The European Innovation Council is Europe's flagship innovation programme to identify, develop and scale breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations.
Besides the substantial financial support, the programme offers selected companies coaching, mentoring, access to investors and corporates, and many other opportunities.
For a company such as .lumen, the EIC accelerator represents a great opportunity.
This year we witnessed the largest-ever funding round from the accelerator. 627 million euros of EU funding were dedicated to bringing promising technologies to the market.
Highlights from the largest funding round ever:
99 companies
21 countries
Total recommended budget of €627M
19% of companies with a female CEO
We are incredibly excited to announce .lumen as the first Romanian company to win funding worth 9.3 million euros in the EIC Accelerator.
.lumen builds glasses that help the blind live a better life. It's a system created for the 40 million blind individuals who can't have an advanced mobility solution. The glasses replicate the main features a guide dog brings, all in a scalable product.
It's an important project, one that has the potential to change a thousand-year-old paradigm.
What does this mean for .lumen?
Winning the EIC funding represents an outstanding achievement for the entire team, especially considering how competitive the programme is. With a success rate of only 8.1%, we are used to seeing France, Germany, or Israel at the top of the leader board.
We are proud to see our work showcased amongst such strong applicants with a long tradition in the innovation and technology sector.
It's a historic achievement for Romanian innovation to be the first company to win EIC funding in our country. Let's not forget that Romania is the least innovative country on the EU's Innovation Scoreboard. We've founded this company to help people, and we can only be proud to know that by helping, we are achieving what no other Romanian company managed to before.
— Cornel Amariei, .lumen CEO & Co-Founder
What's next?
.lumen is growing. The EIC funds will support our international expansion and help us bring the product into the hands of millions.
We are grateful for all the support we received. This significant milestone of the .lumen team was made possible through our collaboration with CIVITTA.
It symbolizes another vote of confidence for our work and a beacon of hope for the Romanian and Eastern European startup and innovation ecosystem.
Stay tuned.
It's an exciting time for us at .lumen. Follow us on social media for more updates.
We're looking for colleagues to help us change the world. Access our open positions here.