Nowi and the EIC Accelerator: Selected, Then Sold to Nexperia

Nowi, founded in Delft in 2016 by Simon van der Jagt and Omar Link, designed power management chips that harvest energy from light, vibration, radio waves or heat to run low-power devices such as wearables, remote controls and wireless sensors without battery changes. It was selected at the EIC Accelerator cut-off of 15 June 2022 for NH-A, described as "a novel integrated energy harvesting and power management circuit" to enable self-sustaining low-power applications, according to the EIC's list of beneficiaries.

On 11 November 2022 the Dutch chipmaker Nexperia, owned by China's Wingtech, announced it had acquired Nowi for an undisclosed sum. In May 2023 the Dutch government decided to review the deal retroactively under a new foreign investment screening regime, and in November 2023 the economy minister said there were "no legal objections", TechStartups reported. CORDIS, which lists signed Horizon Europe grants, has no EIC project for Nowi, so there is no public record that its grant agreement was signed or that any EU money was paid. In September 2025 the Dutch government invoked its Goods Availability Act to take control of Nexperia, CNBC reported.

What Happened to Nowi

Nexperia said the deal would let Nowi's products ship in higher volumes using its manufacturing and sales network. Nowi's CEO said at the time that access to a large manufacturer's "fabrication, sales, and marketing infrastructure" would bring products to market faster, according to Silicon Canals. Nexperia now presents energy harvesting chips as its own product line, and Nowi's former social media account now carries the name "Nexperia Energy Harvesting". The Dutch economy ministry said it acted on Nexperia "to prevent a situation in which the goods produced by Nexperia ... would become unavailable in an emergency", CNBC reported.

The Technology: Power Without Batteries

Nowi's chips manage the tiny amounts of power that can be harvested from the environment and deliver it to low-power electronics. In 2021 its NH2 chip was named a CES Innovation Awards honoree; Nowi described it as combining the smallest bill of materials of any energy harvesting chip with the highest average harvesting efficiency, according to a company release. TechStartups reported that Nowi held eight patents when it was sold.

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

The award was meant to support NH-A, an integrated harvesting and power management circuit. With no project on CORDIS, there is no public work plan, budget, report or result to compare against. Other companies from the same cut-off started their EIC projects between August 2022 and mid-2023; Nowi was sold in November 2022, and its technology continued inside Nexperia.

1. EIC selectionSelectedJune 2022 cut-off.
2. EIC grant signedNo recordNot on CORDIS.
3. NH-A developmentUnknownNow inside Nexperia.
4. Independent European companyEndedSold to Chinese-owned group.

The Money

The price Nexperia paid was not disclosed. Whether the EIC paid any money to Nowi before or after the sale is not public; CORDIS records no EU contribution.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

The EIC selected Nowi as a European deep tech company worth backing. Within months it belonged to a Chinese-owned group, and three years later the Dutch government judged that group's control of Nexperia serious enough to intervene; for the Nowi sale itself, the economy minister had found "no legal objections" in 2023. Nowi's case shows how quickly EIC-selected technology can change hands.

The Verdict

Nowi, Nexperia and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.