Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Programme 2007 - 2013 Interreg IVC

Date of latest update: 2025-06-21

Description

Description (EN):

The project consortium consists of 14 partners from 9 Member States with a good mixture of regions with different levels of innovation development. All partners are involved in the development of their own regional innovation policy either as regional government or an intermediate body with full support of the government and therefore they wish developing policies to speed up the process „from Research to Sale“. All the partners have in common the problem that innovation has very often difficulties to gain financial support from public funds. The reasons for that can be found in following points: - The selection criteria for public funds are often too rigid and risk averse - Innovations have difficulties to be “translated” to the public fund managers. Often the “translator” of research and innovation for the public funds are intermediates such as innovation agencies, foundations or universities. Therefore some regions will be represented by two interdependent partners. (E.g. Innovation Agency + regional government.) These twin-partnerships ensure quality and the implementation of the RIPs at the same time. The project’s MAIN OBJECTIVE is to improve regional policies concerning innovation funding in order to achieve the ultimate goal of reducing the (communication) gap between innovation and finance/market/people. Those policies should enable scarce public support to adopt the type of decision making process used by private investors to focus on businesses with the most potential. Secondly the project will work on the acceptance of “translation” methodologies between innovators and regional public finance. The partnership will make use of the knowledge existing in the partner regions to improve the effectiveness of regional policies especially in the area of innovation funding and the “translation” of research to public funds in order to: - select innovative start-ups for seed funding - identify research needs for businesses # identify innovative ideas for the society Sub-OBJECTIVES are: A. Create regional stakeholder networks for the implementation of the measures B. Joint development of RIPs C. Promoting good practices. The project partnership decided to use an action oriented methodology which enables all partners to develop solutions which go beyond good practice exchanges. The project lifetime is divided in 5 interrelated phases and characterised by an intensive interregional exchange. Phase 1: Screening and exchanging good practice within the partnership Phase 2: discussing good practices in a serious of Regional and national stakeholder meetings Phase 3: design of the policies and methodologies in co-operation with the respective experts. Phase 4: Pilot Actions on improved regional policies on innovation funding or methodologies how to translate innovation to finance/market/people Phase 5: Development of the Regional Implementation Plan

Achievements (EN):

The InnoFun project target is to innovate the Innovation Funding. The project discussed in the first working summits the slow selection process for funding as one of the bottlenecks for a successful innovation policy in Europe. Reasons for that slow selection process are: – No culture of pitching in Europe – Public funding only via written application forms – Lack of communication between innovators and finance – Public funds are too rigid and risk averse – Lack of cooperation between public and private funds Thus the InnoFun partnership decided to: • Simplify the communication between innovators and funders in order to improve the effectiveness of the selection process for funding – Clearer application structure – Transparent selection criteria – Use of new technologies for communication • Improve the cooperation between public funds with private investors – to focus on businesses with the most potential. – to enable leverage effects – to cooperate between public and private funds Thus the project partners also develop digital communication tools between innovators and regional public finance in order to close the communication gap between innovators and finance. • Close the communication gap: Digital vs. Paper – Digital Pitching vs. Letter of Interest – Digital Storytelling vs. Application Form – e-Voting vs. Closed selection process Further the partnership works on a closer cooperation between public and private funds in the selection process for funding. The first semester of the project was reserved for Phase 1 (Screening and exchanging good practice within the partnership). The project partners conducted therefore a screening of already existing ways of decision making processes in public funding schemes and how to present and select innovation for funding. Therefore all partners provided an example about decision making processes in public funding schemes from their region. The project partners already started to use digital devices such as „digital tablets“ as a communication tool with the stakeholders. In the second phase all project partners conducted technical talks with all their relevant regional stakeholders in order to develop joint ideas for pilot actions and the regional implementations plans. In that way it can be assured that the project activities will be sustainable even after the project duration. The Component 4 leader PP 7 already started with the preparation of the structure and details for the Pilot Activities for Component 4. The first Pilot Activity should be digital pitching to translate a product idea from an SME to potential investors.

Thematic information

Innovation capacity and awareness-raising SME and entrepreneurship

Partners (14)

Lead Partner: Jihočeská agentura pro podporu inovačního podnikání o.p.s. (JAIP)

Address: Na Zlaté stoce 1619, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic

Legal status: n/a

Méditerranée Technologies

Name: Méditerranée Technologies

Address: 22 rue Sainte Barbe, CS 12018, 132011 Marseilles, France

Legal status: n/a

Tartu Teaduspark

Name: Tartu Teaduspark

Address: Riia 181a, 51014 Tartu, Estonia

Legal status: n/a

Αναπτυξιακή Εταιρεία Λάρνακας

Name: Αναπτυξιακή Εταιρεία Λάρνακας

Address: 2b, Agiou Lazarou, 7040 Voroclini, Cyprus

Legal status: n/a

Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου

Name: Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου

Address: 1 University Avenue, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus

Legal status: n/a

Národná agentúra pre rozvoj malého a stredného podnikania

Name: Národná agentúra pre rozvoj malého a stredného podnikania

Address: Miletičova 23, 821 09 Bratislava, Slovakia

Legal status: n/a

Krajský úřad Jihočeského kraje

Name: Krajský úřad Jihočeského kraje

Address: U Zimního stadionu 1952/2, 370 76 České Budějovice, Czech Republic

Legal status: n/a

Tartu Linnavalitsus

Name: Tartu Linnavalitsus

Address: Raekoda, 50089 Tartu, Estonia

Legal status: n/a

Kemi-Tornion ammattikorkeakoulu

Name: Kemi-Tornion ammattikorkeakoulu

Address: Lumikontie 2, 94600 Kemi, Finland

Legal status: n/a

Vlaamse Overheid , departement Economie, Wetenschap en Innovatie (EWI)

Name: Vlaamse Overheid , departement Economie, Wetenschap en Innovatie (EWI)

Address: Koning Albert II laan 35 box 10, 1030 Brussels, Belgium

Legal status: n/a

iMinds vzw

Name: iMinds vzw

Address: Gaston Crommenlaan 8 b102, 9050 Ghent, Belgium

Legal status: n/a

Opportunity Peterborough

Name: Opportunity Peterborough

Address: Stuart House, Ground floor, Zone 5 St John’s Street, PE1 5DD Peterborough, United Kingdom

Legal status: n/a

Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation

Name: Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation

Address: Parque Tecnologico de San Sebastian, Mikeletegipasealekua, E 200 09 Donostia - San Sebastian, Spain

Legal status: n/a

UK Centre for Economic & Environmental Development (UK CEED)

Name: UK Centre for Economic & Environmental Development (UK CEED)

Address: Eco Innovation Centre, Peterscourt, City Road, PE1 1SA Peterborough, United Kingdom

Legal status: n/a

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

Méditerranée Technologies

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Partners and Projects info

Tartu Teaduspark

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Partners and Projects info

Αναπτυξιακή Εταιρεία Λάρνακας

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Partners and Projects info

University of Cyprus Oceanography Centre

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Partners and Projects info

Národná agentúra pre rozvoj malého a stredného podnikania

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Partners and Projects info

Krajský úřad Jihočeského kraje

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Partners and Projects info

Tartu City Government

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Partners and Projects info

Kemi-Tornion ammattikorkeakoulu

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Partners and Projects info

Vlaamse Overheid , departement Economie, Wetenschap en Innovatie (EWI)

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Partners and Projects info

iMinds vzw

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Partners and Projects info

Jihočeská agentura pro podporu inovačního podnikání o.p.s. (JAIP)

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Partners and Projects info

Opportunity Peterborough

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Partners and Projects info

FUNDACIÓN TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Partners and Projects info

UK Centre for Economic & Environmental Development (UK CEED)

Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Project acronym: InnoFun

Project start date: 2012-01-01

Project end date: 2014-12-31

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 924 123.00

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 1 521 969.20

Co-financing sources:

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2007 - 2013 Interreg IVC

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2015-09-01

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

204 / 204 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

2 250 / 2 250 (100%)

Notes on the data

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Funding Policies to bring Innovation to Finance/market/people

Description

Thematic information

Partners (14)

Partners map

Summary

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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