All you need to know about the European Innovation Council's SME Instrument. The European Union's funding and support scheme for very innovative small businesses.
4. Submission of Proposals
Remote Evaluation
Ranking of Proposals
Interview
Grant Agreement
SME Instrument: The new evaluation process
5. Submission of Proposals
Remote Evaluation
Ranking of Proposals
Interview
Grant Agreement
SME Instrument: The new evaluation process
6. Jury Interview
Six Juries composed of at least 5 experts
Panel Review
All experts from all juries
Jury briefing Interview of
Applicants
Jury debriefing Agreement on the list
of projects proposed
for funding
15' 30' 15'
Interviews: How are they organised?
10. Preliminary Juries Distribution: Jury IV
Nanotechnology,
Advanced Materials,
Manufacturing and
Engineering
Space
Construction &
Transport
Security, e.g. drones
Submission of Proposals: more than 2000 proposals per evaluation round (four per year)
Remote Evaluation: Performed by four expert-evaluators per proposal
Ranking of Proposals: Highest-scoring proposals (+/- 120) invited to the interview
Interview: Jury of 6 panels with 5-6 experts & published pitch deck
Grant Agreement: Selected companies invited for Grant Agreement preparation
Submission of Proposals: more than 2000 proposals per evaluation round (four per year)
Remote Evaluation: Performed by four expert-evaluators per proposal
Ranking of Proposals: Highest-scoring proposals (+/- 120) invited to the interview
Interview: Jury of 6 panels with 5-6 experts & published pitch deck
Grant Agreement: Selected companies invited for Grant Agreement preparation
Jury Briefing: Lead reviewer briefs the jury about the proposal and remote evaluation
Interview of Applicants: 10' pitching followed by 20' Q&As
Jury debriefing: Deliberation & attribution of a preliminary mark
– A (Proposed for funding) or B (Not proposed for funding) -
Proposals & experts allocated to juries based on sectoral information provided (i.e. keywords)
Aim at even distribution of proposals across juries
Sectors are combined in juries considering overlap and complementarity in sectors
Proposals & experts allocated to juries based on sectoral information provided (i.e. keywords)
Aim at even distribution of proposals across juries
Sectors are combined in juries considering overlap and complementarity in sectors
Proposals & experts allocated to juries based on sectoral information provided (i.e. keywords)
Aim at even distribution of proposals across juries
Sectors are combined in juries considering overlap and complementarity in sectors
Proposals & experts allocated to juries based on sectoral information provided (i.e. keywords)
Aim at even distribution of proposals across juries
Sectors are combined in juries considering overlap and complementarity in sectors
Proposals & experts allocated to juries based on sectoral information provided (i.e. keywords)
Aim at even distribution of proposals across juries
Sectors are combined in juries considering overlap and complementarity in sectors
Proposals & experts allocated to juries based on sectoral information provided (i.e. keywords)
Aim at even distribution of proposals across juries
Sectors are combined in juries considering overlap and complementarity in sectors
Publication of names foreseen for January 2018
3018 companies in our portfolio
859 in Phase 2
€1.3 billion committed
€1.2 billion in grants over €500k
5% - 8% success rate
Status 1 December 2017
€697 M Invested in 119 SMEI companies
Status 1 July 2017
18 exits since 2014 (12 acquisitions and 6 IPOs)
11 new exits in 2017 (8 acquisitions and 3 IPOs)
€250 million private equity funding in 2017 (out of €697M in total)
Status 1 July 2017
€1 billion in total
Ada Health,
Phase 2 in July 2015 2.4M€
the AI-driven app which works a little like an ‘Alexa for health’, has raised a 40M€ funding round in October 2017
Website: ada.com
Phase 1 October 2014
Phase 2 August 2015 1.6 M€
Established in 2010 and since grown to be one of the world's largest providers of graphene
The grant was used to build a new pilot plant, which multiplied the production capacity by 20
http://www.graphenea.com
Phase 2 November 2015: 2M€ grant
Company founded in 2009
The innovation reduces the capital expenditures for the mirror field of solar thermal power plants by 55 %. The solar power plant was inaugurated on 23 June 2017 in Albacete in Spain.
Website: heliovis.com
MANTEX, Sweden: bio-energy thanks to innovative biomass scanner.
In 2014, Mantex experienced cash-flow issues and private investors pulled out. With the €1.6 million SME Instrument grant, Mantex managed to restructure using the funding as a bridge and rebuilt value with this project.
In May 2017, MANTEX successfully lists on NASDAQ First North
Oy Skeleton Technologies, Estonia:
building the largest ultra-capacitor factory in Europe.
Skeleton Technologies got a grant of € 2.5 million in 2015. Since then it raised a Series B of €10 million in 2015 and a Series C of €13 million in 2016. This year it received an EFSI-backed EIB financing of €15 million and opened in Germany the largest ultracapacitor factory in Europe. This plant will create 50 new jobs by 2019.
Smart biopsy tool for real-time characterisation of cancerous cell in breast biopsy
The company was hesitating whether to exploit the European or the US market, and was trying to acquire financial support on both sides. The SME instrument grant of €3 million led them to prioritise the European market over the US market. The company raised since a Series B of 12 M€ in 2017
Disrupt 100 – Ultrahaptics named one of the most disruptive tech companies.
Ultrahaptics received a Phase 2 grant of € 1.5 million in 2015. It is the first and only company in the world to create a novel haptic feedback system that allows users to feel sensations in their bare hands while interacting in mid-air with a touchless sensing system.
The company announced in May 2017 that it had secured £17.9 million in a Series B round
http://2017.disrupt100.com/
Objective:
- Increasing industrial participation in Horizon 2020 through close-to-market, innovative projects
- Stimulating private investment in research and innovation
- Co-creation and open innovation
Conditions:
100 M € per year
Max. Project size 3 M €; no topic limitation
Consortia of max. 5 partners with strong industry participation (at least 60%)
Market launch within 3 years after project start