‘Don’t call it innovation, say that you are creating jobs’
Europe’s fate hinges on innovation. As one of the leading deep tech investors, the European Innovation Council promises further commitment.
Published on April 4, 2025
Moedas and Letta on the stage of the EIC Summit - © European Innovation Council
Mauro swapped Sardinia for Eindhoven and has been an IO+ editor for 3 years. As a GREEN+ expert, he covers the energy transition with data-driven stories.
As the godfather of the European Innovation Council (EIC), Carlos Moedas is one of Europe’s firmest believers in innovation’s power for competitiveness and economic growth. As a politician, he adds a pragmatic approach. “Don’t tell that you are making innovation, tell that you are creating jobs,” he said on the EIC Summit stage.
The EIC is the EU’s innovation program focused on identifying and scaling up breakthrough technologies. The institution has different investment programs, supporting research and funding companies at different stages of growth. This week, its annual summit took place in Brussels, a two-day event to gather the whole EIC ecosystem together.
It was also a chance to discuss how to build upon it, as innovation–especially deep tech—can boost the EU's competitiveness as the bloc repositions itself in a tense geopolitical scenario.
The EIC Impact Report
In its time as European Commissioner for Science, Moedas laid the foundation to EIC success, as it emerges as one of the most prominent deep tech investors. During the event, the EIC released its Impact Report for 2025. Since its inception in 2021, the EIC Fund has completed 150 investment rounds–60 in 2024 alone–investing a total of €6 billion. For every euro invested, the EIC leveraged €3 of additional investment.
Commissioner for startups, research and innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva also took part in the conference and announced that the EIC will be further strengthened during her tenure. “To support our innovative companies to have a chance forward, we need to show that we are serious in supporting, investing bigger tickets,” she said in a press conference. The commissioner added that more details on the strategy to boost the EIC will follow.
In addressing the scale up funding gap, the EIC has also selected seven companies that will receive €10 to €30 million investment. The support is granted through the STEP Scale Up Scheme. Two Dutch companies, Axelera AI and Xeltis, are part of the cohort of selected companies.
Commissioner Zaharieva - © European Innovation Council
Overcoming fragmentation
Moedas engaged in a fireside chat on stage with the former prime minister of Italy, Enrico Letta. Last year, he published an influential report on the European single market, underlining how fragmentation is the main reason Europe is not a tech leader at this point. On the stage of the EIC Summit, he advocated for adding a fifth freedom to the European single market. “In addition to goods, services, capital, and people, we must add a fifth one: the intangible assets, such as innovation, knowledge, and skills, to flow across the union freely.”
The current geopolitical situation didn’t go unnoticed, particularly the change in the relationships with the United States. In this context, Letta sees an opportunity for Europe. “President Trump is changing the direction of US policy. For a century, the United States has been attracting talent; now, the message is the opposite. Europe has the chance to appeal to worldwide talent to settle here, and develop impactful innovation.”
Supporting startups
Still, innovation is a big part of his job. In 2022, Lisbon launched the Unicorn Factory, a flagship initiative to strengthen the position of the Portuguese capital as one of Europe’s innovation hubs. To Moedas, the role of cities is crucial in the European innovation pipeline. “European cities should scout the best companies, connecting them with European institutions to accelerate the growth of disruptive companies,” he explained.
Moedas hopes that more European cities follow Lisbon’s example. Firms part of the factory account for over a quarter of the total amount of capital secured by Portuguese companies by 2024.
Commissioner Zaharieva announced on stage that on May 28, the EU Startup and Scaleup strategy will be presented. The plan will be “business-driven,” she told reporters. In the past weeks, the commissioner engaged with the ecosystem in gathering input to outline a plan to address problems such as access to capital, talent, and market. The strategy should also include the so-called 28th regime, a pan-European legal entity to uniform regulations for startups to grow within the 27 member states.
EIC Awards
The summit was also the occasion to hand out innovation awards. City of Prague’s ‘CameraCar’ AI-driven parking zone monitoring project won the innovation procurement award. The Belgian CABRIO-TRIPTYCH‘ won in the Net Zero Industry procurement category, with its tools to foster sustainable public construction projects.
The Commission also announced the winners of the European Prize for Women Innovators. Spanish startup Oxolife’s co-founder Agnès Arbat won in the women innovators category. The company is developing drugs to enhance fertility by improving embryo implantation. Camille Bouget was at the top of the rising innovator category podium. She is the cofounder of Scienta Lab, a French AI company addressing neuro-inflammatory diseases. The EIT Women Leadership accolade went to Débora Andreia Campelo Campos, CEO of AgroGrin Tech. The Portuguese firm developed a process to transform industrial fruit waste into functional food ingredients.
Urgency to act
Moedas advocates for a change of narrative in telling the story of European innovation, ultimately, concrete action will matter. As all the speakers underlined how the EU has all the ingredients to succeed, the urgency to act was evident in Brussels. And much of the EU’s fate will depend on the success of its innovation ecosystem.
