Ellis

What Ellis does

ELLIS (European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems) is a pan-European non-profit AI research network founded in 2019 and headquartered in Tübingen, Germany (registered as ELLIS Society e.V.). The organization coordinates machine learning and AI research across a distributed federation of 47 sites in 19 countries, connecting nearly 2,000 members including 560 Fellows & Scholars and 500+ PhD students and postdocs. Its core programmatic offerings are the ELLIS PhD & Postdoc Program (with mandatory joint supervision across institutions and international exchanges), the ELLIS Sites network (regional AI research hubs hosted at institutions such as ETH Zurich, University of Oxford, University of Tübingen, and Instituto Superior Técnico Lisbon), and 16 cross-border ELLIS Programs focused on theoretical foundations, algorithms, and applied domains including health, NLP, computer vision, and robotics. Notable technical outputs include EuroLLM-22B, a 22-billion-parameter open-source Large Language Model supporting all 24 official EU languages, demonstrating sovereign European AI development capability.

ELLIS does not sell commercial products or services; all programs and membership are free for eligible researchers. Revenue is sourced from institutional grants and partnerships, principally from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (which hosts the headquarters) and the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg, with G-Research added as the first major private-sector partner in 2026 funding 36 PhD researchers through 2028. Additional strategic partners include the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) for AI-driven life sciences and the Max Planck Artificial Intelligence Network (MP-AIX) for doctoral training. The organization is governed by a Board led by President Serge Belongie (University of Copenhagen), Vice President Nuria Oliver (ELLIS Alicante), and Board Member Florence d'Alché-Buc (Télécom Paris), with co-founder Bernhard Schölkopf having transitioned from President to ELLIS Fellow.

ELLIS distributes its programs and community building through a website portal, the ELLIS Edge monthly newsletter (7,000+ subscribers), a dedicated academic jobs newsletter, social channels (X, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Facebook), and a calendar of decentralized events including the Pre-NeurIPS Fest (19 sites in 2025), Pre-ICML Fest, the ELLIS Doctoral Symposium (Lisbon 2026, capped at 200 participants), and summer schools in Lisbon and Cambridge. Members produced 804 papers at NeurIPS 2025 (12.9% of proceedings), 449 at ICML 2025, and 520 at ICLR 2025, and 217 members hold ERC grants. The organization positions itself as Europe's institutional counterweight to US and Chinese AI dominance, with expansion to seven new Units in 2026 and ELLIS Institute Finland providing access to the LUMI supercomputer.

Name

Ellis

Legal name

ELLIS Society e.V.

Website

https://ellis.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

ELLIS is a pan-European non-profit AI research network connecting nearly 2,000 members across 47 sites in 19 countries through its PhD & Postdoc Program, cross-border research Programs, and Site network, coordinating Europe's top machine learning talent and producing sovereign AI artifacts like EuroLLM-22B.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Tübingen

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. PhD & Postdoc Program Support: ELLIS operates as a non-profit association (ELLIS Society e.V.) funded primarily through institutional support. The organization receives funding from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg. Private sector partnerships, such as G-Research's scholarship funding for PhD students (2026-2028), represent emerging revenue streams.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ELLIS is a pan-European AI research network of excellence that connects leading machine learning and AI researchers across 47 sites in 19 countries through membership programs, the ELLIS PhD & Postdoc Program (with joint supervision and international exchanges), 16 cross-border research Programs, and networking events such as the ELLIS Doctoral Symposium, Summer Schools, and Pre-NeurIPS/ICML Fests. The network produces open research output including the EuroLLM-22B sovereign European LLM, supports AI talent development, and fosters cross-border scientific collaboration to secure Europe's lasting international leadership in AI.

Product overview

ELLIS (European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems) is a pan-European AI research network of excellence built upon machine learning as the driver for modern AI. Rather than a traditional software product company, ELLIS offers a portfolio of research programs and services including the ELLIS PhD & Postdoc Program for talent development, a network of 47 ELLIS Sites serving as local research hubs across 19 countries, 16 cross-border ELLIS Programs advancing theoretical and applied AI research, and networking events such as the ELLIS Doctoral Symposium, ELLIS Pre-NeurIPS Fest, and ELLIS Sites ICML Fest. The network connects nearly 2,000 members and 560 Fellows & Scholars who publish extensively at top venues including NeurIPS (804 papers in 2025), ICML (449 papers), and ICLR (520 papers). ELLIS contributes to open AI development including the EuroLLM-22B language model.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ELLIS PhD & Postdoc Program International graduate and postdoctoral program pairing outstanding students with leading researchers across Europe in machine learning and AI, offering joint supervision (with secondary advisors at different institutions), international research exchanges, and a vibrant research community. Over 500 students and postdocs participate.
• ELLIS Sites Network A network of 47 distributed research hubs across 19 European countries, implemented through partner institutions such as ETH AI Center, University of Oxford, Instituto Superior Técnico Lisbon, and Tübingen AI Center. Each Site serves as a local center of excellence for AI research collaboration, hosting activities, events, and job postings.
• ELLIS Programs 16 cross-border research programs led by ELLIS Fellows and Scholars, focusing on advancing AI through theoretical foundations, algorithms, and applications across areas such as health, climate, computer vision, NLP, robotics, and AI for science.
• EuroLLM-22B A fully open 22-billion-parameter Large Language Model supporting all 24 official EU languages, developed with ELLIS Member contributions to demonstrate Europe's sovereign AI development capability.

Quantifiable outcome

• 804 papers accepted at NeurIPS 2025 (12.9% of conference proceedings)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability11 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025ELLIS formalized a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EMBL in 2025 to drive AI-driven discovery in the life sciences. The partnership was signed by Edith Heard (EMBL) and Bernhard Schoelkopf (ELLIS) in Brussels. This interdisciplinary collaboration combines ELLIS's machine learning expertise with EMBL's life sciences research infrastructure.
• Max Planck Artificial Intelligence Network (MP-AIX)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025ELLIS established a partnership with MP-AIX in 2025 to expand doctoral training opportunities. The collaboration leverages the Max Planck AI network's resources and expertise to enhance ELLIS's PhD and postdoctoral training programs.
• Instituto Superior Técnico (IST)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020IST serves as the primary host institution for ELLIS Unit Lisbon. The partnership enables research collaboration in Human-Interacting Responsible AI and Natural Language Processing, with IST researchers leading Unit leadership including Mário A. T. Figueiredo as Unit Director.
• ETH ZurichcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020ETH Zurich hosts ELLIS Unit Zurich through its ETH AI Center, bringing together researchers across all university departments for AI foundations, applications, and implications research. Andreas Krause leads as the Unit's primary contact.
• University of OxfordcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020University of Oxford hosts ELLIS Unit Oxford, building on Oxford's strengths in computational, mathematical, and statistical foundations of ML/AI. The unit expanded in 2026 to include University of Warwick and Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford.
• Tübingen AI Center (TÜ.AI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020The Tübingen AI Center implements ELLIS Unit Tübingen and ELLIS Institute Tübingen, combining researchers from University of Tübingen and Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. It is permanently funded as one of Germany's six national AI centers.
• WASP – Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwedish national graduate school program partnering with ELLIS. PhD positions at Linköping University are part of WASP, which funds AI research across Sweden.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ELLISforEurope
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/ELLISforEurope
• Facebookfacebook.com/ELLISforEurope
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ellisforeurope

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Ellis