Michiel Scheffer is the President of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Board. A Dutch national, he has three decades of experience in business, academia, and public policy. He is equipped with a wide network in the world of research and innovation and has a remarkable professional experience of more than 20 years in the field of innovation, including on breakthrough technologies, disruptive innovations, start‐ups impact investment.

Since 2000, he is the Founder and CEO of Polisema BV, which worked as adviser and investor for start‐ups (in ICT, technical textiles, medical textiles, medical devices, energy storage, biorefinery). From 2000 until 2015, he was the Founder and CEO of Noéton Policy in Innovation BV, which was providing consulting services to firms in a range of areas including innovation management, program management and public affairs. In this capacity, he designed and managed several EU Funded Projects. He was three times elected regional party leader. As regional Minister of Gelderland, he was nominated for best regional politician in the Netherlands in 2018. In that capacity he was responsible for an ERDF Program and for Interreg DE‐NL and member of the Committee of the Regions.