ecop has been awarded €8.5 million in funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator. Out of nearly 1.000 applicants, CEO Fabian Sacharowitz and CTO Bernhard Adler were invited and could convince the jury of the high potential for decarbonization of the Rotation Heat Pump. This is a huge step for the scale up of the company.
The EIC Accelerator awards grants of up to €2.5 million, alongside equity investments, to deep-tech start-ups and small companies in a highly competitive process. The jury has recognized the decarbonisation potential of ecop´s technology and ecop was selected to receive the full €2.5 million in grant funding, as well as up to €6 million in equity investment, to scale the production of the Rotation Heat Pump.
From a pool of 969 applicants 347 companies moved forward to the jury interview phase, and 68 were chosen for the final funding round – ecop as the only one from Austria. A total of €411 million in funding was made available, split between €165 million in grants and €245 million in equity. The equity funding will be distributed through the EIC Fund, the European Innovation Council’s investment arm.
Fabian Sacharowitz, CEO of ecop, said, “The EU’s innovation ecosystem has been an integral source of support as ecop has developed our technology and our business. This funding will enable us to finalize the development of our new rotor design and take the next step in scaling up, making our heat pump solution more broadly available, and ultimately enabling more companies and municipalities to generate affordable and CO2 free heat to sustainably power their operations.”
Christian Müller, Member of the Executive Board and CEO for the DACH region at ecop investor EIT InnoEnergy, adds: “With its one-of-a-kind solution, ecop is breaking new ground for heat pump technology, making it applicable for some of the hardest-to-abate, high-temperature industrial processes and district heating. The funding from EIC Accelerator is further proof that ecop’s transformative innovation is ready to scale. EIT InnoEnergy is there to support, and we extend our warmest congratulations to the ecop team.”