The European Commission (EC) revealed the eight companies that made it to the final selection for a major scale-up investment under the EIC Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) Scale-Up call. It is a substantial step in reinforcing the technological sovereignty of Europe. As the next step, the EIC Fund will carry out the detailed assessment rounds with these selected innovators to decide on the final investment.
Altogether, the EC plans to make equity investments worth €171 million to support these technology leaders of the future. The individual funding packages will be between €10 million and €30 million per company. The main purpose of the money is to open the gates for heavy private co-investment. There is a possibility that the financing rounds, which could amount to €50 million to €150 million or even more, will be conducted. The Commission states that the main objective of this action is to eliminate the very difficult situation that keeps European startups that come up with breakthrough technologies from scaling in a way that is competitive globally.
Eight Companies Selected from 51 Applicants
The STEP Scale-Up call had a great number of interested parties from all over Europe and proposals were initially submitted by 51 companies. After the tough evaluation process, 36 companies were invited to present their technologies to the panels of independent high-level experts. However, only eight of them were able to meet the strict criteria required for the eligibility for STEP investment.
These eight companies are on the cutting edge of technology sectors that are not only important for the economic future of Europe but also for its strategic resilience. By the way, the startups and scaleups that were selected include:
Aldoria (France) – Providing data solutions that improve both the optimisation and security of space operations.
Focused Energy (Germany) – Working on laser-driven fusion technology for the production of clean energy.
Leyden Laboratories (The Netherlands) – Creating medical innovations that can be used for the treatment of a variety of respiratory viruses.
Marvel Fusion (Germany) – Aiming at the construction of a next-generation laser-driven fusion power plant by employing advanced energy-focused technologies.
NexWafe (Germany) – Developing highly efficient, next-generation solar wafers for the renewable energy market.
QphoX (The Netherlands) – Create scalable quantum processors that facilitate quantum communication performance.
Quandela (France) – Developing photonic quantum computing systems that help speed up practical quantum applications.
Smart Photonics (The Netherlands) – Producing next-generation photonic chips that are expected to be indispensable in future high-performance electronics and telecommunications infrastructure.
The Netherlands makes a significant contribution to this group of companies by bringing in three out of the eight firms that have been selected. It illustrates the country’s increasing importance in quantum and semiconductor technologies.
Additional Recognition through STEP Seal
Due to budget limitations, only eight companies could be shortlisted, but the European Commission pointed out that 21 other contenders also demonstrated exceptional promise and competitive capability. Together with the selected eight, these companies will be awarded the STEP Seal, which is a quality certification that is expected to facilitate the fundraising process and provide easier access to EIC Business Acceleration Services. In fact, 29 companies are holders of the STEP Seal at present.
Extending Support through 2026
According to the Commission, the STEP Scale-Up programme will proceed with a budget of €300 million allocated for 2025 and 2026. It reflects not only the strong demand for the programme but also the EU’s intention to maintain the technological leadership in fields like energy, space innovation, semiconductors, and quantum computing. For new submissions, the call remains open through the EU Funding and Tenders portal, with evaluation rounds scheduled quarterly.
Europe’s Strategic Independence Reinforced
STEP aims to help Europe reduce its dependency on non-EU suppliers by creating a vibrant, innovation-driven industrial ecosystem that is competitive and customer-oriented. This is achieved by the growth facilitation of companies with high potential and the leveling up of the rapid commercial deployment of breakthrough technologies.
The Commission underlined that besides being the driving force for economic growth, frontier technologies are also the cornerstone of geopolitical resilience as the global competition becomes tougher in areas like clean energy generation, quantum hardware, and advanced chip manufacturing.