Four companies are to share €23m in accelerator funds under the European Innovation Council Accelerator Programme.
The quartet are InVera Medical and Loci Orthopaedics, both based in Galway, Selio Medical based in Dublin and Ovagen, based in Mayo. All are High Potential StartUps (HPSU) or sector clients of Enterprise Ireland.
InVera Medical, Loci Orthopaedics and Selio Medical are third level spin-outs that were previously supported by Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund and the BioInnovate Ireland programme.
The EIC Accelerator Programme provides funding to high potential, high-risk startups, scale-ups and SMEs “led by a strong, well-balanced leadership team which is already making good progress in commercialising highly differentiated, deep-tech products capable of creating new markets or disrupting existing ones”, according to its mission statement.
The programme provides grant funding of up to €2.5m, combined with an equity investment ranging from €0.5m to €15m in a blended finance offer.
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Seventy-four companies from 18 European countries were selected by panels of investors and entrepreneurs to share €380m in funding. There was a total of 1,093 applicants, 266 of which were shortlisted for the interview phase. The call had a 7% success rate.
In this round, Ireland ranked fifth. Only start-ups and SMEs from Germany, France, Finland, and the Netherlands ranked above Ireland based on the value of funding recommended.
EI chief executive Leo Clancy said: “Ireland is a world-leading location to start and scale a business and that we support our clients to access scaling finance at critical points in their company development journey. Their success is a reflection of the hands-on support they receive at different stages of their journey from our research commercialisation, EIC, HPSU and sector teams.”
Loci chief executive Dr Brendan Boland commented: “This is a major endorsement of the huge unmet clinical need in thumb base joint arthritis that we are tackling, the product we’ve developed, and the company that we have founded to get that product to the patients that are most affected.
“The funding will enable the company to finish clinical trials and gain regulatory clearance so we can get our new technology into the hands of those who need it most.”
Invera chief executive Stephen Cox said: “Today is a huge step forward in the execution of our vision to restore circulation toms of sufferers across the globe. This funding will hugely benefit the quality of life of EU and US venous leg ulcer patients as we bring our medical device treatment to the market over the coming years.”
Each company was supported in their application by the R&D grant funding experts at Myriad Associates.
“We are so pleased for these four companies - they’re among the best we’ve ever worked with,” said Lauren Olson, senior consultant, Innovation Grants at Myriad Associates.
“Our grant writing team has been fortunate to have supported a number of successful companies through the Horizon Europe funding programme, and it’s been fantastic to see the EIC Accelerator promote near-market innovations that can really make a difference,” she added.
“The success of these four Irish companies demonstrates what’s possible with a collaborative approach - not just with us but across the whole innovation ecosystem in Ireland. Building relationships is always the first step in success.”
Photo (l-r): Colm McGarvey, Selio Medical, Fiona Mangan of Loci Orthopaedics, Leo Clancy, Dr Catherine Caulfield of Ovagen, Stephen Cox, and Sean Burke, national contact point for EIC programme
