The Slovenian winners of the funds are event management company ID.Conference, engineering and consultancy company Zorn Plus and environmental technology company Envit.

Their projects belong to a total of 283 innovative projects which have been awarded a total of EUR 173m as part of an instrument for small and medium-sized enterprises and the Fast Track to Innovation instrument.

Both instruments are part of a EUR 2.7bn pilot project of the European Innovation Council (EIC), which takes place between 2018 and 2020 as part of the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, the European Commission said.

The EIC has so far supported a total of EUR 1,276 projects with a total of EUR 731.15m.

In Horizon Europe, the planned seven-year EU scientific research initiative, the European Commission has proposed continuation of the pilot scheme with the establishment of a fully-functional EIC, which would provide all services in one place for breakthrough technologies with high potential and for innovative companies with growth potential.