The European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator has distributed €627 million to 99 startups and SMEs in its latest and largest funding round to date. Twelve German companies were among the beneficiaries - including BIOWEG, CO2BioClean and Genome Biologics. The funds come from the Horizon Europe program.

Biobased substances for cosmetics, health and nutrition

Founded in 2019, BIOWEG combines biotechnology, materials science, and molecular simulations to produce sustainable and biobased materials for the cosmetics, neutraceuticals, and food/beverage sectors. Current products include high-purity cellulose-based microspheres, environmental and health-friendly rheology modifiers, and sustainable hydrocolloids. 2.45 million in funding and 10.1 million in equity investment is provided by the EIC Accelerator for this purpose, CEO Pratek Mahalwar was pleased to announce.

Textile fibers from carbon dioxide

CO2BioClean aims to use carbon dioxide as a raw material for the production of natural biopolymers. Using a patented fermentation process, the company produces fully biodegradable textile fibers from the greenhouse gas: turning 2.5 tons of CO2 into one ton of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). (Note: In an earlier version of this article it said incorrectly 2.5 million tons of CO2 into one ton of PHA). Polyhydroxybutyric acid (PHB) is also one of the young company's products. For further growth, the EIC Accelerator is providing €2.2 million in funding and an equity investment of €4.4 million.

Fast track to new cardiac drugs

Genome Biologics has a disruptive technology for identifying pharmaceutical compounds and an associated preclinical platform for further development. At the heart of the method are Big Data analyses using AI. The initial goal is to use this technology to discover and produce active ingredients in the field of cardiology. To this end, the EIC Accelerator is investing 9.8 million euros in the start-up at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main.

The selection of eligible companies was preceded by a rigorous evaluation of the ideas by external experts as well as interviews with the participants by a jury of experienced professionals from the fields of investment and entrepreneurship. Up to €2.5 million in direct funding and between €0.5 million and €15 million in equity investment is available per funded company. Since March 2021, more than 4,000 startups and SMEs have applied for the funding. So far, 164 have received a commitment.

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