Finding first customers is one of the main barriers that hamper access to the market and commercialisation of novel solutions developed by innovative companies. At the same time, corporations with unmet needs may find difficult to identify and work together with suppliers to find solutions to their challenges.  

To facilitate the uptake of innovation, the EU project InnoMatch supports the pilot testing and proof of concept between European Innovation Council awardees (EICs) and public and private demanders of innovation (Buyers).  

InnoMatch goals are:  

1. Facilitate demanders of innovation to pilot a solution to an unmet need in collaboration with a top-notch provider (the EIC), receiving expert support during the process. 

1. Help EICs to acquire first commercial references of their innovative solutions that fast-track commercialisation to other customers. 

The collaboration process is depicted here: 

To be considered: 

Only EIC awardees are eligible (as per the definition in the EIC Work Programme 2023, namely “beneficiaries of the EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition or EIC contract or investment agreement for EIC Accelerator, as well as winners of EIC Prizes”). 

• Each EIC awardee receives a maximum of 60k€ for executing the piloting with the buyer. 

• Buyers do not receive a financial grant but gain access to a portfolio of support services, including refining the unmet need description, matchmaking with candidates, monitoring during the piloting phase, and guidance to enhance adoption and exploitation opportunities if the solution proves successful. 

• The project will support at least 38 pilots in different calls. 

About InnoMatch 

InnoMatch is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA), funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, Grant Agreement  101165966, with a total budget of €3M. 

It started on September 2024 and is expected to last until August 2027. 

InnoMatch is managed by 4 partners: FS6, Civitta, ICLEI and Ticbiomed. 

The project aims to improve the products and services offered by public and private organizations through the uptake of innovations created by EICs. 

If you are an EIC awardee, it is an opportunity to: 

• Acquire a strategic customer and leverage the pilot to tailor the solution to their needs. 
• Open a new line of business, reducing technological and economic risk while securing a first reference customer. 

If you are an organisation with an unmet need that requires an innovative solution,  it is an opportunity to: 

• Address a relevant corporate challenge for free in collaboration with a top-tier supplier. 
• Learn about demand-driven co-creation and innovation procurement using a lean approach with limited risks. 

Open call for EIC Awardee + Buyer | Open until 17th April 2025 17.00 CET 

This open call aims to support the pilot testing of innovative solutions provided by the EIC Awardees for public and private procurement customers (Buyers).  

• Up to 20 pilots or proof-of-concepts will be funded with a maximum of €60,000 each.  

• Selected applicants will enter the 12-month InnoMatch Programme, and will have up to 6 months to deploy their innovative solutions.  

Access the open call documents on the project website.

How Ticbiomed delivers value during the project 

Our contribution focuses on: 

• Identifying buyers’ needs and transforming them into innovation challenges, ready to be tackled by EIC companies 

• Connecting EIC companies with buyers, and aiding all parties involved during the piloting phase 

• Maximizing chances towards the adoption of successful solutions. Learn more about how we make innovation impactful. 

Ticbiomed is a non-profit association created back in 2010 in Murcia, although its scope of work has always been all over Europe. Its mission is to deliver value to generate impact via innovation, with a special focus on the health & care sector.   

Ticbiomed works with a Demand-driven & Impactful Innovation approach. It is a model of innovation that starts with the identification of needs by organisations (demand-driven innovation), develops solutions to these needs through co-creation processes between innovative SMEs and the organisations themselves (co-creation), and includes a series of actions and strategies throughout the process that facilitate the adoption of the solution once it successfully completes the pilot phase (Impactful Innovation). 

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