The announcement came at the Scale 100 forum, held on 21 and 22 October in Athens: Circu Li-ion and OQ Technology have been selected to join the European Innovation Council’s Scaling Club. This club brings together the 120 most promising deep-tech scaleups in Europe. The aim is to accelerate the growth of each of these startups, with the ambition of turning 20% of them into unicorns.
To join this exclusive network, applications are submitted to a wide range of players in the sector, including investors, mentors, public agencies and specialist media. A panel of investors then selects the most promising companies. To be chosen, startups must demonstrate strong growth potential, a solid management team, a disruptive technology, a clear market strategy and a significant societal impact.
Circu Li-ion, and , has developed an automated solution for recycling batteries, enabling the reuse or creation of clean recycling channels for end-of-life batteries. The company is also to extend the life of the batteries in the electric vehicles in the American giant’s delivery network.
OQ Technology is the world’s first and only operator of low-earth orbit 5G IOT satellites. The company recently won a European Union tender for the SAND5G project, which focuses on the security of 5G networks. Together with other partners, the company will provide a pilot to help assess and secure the communications infrastructures of 5G operators and national authorities. Following an initial series A round of €13m raised in 2022, the startup on Monday 21 October announced that it had secured part of a €30m round of series B funding, which comes in the form of a convertible loan investment from the Luxembourg Space Sector Development fund (LSSD), co-led by SES and the Luxembourg government, and existing shareholders Waed Ventures (the venture capital arm of oil and gas giant Aramco) and the Phaistos Investment Fund from Greece.
By joining the Scaling Club, these two startups will benefit from tailor-made support to accelerate their growth. The programme includes fundraising, mentoring, leadership coaching, contacts with strategic partners and increased media visibility.
“With the support of over 400 dedicated club members, these companies are well placed to tackle the key global challenges in their respective sectors, and I am confident that they will continue to grow and realise their full potential,” said EIC Scaling Club manager Teresa Cunha.
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