- The 20 most promising deep tech scaleups competed in the EIT Digital Challenge 2020 finals.
- The 5 best companies receive prizes totalling € 350 000, including international growth support by the EIT Digital Accelerator.
- 60% of winners have female founders or C-level executives.
Brussels, November 13, 2020 - EIT Digital has awarded the 5 best European deep tech companies in the online finals of the EIT Digital Challenge scaleup contest 2020.
The first prize went to Deepomatic from France. The other four winners are Icometrix (Belgium), SwipeGuide (Netherlands), Targomo (Germany), and Wishibam (France).
Augustin Marty, CEO & co-founder of first prize winner Deepomatic, considers the award a huge recognition for the work of his team. "Our company is only five years old and being named by EIT Digital as best deep tech startup in Europe is really meaningful at this moment - the beginning of our scaleup stage."
A record number of 403 scaleups from 32 countries applied, representing a 44% growth as compared to 2019. The EIT Digital Challenge targets European digital technology scaleups focused on fast growth of their business in Europe and worldwide. The companies applied in one of five strategic innovation areas: Digital Tech, Digital Industry, Digital Cities, Digital Finance and Digital Wellbeing.
Almost 40% of applicants, 55% of the 20 finalists, and 3 out of 5 winners (that is 60%) feature women as founders or C-level executives. A testament to EIT Digital's efforts to support European female entrepreneurs.
With average revenues of €1.4M, average funding of €7.6M, and average staff of more than 40, the 2020 laureates are the most mature prize winners in the 7-year history of the Challenge.
The 5 awarded companies will join the EIT Digital Accelerator that was recognized in 2019 as one of the five World Top Public Business Accelerators and the programme with the best pan-European reach, and as Top 4 European Accelerator brand in the Startup Heatmap Europe report. In addition to that, first prize winner receives a cash prize of €100,000.
"This is not your usual competition where only the top winner counts," states Chahab Nastar, Chief Innovation Officer at EIT Digital. "The 20 finalists were selected among 403 submissions, that is, they are the top 5%. They are growing fast and have great potential to become European success stories. The jury saw outstanding qualities in the 5 companies that came on top. We now welcome them into the EIT Digital Accelerator and will give them dedicated pan European support for customer acquisition and fundraising. We want them to become dominant companies in their respective markets".
5 flagship scaleups strengthening the digital future of Europe
The 20 finalists presented their innovative digital solutions to gender-balanced juries composed of tech specialists, investors, and c-suite level executives of European technology corporations. After thorough analysis of the scaleups, their technology and market success, the jury selected the 5 winners.
- Deepomatic (FR) - a no-code visual automation platform to support field operations with computer vision applications.
- Icometrix (BE) - helps effectively quantify brain abnormalities through AI-powered imaging solution.
- SwipeGuide (NL) - Intelligent work instructions and procedures via augmented apps to improve productivity on factory floor.
- Targomo (DE) - Location intelligence solution to optimise retail networks, deliver better public services, and improve real estate searches.
- Wishibam (FR) - Enables the creation of scalable marketplaces based on real-time store inventory.
