Ventures Thrive Supported Startup Receives €2.5m EIC Accelerator Grant
Value Chain Generator® by VCG.AI, a pioneering AI circular economy deeptech solution, has been selected as one of the top 68 deeptech companies in Europe by the European Innovation Council (EIC).
VCG.AI received this prestigious title following the EIC Accelerator’s cut-off in March 2024, thus marking a significant milestone in the company’s journey towards revolutionising the circular economy.
The EIC Accelerator is a highly competitive programme designed to support groundbreaking innovations across Europe. Out of 969 companies that submitted full proposals by the cut-off in March 2024, 347 were shortlisted for interviews by experienced investors and entrepreneurs. From this selection process, VCG.AI emerged as one of the 68 elite companies chosen to receive funding.
The selected companies will collectively receive an estimated €411 million in funding, with up to €165 million in grants and approximately €245 million in equity.
Spearheaded by Co-Founders Jon Goriup (CEO) and Mateja Dermastia (COO), VCG.AI was notably one of the six startup finalists from the first cohort of Ventures Thrive. From workshops and masterclasses to mentoring and coaching sessions, the Ventures Thrive Growth Programme provided VCG.AI with a wealth of knowledge in a bid to enhance its investment readiness.
Here’s was Jon had to say about his startup’s Ventures Thrive journey back in 2023:
“VT connected us with incredible mentors that have helped us with preparing for our seed round investment, developing the business model, marketing and IP strategy that will all greatly support our future growth. It provided us with the expertise and outside perspective that is invaluable for our company moving forward.
We made significant progress with our product and the product development team to fulfil the first large commercial contracts. We signed powerful partnerships with WWF, Oracle and VIRIDIS to get increasing market access for our scale up and we worked on our patent strategy to protect our market advantage.”
To learn more about VCG.AI, kingly visit the company’s website and LinkedIn page.
Congratulations to the VCG.AI team!
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Ventures Thrive, project No 101073762 has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe framework programme, under the European Innovation Council’s StartUpEU initiative.
