A pitching event facilitated by the European Innovation Counsel organized by MAN Truck & Bus is breaking new ground bringing together 18 international top-tier start-ups working in the fields of electric mobility, connected transportation, and intelligent supply chains, the Munich-based manufacturer intends to find and foster innovative concepts for its own business. As part of the event, MAN looked for fresh ideas it can integrate into its existing product, service, and process portfolio or include in the development of new business models.
The first startup pitch event (EIC Corporate Day) took place at the MAN Truck Forum in Munich this Tuesday, March 19, 2019, in cooperation with the European Innovation Council (EIC).
Christoph Herr, Senior Vice President Strategy & Product Management at MAN Truck & Bus, believes this meeting of founders and MAN experts presents a major opportunity: “As far as we are concerned, startups are important partners. We believe that flexible, creative startups can give a major boost to the innovativeness of a big company like MAN and want to find an effective way of working together with them. We have already put this idea into practice with very successful results as part of our CitE truck project and could really imagine being the partner of innovative entrepreneurs more often.”
85 startups from the whole of Europe had applied to take part in the Munich event. 18 of them were specifically chosen to present their ideas in front of 150 leading MAN employees and Group partners.
Jesper Boie Rasmussen, Chief Executive Officer at Nerve Smart Systems says about presenting for MAN Truck & Bus “It was exciting to pitch our thoughts on how to improve e-mobility with our technology to MAN and EIC. We also had a great 1:2:1 meeting with a more in-depth conversation on how our Nerve Switch® technology can add value to MAN Truck & Bus. We are looking forward to elaborating on future business opportunities and see where it will take us”.
The EIC Corporate Day forms part of the SME Instrument Business Acceleration Services, which are provided on behalf of the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME). This institution was set up by the European Commission to manage several EU programs in the fields of SME support & innovation, environment, climate action, and energy on its behalf. The SME Instrument is part of the European Innovation Council pilot (EIC pilot) that aims to support top-class innovators, entrepreneurs, small companies, and scientists with bright ideas. In this respect, the SME Instrument’s main focus is on innovations that have the potential to create new markets and jobs, generate growth, and facilitate a higher standard of living.
