Yerevan, Armenia · Support Organization FAST is a non-profit organization founded in 2017 by Ruben Vardanyan, Noubar Afeyan, and partners, with the mission to build a research and innovation ecosystem in Armenia across AI and data science, advanced materials, biotechnology, and robotics. It has funded over 260 researchers, supported more than 800 entrepreneurs, and backed 35+ startups through grants, acceleration, and a university-linked education-research-commercialisation model.
Milan, Italy · Venture Capital Founded in 2016 by Davide Turco, Elizabeth Tosto, Antonella Grassigli, and Alvise Bonivento, Indaco Venture Partners SGR is Italy's largest independent venture capital management company, with over €350 million in assets under management across six funds. The firm specialises in proprietary-technology companies at Series A and B, with deep expertise in electronics, robotics, medtech, advanced materials, and digital sectors. Notable portfolio companies include Newronika (adaptive deep brain stimulation), Sibylla Biotech, Almawave, and Codasip; exits include Silicon Biosystems and Directa Plus. Indaco's differentiated focus on hardware-intensive and science-driven startups sets it apart from Italy's mostly software-focused VC landscape.
Isafjordur, Iceland · Startup Kerecis is an Icelandic biotech and medical technology company known for developing wound-healing products derived from fish skin. Its work is notable because it turns a locally abundant natural material into a clinically relevant regenerative scaffold used in difficult wound-care cases, including burns, trauma, and chronic ulcers. The biological rationale and manufacturing approach set it apart from software-led health companies: this is a deep life-science and materials business built around research, regulatory rigor, and medical adoption. In the European ecosystem, Kerecis is a useful example of how world-class biotech can emerge from a small geography when the product is grounded in differentiated science and clear clinical utility. It expands the directory's health coverage into advanced materials and tissue regeneration, complementing digital health and wearable platforms without overlapping with them. For the broader startup map, Kerecis shows that high-impact European innovation is not limited to apps or infrastructure, but also includes biologically sophisticated products with global medical significance.
Toruń, Poland · Startup Noctiluca was founded in 2019 in Toruń as a spin-out from Synthex Technologies to commercialise thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitter materials for OLED displays. The company designs and produces next-generation OLED emitters and maintains a commercial presence in Asia and the US. It raised roughly PLN 10M before its 2022 IPO on Poland's NewConnect market and graduated to the main Warsaw Stock Exchange in December 2024.