EUVC E606 | EUCVC Summit 2025: Thijs Povel, dealflow.eu & Ekke Van Vliet, EIC: Bridging Corporates and Startups in Europe
Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you candid conversations with Europe’s leading founders, corporate leaders, and investors shaping the future of venture collaboration.
In this episode, Thijs Povel, CEO of dealflow.eu, and Ekke Van Vliet, Investment Coordinator at the European Innovation Council (EIC), sit down to discuss one of the biggest challenges in Europe’s venture ecosystem: bridging the gap between corporates and startups.
From EIC’s €10B budget for deep tech to the lessons learned from more than 70 “corporate days,” this session explores what works — and what doesn’t — when building collaboration between Europe’s most innovative startups and its largest corporates.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
00:10 Why startups want scale and corporates want innovation — and why it’s still hard to align.
01:00 Inside dealflow.eu: making EU-funded startups visible and accessible to corporates and investors.
02:00 The EIC’s €10B fund — grants and equity for deep tech across Europe.
03:00 From grants to growth: how EIC supports startups after initial funding.
04:00 Lessons from 70+ corporate days — what works, what fails, and the magic ratio of corporates to startups.
05:00 Why in-person, 1:1 meetings matter — but too many can backfire.
06:00 Tomorrow’s corporate day at TechBBQ — a live case study in matchmaking.
07:00 Why deep tech startups in energy, climate, and healthcare are prime for corporate collaboration.
08:00 What corporates actually get: curated startups, ready-to-scale solutions, and no cost to participate.
09:00 Tomorrow’s 14 featured startups — from solar blinds to healthy air and construction tech.