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Image credits: QuantWare

The European Commission (EC) announced on June 7 that it has selected 74 innovative companies under the first 2022 EIC Accelerator cut-off. 

The companies announced were among 1093 applicants who submitted to the first 2022 cut-off dated March 23. The 74 companies will join the 164 companies selected for funding by the EIC in 2021. 

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The allocated budget for the EIC Accelerator is around €382M, where the selected companies will receive grants and/or equity investments up to €17.5M each, depending on their needs.

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth says, “The new wave of innovation is currently led by deep tech start-ups that target societal challenges. I am happy to see so many of them applying to the EIC, in particular, from countries that are catching up in their levels of research and innovation performance. Thanks to the European Innovation Council, they will get the support they need to accelerate their growth and lead on the next wave of deep tech.”

The selected companies have a wide geographical spread spanning 18 countries. The EC says that 12 per cent of them originate from Horizon Europe “widening countries”, which are catching up in their research and innovation performance.

The selection confirms the high demand for EIC equity investments, with 61 of the 74 companies requesting equity investments or granting the first option. 

However, in most cases, the companies will receive the grant financing within the next two to three months, while the finalisation of the equity investment happens during the autumn. 

“Most of the companies invited to the jury interviews and who were not selected for funding will be awarded a Seal of Excellence and access to services to help them find alternative sources of funding,” says EC.

We have listed some of the innovative projects and companies from the Netherlands. You can check out the entire list here.

Hy2Care

EU funding received: €6M

Founder/s: Prof. Dr. Marcel Karperien, Dr. Sanne

HQ: Enschede

Founded in 2014, Hy2Care is a spin-off company of the Tech Med Centre of the University of Twente, the Netherlands. The Dutch company develops a novel technology platform consisting of injectable hydrogels to fight osteoarthritis.

According to the company, the gel is based on natural components, which transform into a gel upon surgical injection into the cartilage defect. The hydrogel completely fills the defect and enables the body to regenerate new cartilage tissue naturally. Over time, the gel will degrade, being replaced with the newly formed natural cartilage

The medical device startup received €6M, enabling it to complete its clinical studies and obtain European market approval with its game-changing hydrogel for optimal cartilage repair. Hy2Care recently started its First in Human clinical trial at the University Medical Center Utrecht

AtroMedical 

EU funding received: €2.5M

Founder/s: Jan Hunik, Tony van Tienen

HQ: Nijmegen, Gelderland

Founded in 2016, ATRO Medical is a spin-out from DSM and Radboudumc. The company aims to treat patients with chronic knee pains. Generally, the meniscus is an important shock absorber in the knee joint. 

Damage and wear of the meniscus are important causes of osteoarthritis of the knee. As a result, ATRO Medical has developed a new product – Trammpolin meniscus prosthesis. 

With Trammpolin, the company aims to provide a cost-­effective solution for meniscus replacements and fill the gap in treatment options between total knee replacement and meniscus tear surgical repair.

The company received a €2.5M grant from the EIC Accelerator to accelerate the development of artificial meniscus.

“Besides our medial meniscus prosthesis in an ongoing clinical study, we now have the opportunity to reach the clinical stage with our lateral meniscus prosthesis too. Thank you EU!,” says the company. 

Quantware 

EU funding received: €7.5M

Founder/s: Dr Alessandro Bruno, Matthijs Rijlaarsdam

HQ: Delft

QuantWare is a TU Delft / QuTech spin-out that aims to make quantum research accessible to researchers and startups through cost-efficient products. It is the first company to sell superconducting processors for quantum computers (QPU). 

This allows the company’s customers to build full-stack Open-Architecture Quantum Computers for 1/10th the cost of competing solutions.

The Delft-based company was awarded €7.5M from the European Innovation Council to further develop its proprietary technology to rapidly scale quantum processors far beyond today’s limited qubit counts. 

AMT-Medical 

EU funding received: NA

CEO: Rutger Tulleken

HQ: Utrecht

AMT Medical has developed a minimally invasive medical device for heart bypass surgery. It is based on the ELANA Bypass, invented by neurosurgeon Prof. Dr. C.A.F. Tulleken and his research team at the UMCU. The technique is designed to make traditional heart bypass procedures faster, safer, easier, and less invasive for the patient.

Qu&Co

EU funding received: NA

Founder/s: Benno Broer, Vincent Elfving

HQ: Amsterdam

Qu&Co is a developer of quantum computational algorithms and software that enables its clients to solve valuable problems in the fields of chemistry, materials science, fluid dynamics, and computational finance with unprecedented speed and accuracy. 

The company’s SaaS products include unique and patented quantum algorithms distributed as a backend integration to leading conventional software packages. 

Its clients include Covestro, BMW, Airbus, Johnson & Johnson, and LG, while its partners include Siemens, Schrödinger Inc., and Amazon Web Services.

The company also received a grant from the EIC Accelerator to accelerate the development of its quantum application platforms for chemistry, multiphysics, and finance

Earlier this year, the Amsterdam company announced a merger with Pasqal, a developer of neutral atom-based quantum technology, to accelerate progress on achieving business advantage by leveraging their complementary solutions. 

EIC Accelerator

The EIC Accelerator programme supports individual Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), in particular startups and spin-out companies, to develop and scale-up ground-breaking innovations. 

The programme offers startups and SMEs grants of up to €2.5M combined with equity investments through the EIC Fund ranging from €0.5M to €15M. 

In addition, EIC-selected companies also receive coaching, mentoring, access to investors and corporates, and other opportunities.

Since its launch in March 2021, over 6,000 start-ups and SMEs have sent their ideas and almost 3000 have submitted full applications. The next cut-off for full application is October 7.