The European Commission has released evaluation results showing that four Enterprise Ireland-backed companies have been recommended for €23 million funding from the March 2022 call of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Programme.
The EIC Accelerator Programme provides transformational funding to high-potential, high-risk start-ups, scale ups and SMEs led by a strong, well-balanced leadership team which are already making good progress in commercialising highly differentiated, deeptech products capable of creating new markets or disrupting existing ones.
Part of the EU’s Horizon Europe 2021-2027 Research and Innovation Programme, the EIC Accelerator Programme provides grant funding of up to €2.5 million combined with an equity investment ranging from €500,000 to €15 million in a blended finance offer. There are usually several all sector calls and parallel challenge or thematic-based calls per year.
This was the most competitive EIC Accelerator call to date with 74 companies from 18 European countries selected by panels of experienced investors and entrepreneurs to receive €382 million in funding. There was a total of 1,093 applicants, 266 of which were shortlisted for the interview phase. The call had a 7% success rate.
In this funding round Ireland ranked fifth with only start-ups and SMEs from Germany, France, Finland, and the Netherlands ranked above Ireland based on the value of funding recommended in this EIC round.
The four successful Irish companies are InVera Medical and Loci Orthopaedics, both based in Galway, Selio Medical based in Dublin and Ovagen, based in Mayo. All are High Potential Start-Ups (HPSU) or sector clients of Enterprise Ireland.
Dr Catherine Caulfield, CEO at Ovagen said the grant will be “instrumental in demonstrating the increased viral yield and other key benefits of our world’s first germ-free eggs and will allow scale-up of production for our Pharmaceutical and Biotech customers. Ovagen’s germ-free technology will transform the way vaccines and other Biopharmaceuticals are developed and produced. It will also ensure security of supply and could save millions of lives each year by improving global immunisation coverage. Enterprise Ireland played a critical role in guiding our management team through the EIC process resulting in this very successful outcome.”
“Being awarded a combination of grant funding from the European Commission, and equity funding supported by the European Investment Bank, is a major endorsement of the huge unmet clinical need in thumb base joint arthritis that we are tackling, the product we’ve developed, and the company that we have founded to get that product to the patients that are most affected,” added Dr Brendan Boland, CEO at Loci Orthopaedics. “The EIC Accelerator Funding will enable the company to finish clinical trials and gain regulatory clearance so we can get our new technology, literally, into the hands of those that need it most.”
“Today is a huge step forward in the execution of our scaling vision to restore circulation to millions of sufferers across the globe,” said Stephen Cox, CEO, CEO of InVera Medical. “This EIC Accelerator funding will hugely benefit the quality of life of EU and US venous leg ulcer patients as we bring our medical device treatment to the market over the coming years. The experience and guidance of Enterprise Ireland was a key factor in our EIC success, and their continued support is greatly appreciated.”
“We are honoured to receive this grant support from the EIC Accelerator,” said Colm McGarvey CEO of Selio. “This is fantastic validation of the progress made by Selio Medical and the exciting potential of our platform device to improve the lives of lung cancer patients across Europe. This support will allow us to grow our team, here in Ireland, to accelerate the development of our technology and our route to market. Our innovative device and company strategy aligns perfectly with Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, improving early detection to turn the tide against cancer. We are very grateful to EIC for this funding and wish to also thank our many partners including BioInnovate Ireland and Enterprise Ireland for their continued support. We look forward to working with EIC as we scale up for market access.”
InVera Medical, Loci Orthopaedics and Selio Medical are third level spin-outs that were previously supported by Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund and the BioInnovate Ireland Programme, which Enterprise Ireland also supports and works closely with.
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