Horizon 2020 SME Instrument

Transcription

1 Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Stephen Alexander Na;onal Contact Point for Legal & Financial Issues SPRA Conference

2 SME Funding Opportunities under Horizon 2020 (and associated programmes*) Societal Challenges & Industrial Leadership Eurostars * SME Instrument Fast Track to Innova;on Research- Driven Projects Innova;on- Led Projects Near to market R&D Projects Demonstra;on market replica;on Demonstra;on market replica;on 100% Funding 70% Funding 60% Funding 70% Funding 70% Funding Consor;a min 3 partners, 3 countries Consor;a min 3 partners, 3 countries 1 addi;onal non- UK partner Single SME (also groups) 5 from 5 countries, Min. 3 from 3 Value Varies Value Varies Up to 360K Phase 1: 50k Phase 2: m Maximum 3m Prescrip;ve & Thema;c Calls Prescrip;ve & Thema;c Calls BoVom- Up Projects no thema;c focus Thema;c Calls, but flexible projects BoVom- Up Projects no thema;c focus

3 SME Instrument - UK Performance To date.. Currently the UK have a 14% success rate for Phase 1 and 2 (European average 6%) 214 SMEs from 22 countries have been selected under Phase 2 of the SME Instrument sharing more than 294 million 29 UK SMEs have between them secured over 38.5m of this funding placing us in second place amongst Member States beneficng from the programme.

4 What is an SME? To count as an SME, your organisa;on must be engaged in an economic ac;vity and must have: fewer than 250 employees; and an annual turnover of no more than 50 million and/or an annual balance sheet of no more than 43 million. Whether you count as an SME may depend on how you count your workforce, turnover or balance sheet. For more details: hvp://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/files/ sme_defini;on/sme_user_guide_en.pdf

5 SME self-assessment wizard Based on organisational financial data and headcount Shareholders/shareholdings may affect status (non- autonomous) Assessment op;onal and only required if par;cipa;ng in SME specific ac;ons Can t apply for an SME ac;on if en;ty not validated as SME in last 2 years The wizard produces an instant result and summary of data The wizard isn t a model of clarity Typical issues: status expired, no economic ac;vity, applicants leave it too late, applicants believe they are SMEs but aren t! SME defini;on: hvp://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/ files/sme_defini;on/sme_user_guide_en.pdf Beneficiary register user manual: hvp://ec.europa.eu/research/par;cipants/data/ support/manual/urf_sme_wizard_guidance.pdf

6 Phase 1 Grant support of 50,000 (lump sum) + coaching (3 days) Phase 2 Grant of 0.5m 2.5m Demonstration 70% funding + coaching (12 days) Market Replication R&D Project: 6 Months Project: Months Concept & Feasibility Assessment Demonstration, market replication Ideas to Concept Commercialisation Concept to Market-Maturity Market-Maturity to Market Launch Proof of Concept Ø Prove technical & commercial viability Ø Explore IP regime Ø Design Study Ø Develop pilot application Ø Risk assessment Demonstrate Commercial Potential Ø Prototyping Ø Testing Ø Piloting Ø Miniaturisation Ø Scaling-Up Ø Application Development Outcome: Elaborated Business Plan Outcome: Commercialisable Output TRL 1 Phase 3 Risk Finance (Public/ Private) TRL 2 TRL 3 TRL 4 TRL 5 TRL 6 TRL 7 Go-To-Market Ø EU Quality Label Ø Investment Readiness Training Ø SME window in EU financial facilities (Debt & Equity) Ø Link to Public Procurement Networks Outcome: Market Success TRL 8 TRL 9

7 SME Instrument KEY FEATURES Targeted at all types of innova;ve SMEs showing a strong ambi;on to grow (and to develop and interna;onalize) Only for profit SMEs allowed to apply for funding (single company support, but collabora;on is certainly advisable) Compe;;ve, EU dimension - only the best ideas pass Market- oriented, close- to- market ac;vi;es (TRL 6): 70% co- funding You can enter at Phase 1 or 2 Embedded in societal challenges and key enabling technologies Time to grant*: 400 days in > 150 days in For example those who submived in June and were successful started their projects end of September early October.

8 TRL Levels and the SME Instrument EUREKA, Eurostars SME, FTI

9 Specific Calls BG : Suppor;ng SMEs efforts for the development - deployment and market replica;on of innova;ve solu;ons for blue growth BIOTEC- 5b : SME boos;ng biotechnology- based industrial processes driving compe;;veness and sustainability DRS : Cri;cal infrastructure protec;on topic 7: SME instrument topic: Protec;on of Urban sou targets and cri;cal infrastructures ICT : Open Disrup;ve Innova;on Scheme (implemented through the SME instrument) INSO : SME business model innova;on INSO : Innova;ve mobile e- government applica;ons by SMEs IT : Small business innova;on research for Transport NMP : Accelera;ng the uptake of nanotechnologies, advanced materials or advanced manufacturing and processing technologies by SMEs PHC : Clinical research for the valida;on of biomarkers and/or diagnos;c medical devices SC : Boos;ng the poten;al of small businesses for eco- innova;on and a sustainable supply of raw materials SFS : Resource- efficient eco- innova;ve food produc;on and processing SIE : S;mula;ng the innova;on poten;al of SMEs for a low carbon energy system Space- SME : SME Instrument Calls con;nuously open, with 4 cutoffs per year

10 Informa;on sources General informa;on, submission templates hvp://ec.europa.eu/research/par;cipants/docs/h2020- funding- guide/cross- cucng- issues/sme_en.htm Background and calls: hvp://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/horizons sme- instrument FAQ: hvp://ec.europa.eu/research/par;cipants/portal/desktop/ en/support/faq.html#f16

11 Lessons learned so- far Most of the non- selected proposals were: Too much focused on the product/technology and not enough on the business opportunity; Not convincing when describing the company (you have to explain why your company will succeed and not your compe;tor); Not providing enough informa;on on compe;ng solu;ons; Having a too- low level of innova;on, planning to develop a product that already exists on the market; Proposing just an idea without any concept for its commercialisa;on; Just trying their luck (the SME Instrument is not a lovery!); Majority of successful Phase 1 projects from SMEs established for 4 years or more and with 6 or more staff.

12 Resubmit or not? Projects can be resubmived But, you may only have one concurrent submission or ac;ve project Many rejected projects come from university spin- offs and start- ups with livle business exper;se Reflec;ng on a rejec;on helps SMEs to rethink their strategy and focus more on the business aspects of their project. ResubmiVed proposals are at least twice as successful.

13 Support available Knowledge Transfer Network: thema;c exper;se and knowledge, collabora;on and networking opportuni;es ( uk.co.uk) Enterprise Europe Network: basic and general informa;on on Horizon 2020, coaching for the SME Instrument, local presence, interna;onal networking and collabora;on ( europe.net) Na;onal Contact Points: specific informa;on and support to Horizon 2020 applicants ( 13

14 NCP support Feedback to/from EC on work programmes Clarifica;on of documenta;on and rules Guidance on choosing thema;c priori;es and instruments Scope queries with Project Officers Advice on administra;ve procedures and contractual issues Support with the applica;on process (workshops and ) Feedback on drau proposals Assistance with partner search through network support (EEN and KTN) Feedback on results 14

15 Contact details Dr Jane Watkins UK Horizon 2020 Na;onal Contact Point for SMEs NCP- IF YOU WISH TO BE KEPT INFORMED ABOUT EUROPEAN HORIZON 2020 FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES PLEASE REGISTER YOUR INTEREST ON

16 Contact For further informa;on on H2020 and on the rules for par;cipa;on Stephen Alexander NCP- Phone: