VTT supports SMEs to participate EU SME projects VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Jari Uotila 13.11.2013 21/11/2013 2 Työllisten määrän muutos erikokoisissa yrityksissä vuosina 2001 2011 1
21/11/2013 3 The European research and innovation projects will be funded in the years 2014-2020 Budget ~ 70 billion First calls will be in 11.12.13 (11 December 2013) 21/11/2013 4 Why SMEs should participate EU projects Low-risk way to start the internationalization Finding new international and domestic partners! Creating cooperation networks To find new international customers Possibility to evaluate new partners The opportunity to develop your own practices and technology Access to the latest information on state-of-art technology Very high level of financial support 2
21/11/2013 5 General concepts and ideas in EU research projects (SME) It s so bureaucratic An important and interesting, but we do not have the resources We have to invest in significantly YES, BUT VTT ASSIST Only coordinator reports to the Commission companies need a minimum of a half-page description of the company and the contact persons and also definitely plan the exploitation of the project A MAJOR PART OF THE FINANCING IN THE BEGINNING The Commission will pay a significant amount of the financing in advance THIS JUST WHAT THIS INSTRUMENT IS FOR Another way to think: I can get more resources to develop my product / process / technology The money will go before the coming of the results YES, BUT IT'S YOUR PROJECT The Commission shall pay, in principle, what goes in "cash" out of the company They produce a paper NO, BUT GROWTH OF YOUR BUSINESS Nowadays emphasis on the results: Project has to create a new industrial and commercial product/processor industrial pilot 21/11/2013 6 Financing instrument dedicated to SMEs ( SME instrument ) A good way for SMEs to internationalize, renew and develop their business With EU funding SMEs will develop new products and services together with research institutes like VTT. SMEs subcontract the R&D work to research organizations like VTT, and EU is financing this R&D via SMEs. VTT's role: ~20 SME projects in progress VTT has been involved in ~ 100 SME-project preparations since 2007 (in last call ~ 40 proposals; Nov 2012) 3
21/11/2013 7 VTT s role in FP7 (21.6.2013) ~22 % of confirmed FP7 funding has been provided for VTT in Finland, which is so far the most active Finnish participant in the FP7. VTT also often serves as the coordinator and pull the Finnish companies with projects on. VTT has been involved in 356 projects, with 268 Finnish participants. VTT has been the coordinator in 48 projects, and there have been 69 other Finnish participants. First time it may be easier to participate in the project together with the experienced Finnish coordinator. VTT's business model and collaborative networks have played a key role in a number of Finnish companies in the FP7. http://www.tekes.fi/eu/fi/community/tilastot/942/tilastot/1993 21/11/2013 8 VTT s role as a partner for SME Experienced in EU proposals Know very well the rules in EU International networks for other SMEs, large enterprises and research organisations both universities Offers the whole package: Refining the idea Creating the consortium Writing the proposal and Managing the project 4
21/11/2013 9 VTT support to EU proposal planning Innovation to create an idea for proposal VTT pre-evaluate if idea is suitable for EU project Create the consortium and find the partners (RTOs, SMEs, large enterprises ) Offer our expertise in EU projects and proposal writing Experience to manage the EU project Research project management 21/11/2013 10 SME INSTRUMENT 5
21/11/2013 11 Definition of SME Definition of SME in EU: Employees < 250 Category Medium Personnel AWU *1) < 250 Turnover 50 M O R Balance 43 M Turnover < 50 M or balance sheet < 43 M Small Micro < 50 < 10 10 M 2 M O R O R 10 M 2 M SME autonomous *1) AWU = Annual work unit TEST: http://smetest.uwe.be/ SME: Small and medium size enterprise 21/11/2013 12 Basic idea in SME instrument EC / Horizon 2020 Taxes Innovations in SMEs EC is not interested in what (how) you do, but what are the results! Employment Growth 6
21/11/2013 13 I Huipputason tiede ~70 mrd II Teollisuuden johtoasema III Yhteiskunnalliset haasteet 1. Euroopan tutkimus-neuvosto (ERC): tutkimus tieteen eturintamassa 2. Tulevat ja kehittyvät teknologiat (FET). a) avoimet b) ennakoivat c) lippulaivatoimet 3. Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) toimet: tutkijaliikkuvuus 4. Tutkimusinfrastruktuuri 1. Johtoasema mahdollistavilla ja teollisuusteknologioilla 1.1. tieto- ja viestintäteknologia 1.2. nanoteknologiat 1.3. kehittyneet materiaalit 1.4. bioteknologia 1.5. kehittynyt valmistus ja - SME prosessointi instrumentin kautta (1/3) 1.6. - Normaalit avaruus yhteisprojektit (2/3) 2. Riskirahoituksen saatavuus: laina & pääoma 3. Innovointi pk-yrityksissä 1. Terveys, väestönmuutos ja hyvinvointi 2. Elintarviketurva, kestävä maatalous, merien tutkimus ja biotalous 3. Turvallinen, puhdas ja tehokas energia 4. Älykäs, ympäristöystävällinen ja yhdentynyt liikenne 5. Ilmastotoimet, resurssitehokkuus ja raaka-aineet 6. Eurooppa muuttuvassa maailmassa: osallistavat, innova-tiiviset ja pohtivat yhteiskunnat 7. Turvalliset yhteiskunnat: Euroopan ja sen kansalaisten vapauden ja 20% II + III-pilarien rahoituksesta pk-yrityksille Lisäksi osiot Osaamisen ja osallistumisen laajentamiseen sekä Tiede yhteiskunnassa, turvallisuuden yhteiskuntaa suojeleminen varten IV Yhteinen tutkimuskeskus (JRC); (muu kuin ydintutkimus) Lisäksi ydinenergia-alan EURATOM-ohjelma 21/11/2013 14 Technology Readiness Level (TRL) RAHOITUS: 100 % SME Instrument RAHOITUS: 70 % 7
21/11/2013 15 Phase 1: Concept and feasibility assessment Input: Idea/Concept : Business Plan I (~10 pages) Activities: Feasibility of concept Risk assessment IP regime Partner search Design study Pilot application intention Output: elaborated Business plan II Lump sum: ~ 50.000 ~ 6 months 10 % 30-50 % SME Instrument Phase 2: R&D, demonstration, market replication Input: Business Plan II plus description of activities under Phase II (~30 pages) Activities: Development, prototyping, testing, Piloting innovative processes, products and services Miniaturisation/design of products Planning & developing scaling-up (market segments, process etc.) Market replication Output: investor-ready Business plan III Output based payments: 1 to 3 M EC funding ~12 to 24 months ~ 4-6 cut off / year ~ 3-4 cut off / year Phase 3: Commercialisation Promote instrument as quality label for successful projects Facilitate access to risk finance Support via networking, training, coaching, information, addressing i.a. IP management, knowledge sharing, dissemination SME window in the EU financial facilities (debt facility and equity facility) Connect to measures promoting PCP/PPI No direct funding 21/11/2013 16 SME Instrument You can submit the proposal direct to II stage (exception could be the first calls in 2014) Only SME can submit the proposal. SME can subcontract activities in II stage e.g. to RTO like VTT. Also only one SME can participate or the project can be done in consortium. Remember EU focus! SME Instrument is for innovation activities (demontration, piloting ); pure research activities are not funded. SME can only participate to the calls with ONE application at a time. Continuous call, with cut-off dates 8
21/11/2013 17 Participation of SMEs Research for SMEs projects PARTICIPANTS (number of SMEs) PARTIC. SMES / POPULATION (1 MILJ) PARTIC. SMEs / NUMBER OF SMEs (1000) 1 Spain 381 Malta 32,5 Estonia 0,77 1 2 UK 333 Estonia 30,8 Ireland 0,58 2 3 Germany 209 Cyprus 28,8 Cyprus 0,55 3 4 France 155 Norway 24,0 Norway 0,43 4 5 Italy 147 Iceland 13,3 Malta 0,33 5 6 Norway 113 Slovenia 12,5 Denmark 0,27 6 7 Netherlands 88 Ireland 10,9 Slovenia 0,23 7 8 Greece 84 Denmark 10,0 UK 0,20 8 9 Belgium 72 Spain 8,3 Belgium 0,16 9 10 Poland 62 Greece 7,5 Spain 0,16 10 11 Denmark 55 Belgium 6,7 Slovakia 0,15 11 12 Portugal 50 Finland 5,7 Netherlands 0,15 12 13 Ireland 49 UK 5,4 Finland 0,14 13 14 Hungary 48 Switzerland 5,4 Latvia 0,13 14 15 Sweden 46 Netherlands 5,4 Austria 0,12 15 16 Turkey 46 Sweden 5,0 Greece 0,12 16 17 Czech Rep. 43 Hungary 4,8 Bulgaria 0,11 17 18 Switzerland 41 Portugal 4,7 Iceland 0,11 18 19 Estonia 40 Bulgaria 4,3 Germany 0,11 19 20 Austria 36 Austria 4,3 Hungary 0,09 20 21 Romani 34 Czech Rep. 4,1 Sweden 0,08 21 22 Bulgaria 33 Lithuania 3,9 Croatia 0,07 22 23 Finland 30 Latvia 3,9 Israel 0,07 23 24 Slovenia 25 Germany 2,5 Romani 0,06 24 25 Cyprus 23 Italy 2,5 France 0,06 25 Slovakia 11 Slovakia ~2,5 21/11/2013 18 Partners TeamFinland Innovation Manager Finpro Legal partner for legal issues VTT network: RTOs, SMEs, LEs, etc VTT: Contacts to Commission (& Tekes) 9
21/11/2013 19 Other options for SMEs Eurostars Tekes FASIE (Russia) Tekes Skolkovo (Russia) 21/11/2013 20 ARE YOU INTERESTED? Please contact VTT to hear more: Jari Uotila Manager, International Operations Tel. +358 20 722 7524 jari.uotila@vtt.fi www.vtt.fi VTT is partner in 10
21/11/2013 21 VTT creates business from technology for the benefits of SMEs 11