European BIC Network (EBN)

15/10/2026

Abidjan hosts the second Africa-Europe Innovation Dialogues on 3 and 4 November.

Africa-Europe Innovation Platform brings the Dialogues to Côte d’Ivoire for one and a half days under the title “Ideas in motion. Partnerships in action.” Start-ups, universities, civil society and BSO's from both continents will meet to find project partners and the programme gives space to Ivorian voices.

Helping innovation scale across borders is one of EBN’s four mission commitments. For the 180+ EU|BICs in our community and for any innovation centre looking for counterparts in Africa, the Dialogues put those contacts in one room.

In-person registrations close on 19 October.

Register here: https://www.africaeuropeinnovation.net/event/africa-europe-innovation-dialogues-2026/

05/10/2026

Quantexa joined Tomorrow Street in 2019, valued at around $100 million. Vodafone deployed its financial crime detection platform commercially, banks, insurers and governments became clients and the company is now valued at over $1 billion.

Tomorrow Street was co-founded in 2017 by EU|BIC Technoport SA and Vodafone Procurement in Luxembourg. In nine years it has assessed more than 550 companies, generated over €50M for scale-up partners, addressed 400 open innovation use cases and cut procurement cycles by almost 40%. Scale-ups pay a fee for a six-month programme. Tomorrow Street takes no equity.

Emplay shows the model at its sharpest. It arrived as an AI sales-performance company unfamiliar with the European market. The team saw that its AI reached into procurement and Vodafone selected Emplay to build its autonomous procurement platform, now running in several Vodafone markets. CEO Sanchita Sur calls the effect a "100x multiplier". Emplay is now setting up an R&D team in Luxembourg.

Read the full story in EBN's 2026 EU|BIC Impact Report (link of the blog post in the first comment).

01/10/2026

68.9% of corporate venturing initiatives fail to deliver the results expected, according to MIT Sloan Management Review.

The EU-LAC Digital Accelerator Open Call is now open to corporate-startup partnerships from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean that want to land in the other 31.1%.

Selected partnerships get a tailored acceleration roadmap with milestones and KPIs, and expert support to test, validate and scale their solution. Startups can claim up to €10,500 for proof of concept development, travel and equipment transport. 80 partnerships have already been through the programme.

Applications close on 30 November 2026. One application per partnership, submitted together: https://eulacdigitalaccelerator.com/open-call/?utm_campaign=oc6&utm_medium=press-kit&utm_source=social-media

Your next partner your next market: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7LSjuoB3Z8

Startup was a corporate partner?Corporate was a startup partner?...

30/09/2026

Three mornings in November to build an internationalisation strategy for your EU|BIC.

«Think Global, Act Regional » runs on 16, 18 and 20 November, 10:00-12:30 CET. Monday starts with your own organisation: defining its international positioning from regional strengths and Smart Specialisation priorities. Wednesday covers how to assess whether a startup is ready to expand abroad, and which diagnostic and market intelligence tools to use. Friday is a training lab built on 3 case studies, working through soft-landing programmes, mentoring, matchmaking, funding support and impact measurement.

The training is for managers and staff of EU|BICs, incubators, accelerators and other BSOs. It is included in the EU|BIC community membership. Non-members pay €380.

Register via the link in our bio.

30/09/2026

Before an EU|BIC can help a startup enter a new market, it needs to know where it stands internationally itself.

Module 1 of the EU|BIC Essentials Training 2026 starts there. "Building the International Mindset and Strategic Positioning of EU|BICs" takes place on Monday 16 November, 10:00-12:30 CET, and opens the five-day programme "Think Global, Act Regional: Internationalisation Strategy and Service Design".

The session begins with what a region already has: its Smart Specialisation Strategy, existing partnerships and diaspora networks. From there, participants identify priority markets and collaboration opportunities, and look at how to formalise them through Memoranda of Understanding, cooperation agreements and ecosystem alliances.

By the end of the morning, participants will be able to define their organisation's international positioning, name collaboration opportunities that match their regional strengths, and draft a roadmap for international engagement.

The module is for EU|BIC managers and staff, incubator and accelerator professionals and other BSO's that want to strengthen their support for international growth. Later modules move on to assessing startup readiness and designing support programmes.

The training is included in the membership fee for EU|BIC community members. For non-members the fee is €380.

More information on Module 1: https://ebn.eu/2026/08/17/eubic-essentials-training-2026/

24/09/2026

European Call for Startups: Technologies That Help Communities Rebuild.

Ceeim Murcia, the EU|BIC of Murcia, is selecting the startups and companies for it together with the Regional Development Agency of Murcia (INFO). The Startup Area is part of the CAETRA Rebuilding International Forum on dual-use technologies for recovery and resilience, where companies, institutions and experts discuss reconstruction after natural disasters, emergencies and conflicts.

CEEIM is looking in Spain and across Europe for companies working on resilient construction and infrastructure, emergency response and civil protection, energy and water, drones and robotics, monitoring and sensing, AI and data analytics, resilient communications, logistics and mobility, or HealthTech and rehabilitation.

Selected companies present their technology in the Startup Area, attend the Forum sessions and take part in the B2B and brokerage meetings around the event. Participation is free. Travel, accommodation and subsistence are not covered.

If your technology fits, send a short Expression of Interest by 2nd of October: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfyqmkKafpTjSLbqXCR4AbtMqbnxyTGeRfVJpAWyWLr55Fztw/viewform

22/09/2026

The deadline for the AU–EU–Mediterranean Innovation Fair 2026 is today.

Through AEIP project, the Fair is looking for science-based and deep-tech companies working on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture. It connects innovators with investors, financial institutions, accelerators, researchers and business support organisations across Africa, Europe and the Mediterranean.

Selected start-ups and SMEs pitch to investors, present their solutions, access matchmaking and compete for the Innovation Fair Awards.

Expression of Interest closes tonight, 22 September. Submit here: https://au-eu-med-innovationfair-fnssa.servicefacility.eu/en/registration-form

17/09/2026

What are our EU|BIC members looking forward to on the upcoming Ecosystem Discovery Mission?

With the mission just around the corner, we asked some of the delegation to find out. In this video, Vitor Ferreira from Startup Leiria, Angel Prieto Sotos from CEEI Albacete share what they are hoping to gain, from investor and incubator connections to new opportunities for startups, knowledge exchange and stronger international collaboration.

The common thread: using the EU|BIC community to build the right connections across innovation ecosystems.

Stay tuned to our social media channels as we bring you along, with more voices, insights and highlights from the mission.

16/09/2026

✈️ The EU|BIC community is going on the road!

From 19–27 September, 20 European innovation organisations will embark on the EU|BIC Ecosystem Discovery Mission, connecting with our newest EU|BIC member, the The University of Nottingham Ningbo China, and exploring the innovation ecosystems of Ningbo, Hangzhou and Shanghai.

Ahead of the journey, Min Rose and Adam Xu from UNCC give us a glimpse of what awaits our delegation from their local ecosystem to new opportunities for international collaboration and exchange.

Stay tuned and follow the journey for highlights, insights and stories from the mission. 👀

24/08/2026

Our project, CCRI Knowledge Hub, is looking for a copywriter to support the development of two key publications:

🔹 A Circular Economy Financing Guide for cities and regions
🔸 Five to six city case studies showcasing experiences from the CCRI Knowledge Hub mentoring programme

The assignment will run from September to November 2026, with final texts due by 1 December 2026.

Interested applicants should submit a CV, portfolio of relevant work, one-page technical proposal and financial proposal to [email protected], cc [email protected], by 6 September 2026.

Find all the details and apply here 👉 https://ebn.eu/2026/08/13/ccri-knowledge-hub-is-looking-for-a-copywriter/