Once again, four Austrian companies among Europe’s top innovators

EIC Accelerator in Horizon Europe – 17.5 million euros in funding go to Austria

A total of 78 projects across Europe secured funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator programme in October 2022. As in June 2022, four companies from Austria with breakthrough innovations will again be receiving funding. The programme is part of Horizon Europe, the European framework programme for research and innovation, and aims to help Europe’s most promising innovators achieve international market breakthroughs. The total financing of around 17.5 million euros (grants plus equity shares) will go to support Blue Planet Ecosystems and Kern Tec from Lower Austria, Deep Opinion Intelligent NLU from Tyrol, and Vienna-based health tech company Brainhero.

“Together with the four Austrian companies selected back in October 2022, in total more than 42 million euros in financing will be made available for the eight companies, representing a considerable stimulus for Austria as a technology location,” says Martin Kocher, Minister of Labor and Economy. “The EIC Accelerator is becoming an important element in the Austrian scale-up ecosystem and serves as an additional boost to the development of private risk financing. The aim of the EIC Accelerator is to ensure that the various forms of financing are coordinated as well as possible, and this benefits the companies.”

The two FFG Managing Directors Henrietta Egerth and Klaus Pseiner are convinced: “The financing model is highly innovative because the funding is supplemented by a capital injection from the specially founded EIC Fund if required. This should also enable private investors to come on board and ensure a rapid international market breakthrough for the companies.”