The European Innovation Council (EIC) has announced Angele Giuliano and André Xuereb as the National Champions for its latest version.
The new iteration of the EIC was announced by the European Commission at an online event last Thursday.
It will have a budget of over €10 billion for the period 2021 - 2027 and will be tasked with developing and expanding breakthrough innovations in Europe, combing research on emerging technologies with an accelerator programme and a dedicated equity fund.
The council’s champions in Malta come from very different fields.
Amongst other positions, Ms Giuliano is CEO and owner of AcrossLimits, which describes itself as “a technology company with a heart”, providing project and business consultancy for local and international clients, as well as President of the Foundation for Women Entrepreneurs.
Mr Xuereb has a more academic background, as Associate Professor and Head of Department of Physics at the University of Malta and as Ambassador for Digital Affairs for the Government of Malta.
Addressing the launch, Ms Giuliano, who has been a member of the EIC jury for the past three years, commented she was proud “the programme is continuing and becoming even more important in the next seven years”.
“It has chosen, already, some of the most innovative deep tech companies in Europe, and is helping them bridge the gap of the infamous valley of death in between raising initial funding, and real scale up”, she said.
More than just money, however, “the EIC programme and accelerator offers so much more, with coaching, mentoring, and networking, to really become a movement for all European innovative companies,” she emphasises.
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