EIT Manufacturing Business Creation Programmes
EIT Manufacturing will create an encouraging environment for business creation and support entrepreneurs, researchers, start-ups, scale-ups and established companies.
Business Creation activities will be channeled through three programmes that ensure the creation, acceleration and transformation of the companies that will lead Europe’s Manufacturing Innovation. These are aimed to create European gazelles, ambitious companies which, through their unique know how and innovative strategy, can achieve high rates of value-added job creation.
Business Creation Area Leadership
EIT Manufacturing’s Business Creation aims to foster, identify, encourage and provide structure to entrepreneurs, start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies who have great ideas and need guidance and support to develop their project to the next step. The Business Creation Area Leadership Activity covers the coordination and overseeing of all activities in the area of business creation performed by EIT Manufacturing partners. It also includes the design, operation, and monitoring of the annual call process for new activities to be launched by 2021.
To support the transformation of existing SME’s, Tier 1 & Tier 2’s into volume automotive composite material suppliers
This activity supports the transformation of existing automotive manufacturing companies currently supplying internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle components, to manufacturing components for electrical vehicles. The transformation is based on being able to manufacture and source automotive components based on advanced composite materials which facilitates a greater flexibility in component design, supporting a greater flexibility in production, as well as light weighing. The reduction in ICE vehicles being sold coupled with a change to more environmentally sustainable vehicles, represents a threat for these suppliers but also carries great new business potential. During this transformation, the role of sustainable lightweight component in circular-economy-based business models needs to be investigated. This activity aims to support this transformation and setting up these businesses using the technology and methodologies developed in other projects.
Open Innovation Centre for the Industry of the future
The goal of this project is to lead the transformation of existing manufacturing companies and IT providers in Europe (Gazelles and SMEs) by diversifying or renovating their businesses through innovative technology and business models. During 2020, EIT Manufacturing will set the basis by identifying the core challenges and business opportunities to be addressed, defining the transformation roadmaps for a first set of companies and matching their needs with the capabilities from technological partners. It is expected that more than 100 companies will be involved and 50 of them will receive intensive support. To create a European network, seven leading research institutions and industrial partners have conformed a consortium to provide their support and expertise. As a result, a common framework to support companies will be developed and companies will have a solid network to deploy their transformation process across Europe.
European network of Incubators for Manufacturing DeepTech
New innovative technologies for manufacturing have been developing fast. The implementation of these deep-tech requires overcoming some adoption constraints in different sectors to be able to create business opportunities. Universities’ research laboratories and incubators are ideally positioned to activate innovative ecosystems that can support business creation, start-up acceleration and more largely innovation for industry. DEEP-INC is a European network of Incubators connected to laboratories and technological platforms that aims to create such kind of ecosystem. Specifically, this network will:
- Foster entrepreneurship in advanced manufacturing
- Facilitate the connection with start-ups, highlighting to them the opportunities generated by advanced manufacturing
- Increase awareness of companies (i.e for SMEs) and support the integration of these advanced technologies in their traditional manufacturing process
- Share knowledge and technical practices among partners
Accelerate and grade-up existing technology based companies (SMEs and Start-ups) to create European Gazelles
The Gazelle Accelerator is born from a simple analysis: European technology based companies have a high-growth potential but their expansion is often hindered by the industrial fragmentation and by their lack of visibility on the European market. Therefore, EIT Manufacturing programme provides existing technology-based companies (notably SMEs and Start-ups) with the network and support they need to expand to become the future European Gazelles. Gazelle Accelerator’s team is made up of industrial, research and academic partners. Complementary expertise will be used to grade up and accelerate 50 promising start-ups or SMEs through the ambitious support programme elaborated.
Setup Business Creation Advisory Board
The objective of this activity is to set up a Business Creation advisory board that supports the Business Creation team in developing and implementing their activities (Call for proposals, evaluations, non-call activities, etc).
Idea Competition
EIT Manufacturing aims to support new solutions in the fields of Robotics, Additive Manufacturing, Digitalisation and Circular Economy. The best business ideas that participate in the competition will be awarded up to EUR 15 000 grant for each sector and will be invited to join the Business Creation programme to foster the business opportunity.