TRAVEL SUGGESTIONS FOR MICHIEL SCHEFFER ?

The European Innovation Council has just made an inspired appointment by making Michiel Scheffer ?? the president of its 20 person Board as of June 1st 2023. Incase you haven’t heard, the European Innovation Council (EIC) has been established as Europe’s flagship innovation programme to identify, develop and scale up breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations. With a budget of €10.1 billion (yes billion) the goal is to pro-actively support from early stage research, to proof of concept, technology transfer, and the financing and scale up of start-ups and SMEs. (That describes most young photonics companies I know)

TIME POOR?: Here's the link to the EIC Accelerator. But you may want to read on further to understand why...

I believe that Michiel’s arrival at the EIC in Brussels will surely mark the start of a new era of thinking around innovation. Why? If you watch how Michiel operates you’ll see he listens, analyses and then communicates the decision. He clearly understands deep-tech and the special funding challenges for hardware.?

“I used to be a minister for the Dutch province of Gelderland” says Michiel. “Fifteen years ago, we sold some government companies, which raised a lot of money for our province. I led the fund that invested this public money. We invested €600 million in startups and scaleups, and I'm proud of the work we did then. That's a smaller version of what I'm about to experience with the EIC”

“ I was born into a textile family. So entrepreneurship has been in my DNA already for three generations. As an entrepreneur, I helped textile companies come up with new ideas and recombine concepts to refresh collections. It turns out this is a very useful mindset for European deep-tech innovation, because crossover thinking is key here. For example, new materials are needed to build advanced implantable medical devices. And that's what the European innovation ecosystem does well.”

“By trying (and failing) to develop my own technologies through startups, I experienced the challenges that breakthrough innovation companies encounter. If you’re building hardware, you need to access capital that's patient. And when you scale beyond a prototype, you need tens of millions of Euros. This is often the point where brilliant ideas fail commercially. I hope the EIC can help fix this.”

Genuine understanding for Deep-tech & photonics.

In 2019, Scheffer was at the birth of the OnePlanet Research Center in Wageningen and Nijmegen, whose goal includes the use of integrated photonics in precision agriculture. (OnePlanet Research Center is collaboration between Wageningen University & Research , Radboud University and imec ) From the start they worked with fruit growers such as FruitMasters to automate apple sorting, as well as develop systems to deliver an exact amount of light, water and nutrients at the right moment. (see their Agrifood Roadmap launched together with PhotonDelta in May 2023 ). And Michiel was also a major force in photonics innovation schemes that came out of the launch of CITC - Chip Integration Technology Center , (join them at Laser World of Photonics in Munich this year for the first time).

Discussing the European Innovation Paradox, which highlights Europe's strength in science and research but its perceived weakness in translating knowledge into profitable economic activity,?Scheffer points to success stories that exist on a regional level.?

“The paradox exists, but it's not an unchangeable reality. There are European regions that have managed to invest funds wisely and create a network of startups. I'm thinking of cities such as #Eindhoven, #Grenoble or #Tallinn.”

“The US and China, the other two big economic blocs, have much more coherent internal markets and a strong government. Europe has potential, but fundamentally it's still 27 different member countries. So, particularly for startups/scaleups, financing options remain fragmented. The EIC wants to create a single market for venture capital.”

“We will do this by "crowding in" and never go at it alone. When we give equity, we only invest when private investors join us. We want to seduce private venture capitalists (VCs), not compete with them. Public investors de-risk a lot of the work of private VCs. They make a selection and do due diligence, which reduces the work a private investor needs to do. Research shows that companies where public and private investors work together have a higher chance of survival than companies who just get private investment.”

July 2023 Fact Finding Plan?

“Some regional innovation ecosystems work very well already, yet others are still lacking. In July, I start with Portugal, which has a very good tech ecosystem. But afterwards I would also like to visit Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia and Poland. There may be crossover learning from other success stories, like imec.istart in Leuven, Belgium, or Enterprise Ireland in Ireland.”

Where would you advise Scheffer to go?

In my recent travels, I can immediately suggest areas where Michiel should visit. Because amazing things are happening everywhere. Check out the vibrant? PPTF - Polish Technological Platform on Photonics , or breakthrough medical photonics companies like Modulight Corporation at many centers in Finland. And let’s not forget the rapidly growing clusters in #Madrid, #Barcelona, #Valencia and #Vigo. Or #stuttgart ? Do you have other suggestions? Use the comments below or send me email.

Lastly, Michiel Scheffer ?? offers advice to prospective entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of having critical friends, excellent storytelling abilities, and the willingness to respond to criticism. “Successful entrepreneurs never work alone. Build or join a team, and ensure the team is diverse”.