The INNOWWIDE 2^nd Call for applications for the VAPs – Viability Assessment Projects – just opened on January 15^th.

You will be able to submit your application until March 31^st in the following portal: https://innowwide.smartsimple.ie/s_Login.jsp

The budget available for the 2^nd Call is €4.2M (to be divided approximately one third per target country group).

Each approved VAP will receive a fixed grant amount of €60,000, representing a maximum of 70% of total eligible costs (staff, consumables, equipment, subcontracting, others) which must be a minimum of €86,000.

If you are an innovative SME with the ambition to develop a new and innovative product-market combination (or process or service) with a strategic counterpart outside Europe; or if you need to first check the technical, commercial, legal and socio-economic feasibility of your innovative idea, the VAP instrument supported by the INNOWWIDE CSA can be the solution!

If you want to know more about the process before applying, you can refer to the “VAP Application and Guidelines” page on the INNOWWIDE website, here: https://innowwide.eu/guidelines/

The EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation is organising a 2-week mission to Japan to get an in-depth understanding of how to do business in the country. It offers EU managers the unique opportunity to experience and understand both the cultural and economic elements which define and explain Japan’s business and technological achievements. Continuously improved to meet the latest expectations about business in Japan, the Get Ready for Japan provides EU businessmen with a professional Japan-related expertise.

The purpose of the mission in Japan is:

– to acquire a broad understanding of the Japanese business environment, business practices and Japanese-style personal communications in order to find ways to do successful business through a partner relationship;
– to become aware of the decision-making process inside Japanese companies and therefore gain a better understanding of their negotiation style and hierarchy;
– to give the opportunity to reinforce relationships with current Japanese customers and facilitate contacts with future ones.

The participants in this programme can be Start-Up’s or SME’s that are already working or intend to develop their business relations with Japan. The eligibility criteria and the selection process can be analysed on the mission’s website page.

All information is available here: https://www.eu-japan.eu/events/get-ready-for-japan-training-programme

INNOWWIDE Call 2 for Viability Assessment Projects – VAPs (approx. 4,2 M€ budget) to be launched mid-end January 2020, closing date 31^st March!

Minor updates, clarifications and improvements will be introduced to the call documents. In the meantime, start looking for your third country local subcontractors! Stay tuned for more information on www.innowwide.eu!

CTA (INNOWWIDE project partner), represent by their Communication Officer Marisol Castro, participated on November 20th 2019 in the New Africa Business Development Forum framed in the International Congress MedaWeek Barcelona 2019, to present the INNOWWIDE second call for projects, that will be launched in the beginning of 2020.

The congress has taken place at the Casa Llotja de Mar in Barcelona and has been organised by the Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCAME).

The INNOWWIDE project will open a new call for Viability Assesment Projects (VAPs) in the first quarter of next year, aimed at European SMEs interested in developing new  and innovative business based on technological cooperation in markets outside the European Union (EU). The second call has a budget of 4.2 million euros and will finance 70 innovative SMEs, with a flat-rate aid of 60,000 euros per VAP.

The MedaWeek Barcelona (Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders) is nowadays an iconic conference dedicated to promoting the Mediterranean region worldwide. This event endorsed the key economic sectors and the cultural values of the region through a wide variety of forums.

The list of the 50 granted Viability Assessment Projects from the 1st INNOWWIDE Call has been officially released and can be consulted in our website, here:
https://innowwide.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/INNOWWIDE-Call-1-Funded-Projects.pdf

50 Viability Assessment Projects (VAPs) have been selected for funding in INNOWWIDE’s 1^st Call for VAPs, from a total of 379 applications.

Each six-month project will receive €60,000 in funding for innovative collaborations between SMEs from EU and associated countries alongside local partners in target countries.

The target country with highest number of grants awarded was the USA, with 13 of the 50 funded VAPs. Besides the USA, awards were spread among 21 countries worldwide, from every continent. The home country with the highest number of granted VAPs was Spain, a total of 20 project applicants.

Regarding the target countries’ categories, there was a balanced distribution between developed countries and developing countries, with 19 projects awarded to each category. The remaining 12 projects will take place in the group of emerging economies.

The majority of the projects that succeeded were focused on developing technologies in the area of electronics, IT and telecoms. In relation to market sectors, Energy, Agriculture and Environment will see the most VAPs from this call.

A list with the granted projects from the 1^st VAP Call will soon be shared in the project website for consultation.

The 2^nd INNOWWIDE call will aim to fund 70 projects, with a total of €4.2m in EU funding. To keep up to date on the opening of the next call (early 2020), subscribe to the INNOWWIDE newsletter at innowwide.eu/contact/

ABOUT INNOWWIDE: This EU Horizon 2020 pilot programme is bringing innovative European SMEs to the forefront of international markets, providing financial support for viability assessments in cooperation with stakeholders outside of Europe. INNOWWIDE creates the conditions to increase uptake of European innovative solutions outside of Europe. The two INNOWWIDE calls have a combined budget of 7.2 million EUR, which translates into 120 viability assessments at 60 000 EUR each. INNOWWIDE targets markets in developing countries; large emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China, Mexico) and developed countries.

Faith Blakemore, from Steinbeis (INNOWWIDE project partner), gave a short interview to CyberForum, a non-profit organization that supports businesses from the IT and high-tech industry, located in Karlsruhe, Germany.

In this video, you can get to know more about the INNOWWIDE project and how the process of application to the VAPs works.

The 3^rd INNOWWIDE project meeting took place in The Hague, Netherlands, on July 4^th and 5^th 2019. The organization of the event was under the responsibility of RVO – Netherlands Enterprise Agency, one of the Consortium members. Every partner organization was represented in The Hague, meeting at the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate and in the RVO premises.

This meeting was mainly focused on the following topics: summarizing the outreach and dissemination activities that took place during the period of application for the 1^st VAP Call; analysing the results of the 1^st VAP Call (number of applications, distribution in applicant countries and distribution in target countries selected); discussing the current process of VAP evaluation; and analysing the impact assessment done after the 1^st VAP Call, that will help the project team to understand how to improve some aspects of the process for the 2^nd round of applications.

The number of applications received for the 1^st VAP Call proved to be higher than previously expected, which was perceived as very good by everyone, and the Consortium is now aligning efforts for preparation of the 2^nd VAP Call, that is intended to be open during the first trimester of 2020. The results for the 1^st VAP Call will be announced in September 2019.

Keep up to date with all the important information from the INNOWWIDE project by consulting our website, following us on social media and subscribing to our newsletter.