We hope all is well, and that you're enjoying a productive March so far!
Please find below an update on the EIC Scaling Club, including more information on our upcoming Ignition Forum (and next week's EIC Summit), some must-listen interviews + news and insights about the broader European deep tech ecosystem(s).
Kind regards,
The EIC Scaling Club team
News and insights from the EIC Scaling Club
We're hard at work preparing for our first unveiling of the first cohort of selected deep tech scale-ups on 9 and 10 April in Brussels and Leuven at our invitation-only kick-off event, the upcoming Ignition Forum.
We can't wait to meet many early EIC Scaling Club members and select guests in person, and we've confirmed some great speakers to grace our stage. They include:
Jean-David Malo - Director of EISMEA, the European Commission’s executive agency for the European Innovation Council (EIC) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Anna Panagopoulou - Director of ‘ERA & Innovation’ at the Research and Innovation Directorate General of the European Commission.
Thomas Dermine - State Secretary of Science Policy, Recovery Program & Strategic Investments for the Belgian Federal Government.
Maria Zubeldia - Executive Director of the Entrepreneurship Centre at Said Business School, University of Oxford.
Jo De Boeck - Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, imec.
Erik Luts - Chief Innovation Officer and member of the Executive Committee of the KBC group.
And many more!
We're also looking forward to meeting many of you even before the Ignition Forum next week at the EIC Summit in Brussels. Registration for that event has ended as they are at capacity, but the EIC Summit will also be streamed online for those keen to follow along.
And yes, we know, International Women's Day was last week but still, let's continue celebrating the strength, resilience, and achievements of women everywhere every single day. It's a big part of the EIC Scaling Club mission.
Finally, we're grateful for the massive interest in our Open Call for Mentors (which ended on 13 March) and are looking forward to selecting the best of the best to guide our high-potential deep tech scale-up founders to new heights.
Here are some insights from leading deep tech innovators:
A deep dive into the future with Exponential View's Azeem Azhar
Azeem Azhar has had a rich career as a journalist, entrepreneur, author, speaker, analyst, consultant, but now bills himself as an 'independent academic'.
These days, he's perhaps best known for Exponential View, which offers weekly deep dives on AI and breakthrough technologies to a vast audience of investors, C-suite execs and global leaders who like to be challenged on thinking about the future.
Changing the fate of Europe through deep tech investments: Q&A with Jolt Capital's Jean Schmitt
On the sidelines of the recent Tech Tour Growth 50 Europe event, we caught up with Jean Schmitt, Managing Partner at Jolt Capital, a growth capital investor in European B2B deep tech companies.
The Earlybird gets the interview: A chat with seasoned VC investor Christian Nagel
Dr. Christian Nagel is a co-founder and partner of Earlybird, a technology investment powerhouse with more than €2 billion under management. We caught up with Christian at the recent Tech Tour Growth50 Europe event in Paris, to gain some more insights into the firm's investment strategy and hypotheses.
On the sidelines of the recent Tech Tour Growth 50 Europe event in Paris, we had a chance to sit down with Timo Toikkanen, an early investor in and advisor to, and these days chief executive officer of Finland-based professional mixed reality company Varjo.
Making media moves: Insights from The Innovator founder (and EIC Scaling Club Council Member) Jennifer Schenker
On the sidelines of the recent Tech Tour Growth 50 event in Paris, we recorded a short but sweet interview with Jennifer Schenker, founder and editor-in-chief of The Innovator, which she describes as a "pan-European publication with global aspirations".
Have a listen to our chat with Francesco Sciortino, whose deep tech company aims to build an entirely new generation of fusion power plants, using QI stellarators.
Veteran investor Anne Glover (Amadeus Capital) on Europe's chance to shine in deep tech
Amadeus Capital Partners has been investing in technology-enabled products and services for nearly three decades. Founded by Anne Glover and Hermann Hauser in 1997, Amadeus has backed more than 190 companies and raised over $1 billion for investment to date.
When we had a chance to sit down with Anne on the sidelines of the recent Tech Tour Growth 50 Europe event, we seized the opportunity.
