Empowering entrepreneurship through fit-for-purpose partnerships
Established in 2022, the ESA Partnership Initiative for Commercialisation (EPIC) is an initiative from the ESA Commercialisation Department that connects corporate, academic and institutional partners with ESA supported startups. EPIC aims to empower entrepreneurship and enhance the commercial cases of European startups by brokering clear synergetic offers.
EPIC reaches into the world’s largest space innovation network: ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs), ESA Technology Brokers and ESA Phi-labNET along with the hundreds of startups supported by them.
Together with EPIC members, the ESA Commercialisation Department and the ESA BICs strive for a diverse space sector underpinned by sustainability and global change.
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Access to insights and customers
The partners of EPIC benefit from access to the growing ESA startup portfolio. By engaging with innovative startups, EPIC partners gain new market insights into the space domain and many other verticals. Early engagement with ESA BIC startups can also lead to the prospective acquisition of new customers when there is a compelling case.
Commercialisation and technical support
ESA startups benefit from exclusive and preferential access to offers of products and services by EPIC partners. Engagement with EPIC partners allow ESA startups to gain new business insights, supply chain partners and commercial opportunities. EPIC partners often accompany the preferential provision of their services and products with dedicated technical support via webinars or one-to-one sessions. On some occasions, EPIC partners also provide C-level mentoring to promising startups on business and technical matters.
Ecosystem growth
EPIC is an initiative connecting EPIC partners and ESA startups to broaden the reach of the innovation ecosystem at large and to diversify the business of space. The existing network of ESA BICs is a at the heart of this community as the main startup supporter at the local level. EPIC builds on the strength of this existing community and strives to further grow the ecosystem.
Events
EPIC is jointly organising various events with EPIC partners for ESA startups. These range from tailored webinars and pitch competitions to networking cocktails or meet and greets at bigger events.
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