EIT Cross-KIC Strategic Access to Finance

to be defined by applicants addressing the specific objectives of the activity, its scope and expected results in the context of increasing the innovation performance and innovation potential of the European Union and growth and number of new jobs to be created in the supported ventures. The Cross-KIC activity should demonstrate in the proposal how the cross-KIC activity contributes to KICs' financial sustainability and how it contributes to the EIT core KPIs.

The expected outcome should be focused (but might not limit) on:

• Creating and developing an investment pipeline and to establish a deal flow of at least five successful investment proposals originating from the EIT Community to be supported by the European Investment Bank (EIB) annually.
• Developing synergy between the EIT Community and European Investment Fund (EIF), by preparing and launching an open innovation platform / investment instrument that will bring together key players (Corporates, Private Venture Capital firms, and public entities), addressing issues such as green cities and sustainable mobility, decarbonisation of industries and power generation, biomanufacturing, food tech, circular economy, technology enablers for green transition, to make investments in innovation start-ups / scale-ups and that will be contributing to the KICs’ financial sustainability.
• Supporting the implementation of a fully-fledged systemic and structural cooperation between EIT and EIC in the context of the 8 January 2021 signed EIT-EIC Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), including but not limited to the development of support mechanisms for KICs innovative start-ups and SMEs to access EIC Accelerator, and EIC advisory services and networks, but also to facilitate market access for and investments in innovative start-ups and SMEs, to support women innovators and innovators from widening countries, to identify opportunities for supporting EIC Pathfinder projects by KICs to transform research results into innovations, to identify new opportunities for collaboration and synergies, and to share data / experience and reporting.
• Ensuring effective management of the activity.

Developing synergies of the EIT community with EIC, EIF and EIB to facilitate investments (Access to Finance) for the KICs supported ventures (startups / scaleups) or innovation projects and that contribute to the KICs’ financial sustainability and diversification of revenues from ROI / Equity.

• Facilitation of financial and non-financial support to KIC supported ventures (startups / scaleups) to accelerate their growth.
• Develop a pipeline of innovative innovation projects and ventures (startups / scaleups) supported by the EIT Community that can benefit from EIC, EIB and EIF support.
• Development of capacity and expertise available to the whole EIT Community in accessing EIB, EIF and EIC support, including in the context of the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme countries and women led ventures (startups / scaleups).
• Development and support of other synergies between the EIT community and EIC, EIF, EIB, in the context for example of the EIT-EIF MOU signed in Sep 2021 (Education, RIS, financial instruments, common investors events) and the EIT-EIC MOU signed in Jan 2021.