SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS PARTICIPATES IN MPOWERBIO, A PROJECT TO HELP SMES OVERCOME THE VALLEY OF DEATH
• THE BBI JU, UNDER THE EUROPEAN UNION’S HORIZON 2020 RESEARCH AND INNOVATION PROGRAMME, HAS GRANTED SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS WITH €88,000 IN FUNDING OF A TOTAL AMOUNT OF €1.5 MILLION.
• SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS HAS BEEN AWARDED THE CAPACITY BUILDING AND BUSINESS SUPPORT ACTIVITIES OF THIS PROJECT.
Madrid, 13 May 2020 – SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS has been awarded with the capacity building and business support activities of a new project, MPowerBIO, by the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
Together with other nine partners from nine different countries, SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS will work for 30 months to engage, train and empower bio-based European clusters to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) overcome the difficult task of finding sufficient investment to get from idea to business, the so called valley of death.
SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS’ main responsibilities will be to develop the capacity building programme and online training courses, to engage associated clusters, SMEs and projects, to assess the investment readiness of the engaged SMEs, and to provide business support services.
“We are very excited to contribute to MPowerBIO with our expertise in capacity building and business strategy”, said Mr. Jesús Serrano, SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS Deputy General Manager. “We already have great experience in developing training programmes, such as the Green Leaders of Tomorrow, and this is a great opportunity to take them to the next level”.
Overcoming the valley of death
Many SMEs experience that, even though they have a good idea or a good product, they cannot get funds or investment. They need to be able to pitch their idea perfectly, to the right investors and at the right time. MPowerBIO aims to help them by developing an online platform containing digital tools for evaluating investment readiness. It will also create a set of online training modules to build the capacity of clusters to train their SME members and give them the best possibilities for preparing and presenting high quality projects to investors.
In addition, 10 Train-the-trainer events will be organised for a total of 90 clusters across the bioeconomy, covering most of Europe. The best SME projects from these events will be selected and invited to one of two European final events, where they will have the chance to present their ideas to a panel of investors and experts from large organisations and venture funds in Europe.
In total, the project is expected to screen and support 350 SMEs, of which 72 are expected to pitch at the two final events.