Ian Mundell

Supporting blockchain is a priority for the Belgian EU presidency, but at home the industry has developed on its own initiative

A project that built links between accelerators, incubators and start-ups in Europe and Africa shows the potential for benefit on both sides. A centre in Cape Town will now continue its work.

The bank wants to stimulate and strengthen capital markets in the Baltic states, beginning with new offices in Riga and Tallinn. The move is expected to increase access to scale-up funding for high tech start-ups

Innovation in regenerative agriculture needs a broad brush approach if economic and ecological benefits are to be accurately assessed. A new project aims to scale up to landscape level to enable this

Strip away some of the risk attached to start-ups in Widening countries and the investment money should flow. Intermediaries such as incubators have an important role to play

Top-tier European universities are doing more to de-risk new technologies on their way to the market, through industry partnerships and the creation of spin-outs

Universities are increasingly looking at other ways of exploiting academic assets, beyond the traditional focus on patenting

The Commission’s plan to support AI start-ups looks good on paper, but it will fail if not delivered at speed

It flows from the Black Forest to the Black Sea, crossing 14 countries with a wide range of research and innovation capabilities. Advocates of a Danube innovation valley are facing up to the scale of the east-west divide

In response to feedback, the EIC has loosened the ties between grant and equity investment in its Accelerator programme. Companies that win grants can now bid for EIC equity funding when the time is right