New European investors’ network does exactly what it says on the TIN
In the Mission Letter of Pres. Ursula von der Leyen to the Commissioner-designate for Startups, Research and Innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva, it is stated that, as part of her mandate, the incoming Commissioner will develop a network of Trusted Investors, to bring together deep tech investors across Europe to foster co-investments with the EIC Fund and greater knowledge, expertise and finance to grow deep tech startups.
Already, the first initial step towards this was taken in June, by current Commissioner Iliana Ivanova, who brought together a group of investors to discuss this new form of collaboration in Brussels.
During the EIC Scale Up 100 event planned in Athens on Oct. 21st, the first cohort of investors are expected to formally join the Trusted Investors Network (TIN) and sign its charter.
Vicky D. Kefalas, a member of the EIC Board was interviewed by Innovators Magazine and shared valuable information on TIN as well as insights on the EIC and the year ahead 2025.
Every deep tech company or individual team working on a deep tech project can find something at the EIC!
1. What is the newly launched EIC Trusted Investors’ Network (TIN)?
The Trusted Investors Network (TIN), is a network of investors who agree to combine their efforts to invest – and co-invest with the EIC Fund – in European breakthrough technologies and companies and to protect and maintain their European presence.
The creation of this network by Commissioner Ivanova is important as it will further support and accelerate the market uptake of deep technologies This will help achieve the European Union’s ambitions for technological sovereignty and economic security. It is also much needed to address critical societal challenges and to achieve the twin (green and digital) transition.
TIN is a tangible example of building and drawing on partnerships in order to grow the EU innovation ecosystem in deep tech and increase the number of European companies that scale up.
2. What is the objective of the Trusted Investors Network?
The EIC Fund has reached close to EUR 1bn in actual investments in deep-tech start-ups in less than four years and has leveraged 4.5 euros of co-investments from private investors for every 1 euro of public investment by the EIC Fund.
Sustaining this funding pace as well as securing support for larger rounds can only be achieved by bringing in more private investors into this space.
Establishing an open, efficient, active, collaborative and transparent network such as TIN, will help strengthen the potential investor base into EIC portfolio companies as well as promote collaboration between investors.
The network will help reinforce the realisation of key EIC strategic goals for crowding-in investment into European deep tech and bridging the financing gap faced by deep-tech companies.
The TIN is a new form of increasing collaboration and fostering cooperation between investors, exchanging insights on the challenges of deep-tech investing and readily showcasing the EIC portfolio to interested co-investors.
3. What kind of investors are invited to become part of the TIN?
Membership to the EIC Trusted Investor Network is open to any qualified investors in deep tech, including venture capital funds, corporate venture capital funds or corporations, National Promotional Institutions and others.
Further information on who can become part of the network is available in a publicly available Charter, which members will be asked to adhere to. It is worth noting that already there are numerous co-investors investing alongside the EIC, providing funding to promising European deep tech startups and there is no pre-requisite for any interested investor to have first joined TIN.
4. How is 2025 going to be better for European innovators?
There are many positive signs that 2025 will be an interesting year for European innovators. E. Letta and M.Draghi in their respective reports both emphasised the importance of research and innovation, of science and technology as a key condition to increase European competitiveness and the need to remove obstacles for innovations to reach the market..
Already, the discussion of the points made in these reports and especially of the recommendations proposed, will be important elements for the next budget of the European Union and for the next European research and innovation funding programme.
Also, the new commission structure will include – for the first time – a direct reference to start-ups in the mandate of the Commissioner for Research and Innovation. So we can expect a lot of focus at the political level for the needs of start-ups and to get them to grow and scale up.
The initiatives of the EIC, including the Trusted Investors Network, aim to attract and mobilise significant capital for European innovators in 2025, and we are endeavouring to make higher equity investments possible. We are also striving to increase support for underrepresented groups such as women innovators or those from less developed innovation ecosystems; more information on EIC support for deeptech innovators for next year will be published later this month in the Work Programme 2025 on the EIC website.
5. What is your message to early-stage businesses unsure if EIC is a fit for them?
Every deep tech company or individual team working on a deep tech project can find something at the EIC! Through its three main funding programmes and the mentoring, support and acceleration services and events, the EIC is a hub for innovators, investors and entrepreneurs.
The EIC Pathfinder is supporting research and deep tech projects with a high degree of scientific ambition and risk.
The EIC Transition, supports maturation and validation of innovative ideas, in order to move from the lab into business, and serves as a bridge between research and application development.
Finally, the EIC Accelerator, supports start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises to develop and scale up to new markets, or disrupt existing ones.
There are also numerous mentoring and networking opportunities – I would encourage a visit to the EIC website to learn more about all the opportunities available to researchers and innovators.
6. What type of innovations should startups/SMEs focus on to attract investors?
Generally, startups and SMEs should focus on what they’re good at and where they see a market need.
Significant technological advancements and scientific discoveries, along with the ability to realize long-term value, has traditionally attracted VC capital. Many sectors are drawing investor interest in deep tech ranging from AI, biotech, health and medical, quantum computing, space tech, food and agriculture and advanced materials.
If one is interested in attracting EIC funding, the focus is on deep tech. This means the innovations should be based on technological breakthroughs and a clear scientific basis. They should be game-changing innovations, which are high risk, but also have a high potential for impact and for scaling up internationally and becoming market leaders.
7. How can companies connect across different sectors?
Connecting across sectors is important in deep tech innovation, as we often see these innovations leveraging the intersection of technologies and approaches.
Becoming an EIC beneficiary presents several opportunities to connect with companies across sectors, countries and markets.
Each EIC Beneficiary becomes part of a vibrant EIC community while many beneficiaries join the annual EIC Summit, or any of the myriad of acceleration support initiatives provided by the EIC, including the EIC Scaling Club, EIC Corporate Days, business acceleration trips to major global events and more.
These events, services and initiatives offer amazing opportunities to companies and individuals to meet and network with the different ecosystem partners: other start-ups, with government and private procurers, researchers, policy makers and investors, and to discuss European innovation policy developments & challenges.
Besides offering tangible funding support, the EIC is an excellent forum, offering exposure to a robust ecosystem across sectors, which can help propel deep tech start-ups progress and success.
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Vicky D. Kefalas
Besides being a member of the EIC Board since Nov. 2021, Vicky is a voting member on the Investment Committee Member of InvestEU, the EUR26.2 billion guarantee fund of the European Commission, which provides equity, debt, guarantee and special instruments through the EIB and other IFIs and NPBs.
At the same time, she is the Head of Investments for Consolidated Contractors Co. (CCC), one of the largest international project developers, where she leads economic monitoring, equity and debt raising efforts across the Middle East, Caspian, Africa and Europe. Also, she serves as a Non-Executive Member of the Board of the innovative pharmaceutical company Lavipharm in Greece.
Vicky is a former member of the Investment Committee of the EUR33.5 billion European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and a former member of the Global Future Council on Infrastructure at the World Economic Forum. She is also a member of the UNECE PPP Experts roster, contributing on SDG, PPP, gender and climate resilience issues.
Vicky was born in 1969 in New York and holds a BA in Economics from the City University of New York and an MBA in Finance from Pace University also in New York.
