[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/15039\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n        \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n  \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EFrom prosthetics to paper and AI: Europe\u2019s innovation summit backs new tech\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a conference space at the edge of Brussels, networking reaches a crescendo as a DJ plays music in the background. On the floor, everyone is showcasing their work \u2013 from semiconductor chips to advanced renewable energy technologies and eco-friendly materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is the European Innovation Council (EIC) Summit, a yearly event where venture capitalists and scientists meet EU officials and start-up founders building their first products.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor Pierre Cherelle, founder and CEO of the Belgian start-up Axiles Bionics, it was a chance to show what his team has built: new types of prosthetics for amputees that incorporate technologies from robotics.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat we do combines financial return with social impact,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur prosthetics make a huge difference for patients. They often say that it is as if they were walking on their own legs again.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENearby, another company presented a new kind of renewable energy technology that uses the motion of waves.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was very hard to get to this point,\u201d said Patrik M\u00f6ller, co-founder and CEO of CorPower Ocean, the Swedish start-up building these buoy-like devices. \u201cNow, however, the technology is ready. And Europe is leading in it.\u201d Europe hosts several of the world\u2019s main wave energy test sites and companies, particularly in the North Atlantic.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAll of these people were brought together by the EIC, which supports researchers and entrepreneurs with high-risk ideas that might not get funded otherwise. It offers everything from accelerator programmes to venture funding, and has already supported the growth of many of the companies present, such as Axiles Bionics and CorPower Ocean.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESet up in 2021, the EIC has been expanding its activities. On the first day of the Summit, 3 June, the Scaleup Europe Fund was announced.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis \u20ac5 billion venture capital fund may grow to \u20ac20 billion in the coming years. It is meant to help European startups raise very large capital rounds, which today they often look for in the US.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ENext tech giant\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the start-up founders who travelled to Brussels was Anita Schj\u00f8ll Abildgaard, the Norwegian co-founder and CSO of Iris.ai, an AI company. She credits the EIC with keeping the company alive.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for the EIC, our company would no longer exist,\u201d she said. \u201cWe entered the EIC Accelerator at just the right time, in 2023. This provided much-needed financial backing and gave us the push to take our product to the market.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022text-center text-blue font-bold text-2xl w-full lg:w-1\/2 border-2 border-blue p-12 my-8 lg:m-12 lg:-ml-16 float-left\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022text-5xl rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp class=\u0022font-serif italic\u0022\u003EIf it wasn\u2019t for the European Innovation Council, our company would no longer exist.\u003C\/p\u003E\n  \u003Cfooter\u003E\n    \u003Ccite class=\u0022not-italic font-normal text-sm text-black\u0022\u003EAnita Schj\u00f8ll Abildgaard, Iris.ai\u003C\/cite\u003E\n  \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIris.ai builds software that sits between a company\u2019s raw data and the AI systems that use it. It helps transform massive amounts of difficult-to-handle and often sensitive company data into a format that AI systems can use.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsually, this would require intense and time-consuming human labour, but Iris.ai automates the process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSome companies are sitting on decades\u2019 worth of company data, from patents and memos to safety manuals,\u201d said Schj\u00f8ll Abildgaard. \u201cProcessing that is one of the biggest barriers for AI at the moment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIris.ai is gearing up to enter a field heavily dominated by companies from the US, but she is unfazed by that.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFounding a company in Europe, compared to the US, used to be a disadvantage,\u201d she said. \u201cBut that is now changing. Companies need absolute guarantees about security, sovereignty and privacy. In Europe, we can guarantee that.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday, Iris.ai is growing rapidly. \u201cWe want to become one of the next European tech champions,\u201d said Schj\u00f8ll Abildgaard. \u201cWhat we have is unique, and if we play our cards right, we can be the next tech giant coming out of Europe.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EScaling quantum\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother venture that has worked with the EIC is the Finnish company IQM Quantum Computers. With more than 400 people employed across Europe, IQM is one of a small number of companies in the world capable of delivering usable quantum computers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese machines exploit quantum physics to tackle specific problems that are extremely hard, or impossible, for today\u2019s conventional computers to solve.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are the world leader in selling and shipping quantum computers to data centres,\u201d said Jan Goetz, CEO and co-founder of IQM. \u201cWe are shipping more quantum computers than anyone else.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn this market, IQM is holding its own against large household names from the US such as Google and IBM, and that matters for a Europe seeking greater digital sovereignty. Quantum computers could be a game-changer.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cQuantum computers aren\u2019t just faster regular computers,\u201d said Goetz. \u201cBy using quantum physics, they can do calculations that aren\u2019t possible for regular, transistor-based computers.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EQuantum computers, for example, allow us to compare millions of possible material combinations, which might lead to stronger, lighter and more sustainable materials, a task that pushes the limits of regular computers. In a similar way, they might help us develop new drugs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is like the early internet,\u201d said Goetz. \u201cWe just don\u2019t know what they might allow us to do yet.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022text-center text-blue font-bold text-2xl w-full lg:w-1\/2 border-2 border-blue p-12 my-8 lg:m-12 lg:-ml-16 float-left\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022text-5xl rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp class=\u0022font-serif italic\u0022\u003EEurope is good at cutting-edge science. What we are bad at is commercialising and scaling that\u003C\/p\u003E\n  \u003Cfooter\u003E\n    \u003Ccite class=\u0022not-italic font-normal text-sm text-black\u0022\u003EJan Goetz, IQM Quantum Computers\u003C\/cite\u003E\n  \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEarly support from the EIC was crucial in IQM\u2019s growth, and Goetz said the EIC fills in an important gap in the European economy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEurope is good at cutting-edge science. What we are bad at is commercialising and scaling that,\u201d he said. He sees the EIC as one way to change this, especially with the new Scaleup Europe Fund.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt needs to be easier for European companies to raise rounds in the hundreds of millions or even billions of euros.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne tool that should help inventors bring their ideas to market is the EU Innovation Platform, launched during the Summit. It is designed to help EU\u2011funded innovators find funding opportunities, receive tailored recommendations, join events and make their work more visible. The hope is that it will make it easier to turn European ideas into real\u2011world impact.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EFrom waste to paper\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENot everything at the EIC Summit, however, was hardware and software. At one of the booths, Valentyn Frechka was showing visitors different kinds of fibres, papers and packaging materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI found a way to make paper out of fallen leaves,\u201d said the Ukraine-born Frechka, who runs Releaf from its Paris-based factory. This idea landed him the 2024 European Patent Office\u2019s Young Inventor Prize.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEvery year, cities spend time and money collecting hundreds of thousands of tonnes of fallen leaves.\u201d According to Frechka, it\u2019s a huge waste. \u201cWe see them as a raw material that can be turned into things like paper and packaging.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrechka got the idea as a 16\u2011year\u2011old in Ukraine, started it there and later grew Releaf into a France\u2011based leaf\u2011materials company. It has gained visibility in European and French innovation circles, including Bpifrance, Station F and the LVMH innovation ecosystem. Today it is growing rapidly, making packaging paper for brands such as Uber Eats, Rituals and LVMH.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis year, Releaf was invited by the EIC to showcase its core paper route and newer material developments, including hydrophobic coatings and moulded applications. He described it as a major milestone for the company.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are getting lots of interest here,\u201d Frechka said. \u201cIt\u2019s our first edition, and I\u2019m already excited for next year.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese stories show the range of projects gathered under the EIC umbrella. Taken together, they highlight how its support can help turn promising ideas into companies that grow in Europe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe views of the interviewees don\u2019t necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. 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