Tech & Research-Based Innovations
A8 is a strategic R&D actor and business champion that specialises in commercialising research-based innovations.
In particular, we focus on technologies born and developed in European Research Council (ERC), European Innovation Council (EIC) and European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) funded research.
We work mostly within the life sciences and engineering domains, with deep tech as a technological focus area. Above all, we are interested in working with innovators that can contribute to develop sustainable & green solutions.
Are you an academic researcher aiming to enhance your entrepreneurial skills, market insights, and industry connections to commercialise your technology?
Or are you an innovative enterprise seeking to integrate cutting-edge academic ideas into your offerings?
Venture Alliances, an EU-funded project where we serve as a consortium business partner, offers a residency program that fosters hands-on collaboration between academic professionals and industry leaders. This program merges the theoretical expertise of researchers with the practical knowledge and experience of seasoned entrepreneurs. We provide comprehensive tools, guidance, and opportunities for investor pitches throughout the program. Our ultimate goal is to facilitate the creation of new joint ventures or collaborative R&D projects.
Antti Heikkilä
We can work with you to prepare the proposal. We also partner with eligible ERC PoC projects to identify the use case and mature the business idea. In EIC Transition projects, we can join the consortium and take on the role of ‘business champion’ to elevate technology, business and funding readiness, while managing communication & dissemination requirements.
A8 and the Weizmann Institute of Science have received European Innovation Council funding to demonstrate an innovative, safe and cost-effective cancer radiotherapy approach based on electrons at high energies. Prof. Victor Malka’s team at the Department of Physics of Complex Systems have found a way to routinely generate focused, highly energetic electron beams by compact laser plasma accelerators in the ideal energy range for the treatment of tumours located deep within the body (such as prostate or lung cancer).
The final aim is to create a compact and affordable radiotherapy instrument, with lower irradiation effects on the adjacent healthy tissues and organs. A8 has been tasked with managing the commercialisation of the technology. During the coming years, we will work towards demonstrating commercial feasibility, enhancing acceptance among key stakeholders and improving investment readiness.
Roots in a demanding research environment
Antti, our CEO, started his journey at CERN in Geneva, where his mission was to get industry to attend to the R&D efforts of the Large Hadron Collider. He suddenly realized that in such a multicultural environment, one needs to build externally funded projects in order to enable intersectoral development efforts whilst avoiding political conflicts. This eventually led to the establishment of a number of challenging multi-million euro projects with partners in a number of countries, representing research organisations, universities, SMEs and large corporations.
Addressing ‘no ownership’ challenge in tech transfer
Being entrepreneurial minded, Antti aspired to achieve more out of these one-off projects. Then, Tuomo came along, and after a while, the two of them understood the real gap in the commercialisation of disruptive innovations in Europe – All the current players wanted to play on their own turf without any real risk taking capacity. The solution? A strong multi-skilled external team supporting researchers wanting to commercialise their innovations. Also, they quickly figured out that money is not a major motivator for any one of the stakeholders involved. They then recognised that there is a need to fix these shortcomings and create a venture builder that does not count on having the researcher trained as an entrepreneur, and facilitates direct market access through real-life pilots and R&D collaborations.
It’s a long journey, but we’re getting there
Now, years later, we have worked with over a hundred researchers, gaining expertise on all the steps involved in the long journey towards market introduction, growth and exits. Finally, we have arrived at a phase where we have started a more sustainable effort aiming at serving tens of cases yearly and creating 100-200 companies during the next ten years.
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