17/05/2026
🚀 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬. 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬.
On May 13th, I had the honour of participating in the 𝐄𝐈𝐂 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚, hosted at the 𝑃𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 and organised by 𝐔𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐃𝐈 through the 𝐍𝐂𝐏 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭 and the 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 — dedicated to accessing 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 (𝐄𝐈𝐂) funding in 2026.
A room full of researchers, entrepreneurs, SMEs and European experts. Plenty of enthusiasm. And one question that still lacks a clear answer:
❓𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑑𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠?
The problem is not a lack of funding. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.
I brought into the spotlight the 𝐄𝐄𝐍𝟐𝐄𝐈𝐂 - a project I have been coordinating since 2023 at 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 - a concrete bridge between the 𝐸𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝐸𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑁𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 and the 𝐸𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝐼𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙, built precisely to address this structural gap in Romania's deep-tech ecosystem.
🔍 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝:
→ 🤝 EEN × EIC synergies for innovative companies
→ 🧭 Navigating European funding in an ultra-competitive landscape
→ 💡 From grant to capital strategy - 𝑎 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠𝑒𝑡
→ 🛠️ Hands-on support for preparing EIC Accelerator applications
🔹 𝑆𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝐸𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡'𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦. It validates alignment with a policy framework.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 - especially when EIC Accelerator co-financing is not a bonus, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡.
🇷🇴 Romanian startups and SMEs pursuing innovation, internationalisation and European funding should be preparing not just to receive funds, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥. 🚀
#𝐄𝐄𝐍𝟐𝐄𝐈𝐂 #𝐄𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 #𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 #𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 #𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞
