Five Irish start-ups have received a combined €20.5 million in funding from the European Commission.
AVeta Medical, Akara Robotics, CrannMED, Contego Sports and ProVerum are among 65 companies to receive funding of over €360 million via the first European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator, for which more than 2,700 applications were made.
The Republic of Ireland ranks fourth in terms of the number of companies recommended for funding, alongside Denmark and behind France, Germany and the Netherlands.
The EIC, which was first launched as a pilot in late 2017 as part of the Horizon 2020 programme, aims to support top-class innovators, entrepreneurs, small companies and researchers who have smart, but highly risky innovations that have the potential to scale up internationally. It offers grants and “blended” financing - grants and equity - to entrepreneurs.
The accelerator itself provides grant funding of up to €2.5 million for development costs and direct equity investments of up to €15 million.
"This announcement is a great success for Ireland and is testament to the capability and talent within the Irish innovation and commercialisation system and the vibrancy and international competitiveness of the Irish start-up community," said Garrett Murray, national director for Horizon Europe at Enterprise Ireland.
