Welcome to the third D2XCEL newsletter!

Dear programme follower,

At D2XCEL, we’ve had an exhilarating summer, balancing well-deserved vacations with the exciting work of evaluating applications, fine-tuning our mentoring services, and planning impactful events for Cohort 1. It's been a season of strategic planning, networking, and collaboration—all aimed at supporting our selected companies.

On September 3-4, we gathered in Essen, Germany, for our second consortium meeting, hosted by our partner BRYCK. A highlight of the event was an inspiring visit to the Zeche Zollverein, the world’s largest coal mine and now a UNESCO heritage site, where we explored the powerful lessons of transitioning to sustainable energy. 

Cohort 1 Selected Companies 

In September we were thrilled to announce and onboard the 50 selected ventures for Cohort 1 distributed equally in five market opportunities:

Logistics | Sustainable Freight Transportation| Large-scale Stationary Energy Storage| Sustainable & Circular Construction| AI-powered Digital Services for Smart Cities

The total funding raised by these ventures in the past 5 years amounts to

€157 421 216! 

Congratulations on their dedication, determination, and outstanding presentations!

We eagerly anticipate their development through the mentoring and scaling services that D2XCEL offers!

More information on the companies is available at the D2XCEL website/Network page:

-> Select a Market Opportunity

-> Select Portfolio Ventures

D2XCEL Mentoring Services

The Cohort 1 kick-off meeting commenced on September 12th onboarding all 50 selected companies.

In the next six months, they will undergo an extensive 360°menotring covering:

➡Individual mentoring by our esteemed mentors who will work in pairs with each venture, helping them identify and overcome their specific business challenges.

To find out who they are, visit our LinkedIn post here.

➡Special topic mentoring per cohort on topics like Founder team & Recruitment, Internationalization & Go-To-Market, Fundraising & Pitching, IPR portfolios, and more by our supporting network partners listed below.

➡On-demand individual consultations by network experts

We look forward to supporting the ventures through this exciting journey so they can scale and transform their business sectors!

Network Updates

D2XCEL stakeholders keep growing! 

We are delighted to have attracted some of the leading investors, lead customers, mentors, and network partners from 26 countries!

If you want to be part of D2XCEL’s exclusive community and get early access to top-performing ventures and other stakeholders, express your interest through the form.

We are grateful to our Selection Panel committees!

Our selection panel members were crucial in evaluating and selecting the best applicants. A heartfelt thank you to all who took part!

To find out who they are, check out our social media posts with panel members for each group:

Logistics

Sustainable Freight Transportation

Large-scale Stationary Energy Storage

Sustainable and Circular Construction

AI-powered Digital Services for Smart Cities

Follow our website and social channels updates for more news!

Open Call 2

D2XCEL Open Call 2 starts on October 1st, 2024!

Yes, you read it right! We just kicked off our first cohort and we are already speeding up with the second round to find another top 50 ventures. This time we will focus on: 

1. Supply Chain Management & Trade Finance
2. Sustainable Mobility
3. Renewable Energy Production
4. Circular Models for Cities/Regions
5. AI Powered Utility Management for Sustainable & Smart Cities. 

Watch for updates on our website and social channels.

Industry news

We like to keep an ear on the interesting news related to consortium partners, D2XCEL network stakeholders, and sister projects funded by the EU.

Here are a few worth mentioning:

Pascal Ollivier, CEO of maritime street and Chairman of the IAPH Data Collaboration Committee, will speak on ''Digitalization of Africa Ports'' along with the World Bank and Royal Haskoning at the IAPH World Ports Conference 2024 hosted by Hamburg Port Authority, on October 8-10. As a key member of the D2XCEL consortium, maritime street is at the forefront of driving innovation in the maritime and logistics sectors.

EmpoWomen, our sister project, has seen 11 startups from Cohort 1 complete the first phase of the acceleration program and now advance to the second stage, led by Business Angels Europe.

➡ Final Demo Day at SLUSH, Helsinki, on November 19.  
➡ Hear from these inspiring women-led deep-tech startups on the EmpoWomen podcast and website.  
➡ 2nd Open Call for women-led startups launches on October 1, welcoming 14 more deep-tech companies.  
➡ Evaluators’ Open Call runs from September 18 to November 18.

Nine Realms, a D2XCEL stakeholder, has secured a €50 million commitment from the European Investment Fund (EIF) to decarbonize the supply chain sector.

➡ The investment aims to support early-stage companies focused on reducing the environmental footprint of global supply chains, which can account for up to 90% of a consumer product’s footprint.
➡ Despite Europe being home to over 50% of large logistics companies, it only accounts for 5% of global logistics venture funding, while representing 13% of overall venture capital.

Enjoy the busy Autumn season and stay tuned!

Thank you, 

The D2XCEL team

This project has received funding from the European Union under grant agreement Nº101121100. Views and opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. 

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