The European Commission has kicked off an initiative to help 100 companies with high innovation potential grow to become champions of innovative technology in Europe and help drive green and digital goals across the market. The ‘unicorns’ are startups valued at $1 billion, while deep tech startups focus on significant scientific or engineering developments. The EIC Scale Up 100 initiative will identify and support the growth of 100 promising European deep tech companies with the potential to become unicorns.

However, Forbes magazine recently compared the trends of a year ago (March 2022), when we were near the peak of the startup funding frenzy, with more recent data: a year later, with the collapse of cryptocurrencies and private markets spelling the end of their public counterparts, Forbes, which consulted leading venture capitalists and data providers, has rated the sustained unicorns of several billionaires around the world heavily downwards.

We are optimistic – EU Startups

We see the positive side. The selected startups will receive advice (and perhaps a little more) from a group called the EIC Scaling Club, which includes 100 venture, growth, and government fund investors, 100 companies with innovation units and 100 independent trainers. The initiative aims to help startups grow by 40 per cent each year in terms of valuation, new investments, partnerships, and jobs and by 50 per cent in the same parameters for the 20 best-performing companies in two years.

Overseeing the process will be the European Innovation Council (EIC), which EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has likened to a ‘European unicorn factory’, already capable of producing 12 startups worth at least $1 billion, such as the Dutch Infarm and Swedish 3D bioprinting startup Cellink. The EIC has also produced 112 ‘centaur’ companies with more than USD 100 million in annual recurring revenues. EU Member States and countries associated with the bloc’s science research initiative, Horizon Europe, will be invited to nominate companies from their ecosystems. The European Innovation Council (EIC) is an EU funding program. It initially had a budget of EUR 10.1 billion to support, finance and expand SMEs with breakthrough innovations. The first objective was to create a model for European deep tech companies through preparatory and group sessions, customized evaluation, roadshow plans connecting with target investors, companies, and regions, and large-scale media and PR coverage.

During the two years of support actions, participating companies are expected to grow annually by 40 per cent in terms of valuation, new investments, partnerships, and jobs and by 50 per cent on the same parameters for the 20 best-performing companies. The action contributes to the New European Agenda for Innovation’s goal of increasing access to finance for companies of scale and, in part, to the call to attract and retain high-tech talent and refine the tools for action.