On July 5, 2022, the European Commission presented its new European innovation agenda to compete with China, Japan, South Korea and the United States in disruptive technologies. Brussels will mobilize around 45 million euros in funding from untapped sources of private capital to help start-ups deep tech expanding.
Europe wants to become a leading player in innovation
The primary aim of this European innovation program is to ensure that Europe becomes a leading player on the world stage of innovation. According to the European Commission, innovation irrigates all sectors of activity, from renewable energies to agricultural technologies, from construction to mobility, including health, so as to guarantee food security, reduce energy dependence, improve the health of citizens and make our economies more competitive “.
The European innovation agenda will be based on the management of 25 specific actions divided into five key areas:
- Financing of scale-ups : the European Commission wants institutional and private investors to finance the development of scale-ups (start-ups that are already well established).
- Accelerating innovation in European ecosystems : 10 billion euros will be devoted to innovation projects of an interregional nature in order to accelerate and strengthen innovation throughout the European Union.
- Take an interest in deeptech talent : Brussels wants to arouse interest, attract and retain talent in a context where the war for talent and skills is raging.
- Establishment of dedicated places : innovation will be favored with the help of dedicated experimentation spaces and public markets (for example, regulatory sandboxes, test benches, etc.).
- Improving policy-making tools : by using reliable and comparable data, as well as common definitions (terminologies and common indicators), countries will be able to coordinate their innovation policy together.
For Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, ” The new European innovation program will enable innovators, start-ups and expanding companies, all with innovative projects, to become world leaders in innovation “.
How will the European Commission help deeptech start-ups to innovate?
To succeed in implementing all of these actions, the European Commission will release an investment of 45 billion euros over the next three years. A substantial sum, far from the 2 billion euros invested in the European digital transition.
In addition to this exceptional funding, Europe will help start-ups by facilitating their access to other funding. It should, within the next few months, adopt a series of measures to simplify the rules for listing on the stock exchange, to set up an abatement on the cost of raising equity capital, and to set a limit on the deductibility of interest.
In addition, Brussels will contribute to the creation of ” deep tech innovation valleys ” and of ” regulatory sandboxes » so that start-ups and scale-ups can work together in the same places, including in regions that are lagging behind. To retain and attract talent in Europe, the Commission will train one million deep tech talents, by further supporting women innovators and in innovation with stock options for employees in start-ups.
The announcement of this new program for innovation was made a few hours before the Digital Market Act and the Digital Services Act have been definitively approved by the European Parliament.
