X-Europe

Project Information

XEUROPE

Grant agreement ID: 871795

DOI

10.3030/871795

Project closed

EC signature date 22 November 2019

Start date 1 January 2020

End date 30 April 2022

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost

€ 1 798 473,21

EU contribution

€ 1 428 918,75

Coordinated by

F6S NETWORK LIMITED
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - XEUROPE (X-Europe)

Reporting period: 2021-02-01 to 2022-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Europe has seen the connection of several market trends:
i) Proliferation of startups - tied to the opportunities of digital platforms, disruptive success of digital companies, and increased access to emerging technologies;
ii) Emergence of deeptech startups - followed by the need for novel support programmes and open innovation mechanisms that consider the different life cycles of deeptech companies; and
iii) Uneven startup ecosystems - with socio-economic capital more concentrated in economic centers such as London, Paris and Berlin, and trajectories that result in the accumulation of expertise, investment, opportunities and corporate activity. On a national level, tax breaks and state-led investment contribute to favourable environments, as well as access to international clients and hubs.

Europe is in a position and time where it can consolidate as a deeptech market leader, with strong investment, strong corporate backing and good connections to research and educational centers. From a startup perspective, there are a broad range of accelerators, skills agencies, and ecosystem builders that can provide growth support. However, direct efforts on a community level are needed to create ecosystem linkages and broader access to opportunities. Investment, skills, talent, and corporate partnership opportunities are not equally spread, and socio-economic capital has become concentrated in developing ecosystems creating an uneven flow of people, goods, talent and services between European hubs. This trend leads to significant drains from developing ecosystems, hindering their growth. Breaking this cycle requires new ways of connecting ecosystems.

The X-Europe project aimed to promote the growth and strengthening of relationships between developing startup ecosystems in the Baltics and Visegrad region and more developed ones such as the Benelux through the enhancement of deeptech stakeholders and the delivery of skills, opportunities, promotion and capital. The service delivery was built around addressing five key needs of startups and ecosystems: access to investment, promotion, talent, training, and partnerships.

X-Europe had the following specific objectives:
i) Engaging startups and SMEs;
ii) Providing access to skills, training and job creation;
iii) Enabling access to public and private capital;
iv) Creating corporate-startup pilot programmes;
v) Promoting and publicising deeptech startups and developing ecosystems; and
vi) Coordinating the programme.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Over 28 months, X-Europe supported 157 deeptech startups at different maturity levels from a mix of developing and developed ecosystems. X-Europe was divided in six cohorts, dedicated to a deeptech vertical: HealthTech; AgriTech; AI/ML; Smart Cities & Sustainability; SpaceTech; and FinTech.

The project ran a pan-European open call for each cohort on the F6S platform. The scouting efforts resulted in 700 startup applicants. To each cohort, X-Europe offered a unique blend of services along a five/six-month programme, built around a flagship event: i) Skills & training services; ii) Investment, corporate & talent matchmaking; iii) Promotion & visibility support.

Over 500 1-on-1 mentoring sessions and over 800 training sessions were completed, giving startups the growth, marketing tools and strategies to be market ready and convert customers. Almost 600 investment firms were enrolled, including 240 leads during the promoted events, and 590 investor meetups were held which led to several investments. Over 50 corporations were engaged in the programme, and 21 innovation challenge meetups held with the startups.

Promotion activities included startup coverage through the X-Europe blog, podcast, startup portfolio, social media, and visibility on the TNW media platform and other channels. The startups were showcased at the TNW 2020 & 2021 and TechChill 2021 & 2022 conferences, and the Future of AgriTech and Space Terminal online summits powered by Design Terminal. X-Europe also promoted the target industries and startup ecosystems, producing 160 pieces of content such as market landscapes, ecosystem toolkits and spotlight articles. In addition, the project facilitated 69 speaker engagements at its flagship events. Such activities helped sustain a connected deeptech community, including the participating startups, corporations, investors, and ecosystem builders. The visibility actions resulted in over 26k unique website visitors and 30k social media engagements.

X-Europe went through several planning adjustments as a consequence of the global pandemic risks and restrictions, and implemented several mitigation strategies, including adapting the programme to digital/hybrid formats to safely deliver its services.

90% of X-Europe’s startups recommend the programme. The services and connections helped startups improve their business and growth strategies, secure investments, build partnerships, and hire talent. Since the start of X-Europe, half of the startups raised over €125.8M combined, and 228 new hires were reported.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

X-Europe aimed to achieve an increased connectedness among members of deeptech startup ecosystems; enable better access to customers, qualified employees, and the right combination of finance and prospects for scaling up across borders; foster more robust socio-economic vitality; and encourage greater European investments in deeptech digital sectors.

A number of key aspects were achieved in terms of connectedness: the onboarded investors came from 36 countries as far and wide as South Korea, Kenya and the US, as well as strong European representation. A blend of training, matchmaking, events and media exposure increased the knowledge and reputation of X-Europe startups and deeptech ecosystems in the target regions.

Corporations too have seen strong international engagement with 18 corporates coming from the key X-Europe regions and around the world. Across the 92 matchmaking talks with startups, 88 were cross border connections. The industry-leading framework used in X-Europe corporate matchmaking brought commercial programmes to public funding and grew an impressive network of corporates.

X-Europe onboarded startups from 30 countries, 41 of which from the target regions. In formalising an arrangement with like minded community builders, X-Europe created grassroots level promotion and connection from deeptech hubs. Finally, for access to employment, it generated 178 talent leads, connecting startups to talented individuals around Europe.

X-Europe implemented a measurement of impact in terms of social, economic, and technological dimensions, delivering services such as mentorship, growth hacking workshops, talent and corporate matchmaking, and expert sessions at events moving the technological needle.

Socially, a community of over 585 members are connected via slack with weekly sharing of opportunities and world-leading events have thrust our startups into the spotlight. Furthermore, our strict diversity policy has seen strong representation of minorities in the tech world onstage, in founding teams and in the project leadership. Finally, from an economic perspective, investments, NDAs with corporates, collaboration between startups, and a programme focused on developing the business acumen of bright and talented deeptech researchers and entrepreneurs created sticky benefits that will impact the lives and technologies of many startups continent-wide.

X-Europe logo

X-Europe team at TNW2022

X-Europe open call for deeptech startups

X-Europe programme: driving deeptech growth

X-Europe podcast series

X-Europe flagship event backstage