Mercedes Ruiz Haro​, Head of the Systems, Navigation and Control Area at SENER Aeroespacial; Dr. Gonzalo Sánchez-Arriaga​, Aerospace Engineer (UPM, 2004) and Astrophysicist (UCM, 2010); Maria Vittoria D'Inzeo, Policy Officer DG DEFIS.

The objective of the workshop is to demonstrate the value-added of the EIC Pathfinder in nurturing scientific research and generating breakthrough technologies in the field of space technology.

The workshop will showcase 2 Pathfinder Open projects, MEESST and E.T. Pack. Exchange of views will follow between academia, small and medium businesses, and policymakers.

Moderator: Aminda Leigh, Journalist and Moderator
Speakers: Dr. Bhupinder Bhullar, CEO at Swiss Vault; Prof. Alexander Dmitriev, Full professor at Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg; Dr. Stefan Konetschnik, Co-founder & Managing Director at UrbanGold; Diogo Mendes, Technical, Security & Climate Change Director at Bondalti; Annita Westenbroeks, Energy Innovations Manager at Cepi.

This is session will outline the peer-to-peer and business partner co-creation activities included in the EIC GHG programme. There will be a round table discussion showcasing testimonials from beneficiaries and business partners who are participating in GHG co-creation.

Moderator: Florence Ranson, Event Presenter and Moderator
Speakers: Erik Gatenholm​, Co-founder and CEO of BICO; Ana Maiques​, CEO of Neuroelectrics; Silvia Scaglione, Founder and Chief Scientist of React4life s.r.l.;

European research has been at the origin of numerous cutting-edge technologies and deep-tech innovations.

In this session, we will discuss the important role of the EIC Pathfinder in the European innovation ecosystem, and highlight its rich inheritance from the Future and Emerging Technologies programme. Panellists will testify their exciting personal journeys as “Pathfinder”, demonstrating the benefit of funding high-risk research projects by the European Innovation Council.

Moderator: Florence Ranson, Event Presenter and Moderator
Speakers: Reyes Sansegundo Romero, Technology Transfer Manager at Fundación para el Conocimiento Madri+d; Gianluigi Tiberi, Co-founder and Head of R&D of UBT.

Moderator: Anita Krohn Traaseth, Chairwoman of the Executive Board, StartUp Norway.
Speakers: Vincent Clot, Business & Open Innovation Director at Thales Alenia Space; Victoria Hernandez-Valcarcel, Board of Directors, CaixaBank Payments & Consumers; Nicolas Verschelden, Global Innovation Director ABInBev.

Usually large corporations' leaders are difficult to address for innovators, startups and scaleups eager to find the right strategic corporate partner to access larger deals, accelerate market penetration, tap into global distribution and marketing channels and gain time to focus on the critical activities.

Nevertheless, in the last years, more and more big firms are realising the enormous benefit they can obtain from new ideas, state-of-the-art innovation and challenging business opportunities coming from growing companies and innovators.

The EIC Corporate Programme has focused on bridging the gap between the European ""Davids and Goliaths” during the last 4 years creating business impact and also learnings and know-how.

During this session, the EIC will invite to the floor to some of the most active and experienced Corporate leaders on open innovation to provide best practices and off-the-record tips on how to get the most of the win-win startup-big firm cooperation. The audience will be able to address direct ""live"" questions to the speakers and learn from inside how to better approach the big corporations with a special focus on EIC-funded startups and scaleups.

Moderator: Jasper Hemmes
Speaker: Jose A. Martinez, CEO of an AI company

An experienced investor/coach – José Martinez - will explain how investors and corporates estimate and judge a potential cooperation with a start-up.
Practical do's and don'ts are also presented in a very accessible manner

Moderator: Kerstin Bock, Co-Founder & CEO Openers Founding Member at Tech Open Air, Member of the Advisory Board of the European Innovation Council (EIC).
Speakers: Jose A. Martinez, CEO of an AI company; Baptiste Billoir, CFO Agent-Biotec; Mats Blacker, CEO of Hymeth; Ivana Chaux-Jukic, Co-founder and CEO of Active Solera; Angele Giuliano, Entrepreneur and Expert in the field of Technology and European innovation; Martin Theyer, Finance Expert.

Show the audience about the mechanism, the excitement and the fun of pitching. A panel of three very different investors will discuss and question the pro's and con's of the pitches, presented by start-ups. They may end up quarrelling humourously about what they want to do with the pitchers

Moderator: Enric Claverol-Tinturé, EIC Programme Manager for Medical Technologies and Medical Devices
Speakers: Dr Marco D. Huesch, Senior Advisor, Ping An Global Voyager Fund; Louis de Lillers, CEO CorWave SA; Sofia Ioannidou, Partner and Navigator at Andera Life Sciences; Farshad Moradi, Director of ibrAIn Center.

You have a health-tech idea, perhaps even a prototype and a good working knowledge of how to set up and run a small business. But do you know how to make the leap to the M&A and IPO league? Which practical steps can you take to elevate a sophisticated but niche spin off to the category of the global players that transform the lives of millions of patients?

We will be discussing with three investors the path to follow: designing a stepwise value increasing strategy, dealing with regulatory challenges, designing your strategy for IPO or M&A, seeking first sales and sale scale up, etc. The CEO of CorWave, the first EIC Fund equity investment, will share with us their hands-on experience and how an innovator-friendly ecosystem is key to technological success at the Union level.

Moderator: Kinga Stanisławska, , General Partner and Founder of Experior Venture Fund and member of EIC Investment Committee.
Speakers: Tomas Kemtys, General Partner Contrarian Ventures; Heidi Lindvall, General Partner Pale Blue Dot; Dr. Yun LUO, CEO Rosi Solar; Ann Mettler, Vice President Europe Breakthrough Energy.

We'll try to answer during this session some "burning" questions regarding the impact and sustainable investing : can the impact and sustiable investing and start-ups save the world, will the rise of interest in impact and sustainability investing continue or is just a fad that will pass away? What are the sectors with the biggest chance of disruption from this point of view and in which way. How do the investors and companies distinguish between entities creating real impact versus those greenwashing, especially at early stages of investment. Last, but not least, we'll discuss the ambitious objectives of the Green deal and ways to engage the private sector more in this mission.

Moderator: Bertrand Wert, Innovation Maker & Community Manager at the European Innovation Council, EISMEA Agency.
Speakers: Benjamin David, CEO, Founder of XSu; Chris Haarmeijer, CEO & co-founder of Re-lion; Cristina Leone, SVP Projects, Grants and Agencies at Leonardo's Chief Technology and Innovation Office; Chris Haarmeijer, CEO & co-founder of Re-lion; Bertrand Roehrig, Sous Directeur adjoint, Direction de l’achat, Ministère français de l’intérieur;

The European defence sector is comprised of a few top players along with hundreds of SMEs. While the top players are constantly looking for innovations, the small companies find it hard to get understand the business ecosystem and identify the right ways to get their innovations on it. During this session we will explore particularly how procurers of innovation, might be public or private, can encourage the participation of innovative SMEs.

Moderator Éanna Kelly, Report Editor and Writer on tech policy matters at Shifted.
Speakers: Théau Peronnin, CEO and co-founder of Alice&Bob; Yoram Wijngaarde, Founder of Dealroom.co; Willem Jonker, CEO of the KIC Digital; Robert Merino, CEO of Qubit;

While the availability of capital has increased, Europe still lags behind the US and China, especially in the area of deep tech.

Moderator: Enric Claverol-Tinturé, EIC Programme Manager for Medical Technologies and Medical Devices.
Speakers: Barbara Castellano, Partner Panakes; Odile Duvaux, CEO Xenothera; Antoine Papernik, Managing Partner and Chairman Sofinnova; Patrik Sobocki, Investment Director Industrifonden.

Moderator: Florence Ranson, Event Presenter and Moderator
Speakers: Prof. Peter Baltus, Professor in High-frequency electronics; Dr. Vladimir Djapic, CEO of H2O Robotics; Prof. Tomas Krajnik, Cyberneticist and Roboteer; Dr. Dirkjan Krijnders, Scientific Researcher.

The objective of the “Breakthroughs in SWARM ROBOTICS ” workshop is to demonstrate the value-added of the EIC Pathfinder in nurturing scientific research and generating breakthrough technologies in the field of SWARM ROBOTICS which make possible to explore and serve environments otherwise hardly accessible for human beings and conventional technologies.

The workshop will present projects funded under FET/Pathfinder, exchange opinions e.g. on the difficulties in access to funding for research and scaling up, in creating business opportunities out of the swarm technology as well as on market barriers encountered so far, etc. The main audience is expected to be formed of researchers, companies, investors and stakeholders.

Moderator: Tania Friederichs, Counsellor, Head of Research & Innovation Sector Delegation of the European Union to India
Speakers: Juliane Frömmter, Power Connector, Intercultural Bridge Builder; Maria Matteo Iborra, CEO of Ibisa Network; Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO of C-Camp.

Addressing international markets is often frightening for start ups and small businesses.

The session will provide an overview of how to enter the Indian market together with information on existing channels that could ease the way into India.