The 'SME Instrument' in Horizon 2020 Bruno Castro Project Officer, Executive Agency for SMEs (EASME)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0bxbop8b88&feature=youtu.be
Eligibility criteria
www.ec.europa.eu/research/eic
FTI FTI until end of 2016 a pilot project that will become a fully-fledged programme within EIC as of 01/01/2018. Completely bottom-up, available funding up to 3 mio EUR per project. 2015 2016 Budget in M EUR 100 100 No. of funded projects 46 48
EIC SME Instrument Smart Money Equity Free Funding World-Class Coaching Business Acceleration Services 4.000 top innovators 1,6B EUR
Investor/funding landscape for SMEs seed/start-up Phase 0.1-1 M 2nd big round 1-10 M follow-on 5-20 M private equity 20+ M growth/sales SME instrument cash flow R&D funding death valley
Who are we looking for? SMEs single companies (consortium possible) Established in EU or 'associated countries' Disruptive, innovative idea at demonstration stage Clear ambition to grow at EU/global level Knowledge of the market and of competitors Convincing commercialisation plan ("close to market")
SME Instrument phases _
SME Instrument Phase 1 ca. 6 months Feasibility study + Initial business plan = 50.000 + 3 days coaching
The 3 Project Phases Phase 1 - Concept & Feasibility Assessment 50 000 in EU funding Feasibility study Initial 10 page business proposal to be drafted 6 months in duration
Phase 2 Innovation Project Between 0.5 million and 2.5 million in EU funding. Develop project through innovation strategy Draft a more developed, 30 page business plan 1-2 years in duration
SME Instrument Phase 2 Innovation actions + more developed business plan = 0.5-2.5 Mio. + 12 days coaching 12-24 months
SME Instrument (former)phase 3 EU Quality label Facilitate access to risk finance Networking with Financiers/clients Link to public procurement Training, fairtrades, Parallel to Phase 1&2, no direct financial support
Phase 3 Business Acceleration Services No stand-alone phase! No direct funding Business coaching Facilitate access to risk finance Additional support and networking opportunities Alumni Club
How do we select? Remote Evaluation process + Face-to-face interviews (new!) Min. 4 experts from business development, finance/investor, technology (88% from private sector) Short, standardised feedback Only one application per company allowed for all phases! Full bottom-up selection approach no predefined topics
Evaluation process for Ph1
Evaluation process for Ph2
Scoring and threshold
Pitching process
Evaluation criteria Three criteria: 1. Possible economic impact 2. Excellence in innovation 3. Implementation incl. Sub-contracting in Phase 2 Phase 1 threshold: 13/15, Phase 2 threshold: 12/15 Current success rate: 6-9%!
Evaluation: IMPACT Market opportunity Targeted users Market conditions Impact on growth Alignment with strategy and experience Commercialisation plan European dimension Knowledge protection
Evaluation: EXCELLENCE New market opportunity / EU challenge Breakthrough/disruptive innovation Added value Comparison with existing solutions Consistency with the expected impact Commercial potential Understanding of risks and opportunities
Evaluation: IMPLEMENTATION Convince evaluators that you will make it Credibility of the work plan Right Resources internally Right Partners and stakeholders Team organisation Realistic time frame
Experts: 100% experience in business/industry business development, finance, technology 88% work in private for-profit companies 6% investors (BA, VC, institutional investors) 5% other finance we don t want to mimic an investor process, but we are interested in companies with a good commercialisation strategy
Lessons learnt Unsuccessful proposals were: Too much project-oriented, not enough focus on business opportunity Company profile missing competitive solutions not mentioned (Market situation) not really new to the market, not disruptive (no game changer") Commercialisation concept missing; TRL to low, no innovation
Hints and tips When applying: Look carefully at the programme target Make sure your proposal is balanced and covers all aspects of each evaluation criteria Write to convince evaluators to invest Try a 3 minute pitch Put concrete realistic figures Show market size, market share, sales price, Show 3 years projections of sales volumes, turnover, jobs created Invest in a caching title and a good abstract
Prepare the Grant Agreement Time to Grant: 3-6 months! No negociation! (incl. Subcontracting) The Process is a fully electronic and standardised process Self-assessment of SME status for-profit SMEs established in the EU or associated countries
Once you have signed make your work visible! Proudly display EU support (no flag= no money!) Share your stories with us Connect with us on social media Come to our events Our communication toolkit for you: https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/communication-toolkit
You report we pay!
Some statistics
2690 companies in our portfolio 608 in Phase 2 1.1billion committed 990 million in grants over 500 k
Each 1 SMEI funding matched with 1,44 of private investment * Only disclosed deals, the full amount is potentially much higher
Funded SMEs in numbers Phase 1 2014-2016 Turnover Staff Years trading 1M TO 5M 18% MORE THAN 5M 15% LESS THAN 100k 38% MORE THAN 50 EMPLOYEES 15% UP TO 5 EMPLOYEES 26% MORE THAN 11 YEARS 29% UP TO 3 YEARS 37% 100k TO 1M 29% 11 TO 50 EMPLOYEES 36% 6 TO 10 EMPLOYEES 23% 4 TO 10 YEARS 34%
Funded SMEs in numbers Phase 2 2014-2016 Turnover Staff Years trading 1M TO 5M 21% MORE THAN 5M 18% LESS THAN 100k 29% 11 TO 50 EMPLOYEES 28% MORE THAN 50 EMPLOYEES 10% UP TO 5 EMPLOYEES 43% MORE THAN 11 YEARS 32% UP TO 3 YEARS 26% 100k TO 1M 32% 6 TO 10 EMPLOYEES 19% 4 TO 10 YEARS 42%
Our «selling proposition» Inviting and soliciting potential innovative companies Competition at European level Accompanying activities to improve investor readiness Availability of a feasibility assessment after phase 1 Validated and reproducible solutions (e.g. prototypes, test production) after phase 2 Invitation to co-investment for the full innovation strategy De-risking of private investments
And if you fail...improve and apply again!
Example> INCLISAFE BLACKBOX DESARROLLO TECNOLOGICO AGROINDUSTRIAL EBT SL (ES) Phase 1: February-July 2017 http://www.inclisafe.com
Example> AGRICLOUD AGRICON (DE + HU, LV, PL) Phase 2: May 2016/April 2018 EC Contribution = 0,9M http://www.agricon.de/agricloud/
World-class coaching Online and live matching with: Business partners, including corporates Investors Networking opportunities Participation to trade fairs and innovation events in Europe and overseas (Medica, Cebit, Bio-US and many more) Peer learning Visibility Businnes Support Links to other finance opportunities
New structure and names (EIC Beta)
National Contact Points for SMEs http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/support/national_contact_points.html#c,contact=country/sbg//1/1/0&function_details..function_abbr/sbg/smes/1/1/0&+person.last_name/desc Enterprise Europe Network http://een.ec.europa.eu/about/branches Twitter SME Instrument https://twitter.com/h2020sme EASME website - https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/eic-sme-instrument - https://ec.europa.eu/easme/node/750 - https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/question-sme-instrument IPR Helpdesk https://www.iprhelpdesk.eu/ Questions: EASME-SME-HELPDESK@ec.europa.eu More info
Thank you very much for your attention! @H2020SME http://ec.europa.eu/easme/sme/ Showcases of companies supported by the SME Instrument: http://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/sme-instrument/showcase