More than 50 people gathered at our Brussels' workshop
In the process of avoiding the existing lack of integration between different support services and action plans that creates gaps in start-up support at the EU level, the RAISE consortium organised its first in a series of exchange of experience open sessions to promote discussion on future initiatives to building a unique agenda for an interconnected EU start-up space with the focus on the New European Innovation Agenda.
What are the most efficient tool and policy instruments to support start-ups to scale up?
Participants gathered at SERN premises in Brussels and online found out more on the New European Innovation Agenda that aims to position Europe at the forefront of the new wave of deep tech innovation and start-ups, and a selection of funding opportunities in the European Innovation Ecosystem 2023-2024.
Find out more about the European Innovation Agenda below.
Who participated at the workshop?
Stakeholders at regional, national, and EU level covering the lifecycle of start-ups growth, R&I programmers and policymakers, capacity building programmes managers and technicians, private investment or representatives of access to public funding organizations gathered in person and in online session to find points of interaction and advancement around the New European Innovation Agenda, its novelties for scale-ups supporting organizations and the resulting opportunities for collaboration of the first steps of its implementation.
AGENDA
Our colleague from The Foundation FUNDECYT Science and Technology Park of Extremadura, Anto Recio Cuesta (anto.recio@fundecyt-pctex.es) presented the RAISE project.
The New European Innovation Agenda, adopted on 5 July 2022, aims to position Europe at the forefront of the new wave of deep tech innovation and start-ups. It will help Europe to develop new technologies to address the most pressing societal challenges and to bring them to the market. Europe wants to be the place where the best talents work hand in hand with the best companies and where deep tech innovation thrives and creates breakthrough innovative solutions across the continent.
Speakers:
- Jekaterina Novikova, DG RTD
- Viorel Peca, HoU Transition and Business Acceleration Services, European Innovation Council
Regional Development Agencies, Public authorities, SMEs, and start-ups discussed the most efficient tool and policy instrument to support start-ups to scale-up.
Speakers:
- Miroslav Macan, Zagorje Development Agency
- Stephane Ruiz, IDEA Agency
- Greta Camilleri, Malta Enterprise
- Lorenzo Valeriani, META-Group
Networking Session among the participants around a selection of funding opportunities in the European Innovation Ecosystem 2023-2024 Work Programme.
Speakers
anto.recio@fundecyt-pctex.es
Anto Recio Cuesta, RAISE Project Consortium, Partner FUNDECYT-PCTEX Project Manager
RAISE Project
Social Innovation Manager FUNDECYT-PCTEX, with extensive experience in international collaborative development projects and alternative financing for innovative projects. He has more than 15 years of experience in different advisory and training actions in the innovative business fabric as well as in processes of financing social projects. He is a collaborator of the crowdfunding platform Goteo.
Within his project role, Anto responsibilities are related to the design of the methodological framework for the trainings and incubation process, facilitating training of the trainers’ process, developing tasks and activities in collaboration with both the FUNDECYT-PCTEX team and the whole consortium enabling the overall implementation of the strategic plan and holistic project execution.
Anto has spent several years working in international social/collaborative development projects, exploring the relationship between technology and society and its pragmatic application from a humanistic point of view. Interested in the sharing of knowledge as a new way of cultural management and as a new horizon to explore, Anto is convinced that the power of social entrepreneurship can improve the World.
Jekaterina Novikova, DG RTD
Talk Title: New European Agenda
Jekaterina Novikova is the Innovation Policy Coordinator at the European Commission, Directorate General for Research and Innovation. The EU official since 2005, she spent last five years in the management positions implementing the FP-7 and Horizon 2020 research projects. Being awarded the EU fellowship in 2018, she spent academic year 2018-2019 in the US, at the University of California, Berkeley where she conducted a research on how the US government, universities and industry facilitate the transition of the research results to market. Jekaterina is Certified Chartered Accountant and holds MA in European Affairs from Lund University, Sweden. She is fluent in Russian, Latvian, English and French.
Viorel Peca, Head of Unit of Transition and Business Acceleration Services - European Innovation Council
Talk Title: New European Agenda
Viorel Peca is Head of Unit of Transition and Business Acceleration Services of the EIC (European Innovation Council). His unit mission is to bring EIC supported innovations & technologies to the market while establishing Europe as innovation leader contributing to the economic growth and wellbeing of all Europeans.
Previously he was HoU of Future and Emerging Technologies Unit within DG Connect and led the Innovation unit between 2012 and 2016. He joined DG Connect in 2011 as Head of Unit for Networked Electronic Media.
After joining the European Commission in 2008, he was Project Manager and Chief Business Analyst for the eFP7 team of DG DIGIT.
Viorel started his career in R&D at Alcatel Romania in 1996, and then moved to Belgium in 2000 where he worked for several Alcatel products spanning all the layers of the network. Later he worked as feature development team leader, then as IPTV project manager.
Viorel holds an MSc in electronics and communications from University “Politehnica” from Timisoara, Romania and has a Master in Industrial Management from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), a postgraduate diploma in Applied Informatics from Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB) and a Certificate in Leadership and Management, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin
sruiz@agenciaidea.es
Stéphane Ruiz-Coupeau, Technical Advisor at Agency of Innovation and Development of Andalusia
Talk Title: How to Support the Scale-up of Start-ups
Stéphane Ruiz-Coupeau helps ambitious firms to grow internationally, innovate and secure finance. He is a multi-lingual engineer with more than 18 years of experience in international management, constantly looking for new challenges and collaborations. He co-leads the Enterprise Europe Network activities in his region (Andalucia) and actively participates as co-chair of 2 thematic groups: scale-ups and access to finance. Stéphane also leads a program targeting potential scale-ups in Andalucia. He enjoys lecturing International Business and collaborating with several business schools. He is a Certified Professor at EOI Business School and CECO Centre of Studies for Economy and Trade.
miroslav@poduzetnickicentar-kzz.hr
Miroslav Macan, Zagorje Development Agency
Talk Title: How to Support the Scale-up of Start-ups
Miroslav Macan’s experience comes from tackling with preparation and management of public and private investment projects as well as introducing strategic planning approach to regional policy level in Krapina Zagorje County, Croatia. As a team member of Zagorje Development Agency since 2007, Helena participated in bringing entrepreneurial investment to the County as a certified member of Croatian Investor Friendly Region program and supported entrepreneurs in preparation and implementation of EU funded projects.
greta.camilleri@maltaenterprise.com
Greta Camilleri, Research & Policy Coordinator at Malta Enterprise
Talk Title: How to Support the Scale-up of Start-ups
Greta Camilleri is a Research & Policy Coordinator at Malta Enterprise (ME), Malta’s national corporation in charge of economic and social development with more than 10 years of experience. She coordinates research initiatives to strengthen the evidence base for ME’s strategic priorities, collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to enhance the translation of research into policy and other practices, and produces briefs on specific developments and changes being proposed by other European countries, namely with respect to business operations, taxes, and start-up regulations. Greta holds an MA in European Studies from the University of Malta.
Lorenzo Valeriani, Meta Group Venture Capital | R&D results exploitation | Start-up coach | Lean Canvas | Entrepreneurship | Mentoring |
Talk Title: How to Support the Scale-up of Start-ups
Lorenzo Valeriani is an experienced advisor, coach, and business analyst of META Group with proven experience in the management of venture capital financial instruments. His expertise is focused in entrepreneurial themes, business and territory innovation policies, economic development policies and European research and innovation projects and programs. Lorenzo’s main activity regards the support to projects regarding innovation and regional policies, innovation ecosystems and support actions to foster knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship.
Mr. Valeriani has developed, thanks to his studies, a high economic-financial background and for 4 years he has gained experience on management and monitoring of invested startup and scaleup firms, fundraising, entrepreneurial issues, innovation policies of companies and territory, economic development policies and European research and innovation projects and programmes.
He is currently project manager of InvestHorizon 2, a European project that supports scale-up in the fundraising and internationalisation process.
He has extensive background in quantitative finance and holds a Master Degree in Financial Intermediaries – Quantitative Finance from the University “Tor Vergata” (Rome).
José Vilar Gonzálbez, IVACE, Head of EU Programmes Service. Enterprise Europe Network Consortium Coordinator. Chair of the EEN Start-up & Scale-up Thematic Group.
Talk Title: How to Support the Scale-up of Start-ups
He is a graduate in Economics and Business Studies by the University of Valencia with a comprehensive experience, first as a controller (2 Yrs) and later (10 Yrs) as a financial manager of 2 multinational corporations: Vicent Group, a publishing and printing holding honoured with The Guttemberg Award, and INICIAS-AHT Group, a global engineering and environmental corporation based in Germany. Experienced Senior analyst (14 Yrs) at IVF, managing loan portfolios and funding schemes for SMEs vs entrepreneurs. Since February 2016 working for IVACE at the European Projects Unit and responsible of Horizon Europe Monitoring Commission on behalf of the Regional Government. In the period 2014-2015 I had a seat, by appointmente of the European Comision, in The Committee on “Innovation in SMEs and Access to Risk Finance” for the Specific Programme Implementing Horizon 2020.
cristina.gallardo@fundecyt-pctex.es
Cristina Gallardo Rey, RAISE Project Consortium, Partner FUNDECYT-PCTEX Project Manager, R&D&I Internationalization
Talk Title: Networking Session among the participants around a selection of funding opportunities in the European Innovation Ecosystem 2023-2024 Work Programme
Cristina Gallardo Rey is a Project Manager, International Research and Innovation Promotion at FUNDECYT-PCTEX.
RAISE fosters start-up growth and scale-up across Europe
The RAISE project is an EU-funded project implemented by a five-organisations consortium led by Startup Europe Regions Network (SERN) along with The European Business Angels Network (EBAN), the European Association of Development Agencies (EURADA), the Foundation FUNDECYT Scientific and Technological Park of Extremadura (FUNDECYT-PCTEX), and International Consortium of Research Staff Associations (ICoRSA).
The main goal of RAISE is to develop a new and sustainable integrated support framework to foster start-up growth and scale-up across Europe in all its dimensions, from initial funding, research support to public incentives and internationalisation. This will result in promoting competitive business models, unconventional collaborations and solutions from all in Europe, and contributing to the establishment of a true EU startup ecosystem, not based on a single city or region, but linking all of them together.
RAISE will establish a joint agenda to build an effective collaboration amongst key innovation ecosystem players at the regional, national, and EU level. All of them play a crucial role in the start-ups’ growth lifecycle through upskilling initiatives, research and innovation (R&I) programmes and policies, capacity building, private investment, or access to public funding.
Project Consortium
All five organisations implementing the RAISE project are active at the European level spanning the whole spectrum of startup support and growth: access to public funding, business angels, research & innovation.
