SAALG and the EIC Accelerator: AI That Reads the Ground

Engineers design tunnels and foundations on estimates of how the ground will behave, and SAALG's EIC project says 9 out of 10 projects run over budget, by 45% on average. SAALG Geomechanics, founded near Barcelona in 2016 by the geotechnical engineers Cristian de Santos and Ignasi Aliguer, sells Daarwin: software that compares monitoring data from a live excavation with the design model and recalibrates the ground parameters with genetic algorithms.

The European Innovation Council granted €1,472,850 towards GEORGIA, a €2.1 million project from November 2022 to October 2024, and the EIC took part in a €3.65 million round led by Acciona in July 2023. The final report describes "a fully operative version of DAARWIN" in the cloud, with more than 6 million historical boreholes loaded. According to eInforma, sales grew 63% in 2024, the company had 23 employees and a negative result, and it is still a micro-enterprise by revenue.

Where SAALG Stands Now

In 2023 SAALG said Daarwin had been used on more than 50 civil engineering, building and mining projects in over 15 countries, and listed Mott MacDonald, HS2, Kajima, Acciona, Bouygues, Balfour Beatty, Ferrovial, Deutsche Bahn, AECOM and WSP among its customers and partners. At the 2023 round it aimed to raise €5 million in total; no further close has been announced. Its blog in 2025 published case studies, including real-time calibration for high-speed rail excavations.

The Technology: Back-Analysis in Real Time

Daarwin was on the market before the EIC award; Cemex Ventures invested in 2018 to help launch its first commercial version, when SAALG estimated savings of "more than 10% of the project cost" in civil works. The EIC project rebuilt it as a cloud-native system with parallel high-performance computing, compatible with commercial geotechnical software, and added a ground information system for historical borehole data.

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

GEORGIA set out to make "interactive design" standard in large infrastructure and building projects, cutting overruns, emissions and accidents. The report shows the platform built and the direct sales and marketplace channels validated. It does not measure cost or emission savings on real projects.

1. Operational cloud platformDeliveredPer final report.
2. Ground information systemDelivered6 million boreholes.
3. Sales channelsValidatedSales +63% in 2024.
4. Measured cost and CO2 savingsNot reportedNo project data.

The Money

The July 2023 round combined a strategic investment from Acciona, EIC Accelerator equity and money from Creand Crèdit Andorrà, which had first invested in 2021. SAALG's share capital was increased in November 2023 to €65,616. Its accounts are filed in Spain; eInforma shows sales growth and a negative 2024 result but not the amounts, and classifies the company as a micro-enterprise by revenue.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

The EIC backed a Spanish engineering software company alongside the Spanish infrastructure group Acciona. The product works and has major contractors as users; it is still a small business.

The Verdict

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