Project Access 2 EIC

ACCESS2EIC is a 16-months coordination and support action aimed to empower and facilitate transnational cooperation within the network of National Contact Points – NCPs focused on the Horizon 2020 European Innovation Council – EIC Pilot and the specific objective Access to Risk Finance – ARF. It involves a consortium made of formally appointed NCPs under ‘Future and Emerging Technologies – FET’, ‘Innovation in SMEs – SME’ and ‘Access to Risk Finance – ARF’ areas of Horizon 2020.

Overall, the network will aim at:

developing an improved, more consistent and professionalised NCP service across Europe, thereby helping simplify access to EIC Pilot calls, and lowering the entry barriers for newcomers;

identifying and sharing good practices and raising the general standard of support to EIC and ARF programme applicants, taking into account the novelties of this transition period and the diversity of actors that make up their constituency.

ACCESS2EIC aims to achieve the following specific objectives: 

Improving NCP capacities to provide systemic knowledge (NCP Curriculum) to clients across different EIC enhanced pilot calls and access to finance opportunities through networks collaboration (WP2).

Identifying key success factors for EIC Pathfinder and Accelerator funding schemes based on the experiences of FET, SME Instrument and FTI funded projects, by improving the set of tools (e.g., analysis and involvement of innovation ecosystems, development of annotated templates, factsheets), and consequently the efficacy of the assistance of NCPs (WP3).

Understanding EIC successful applicants’ characteristics and EIC fund offer, including how to deal with exploitation and market aspects under a Pathfinder project as well as with the equity offer of the EIC accelerator. (WP4).

Spreading knowledge on access to risk finance opportunities under the Framework Programmes, notably InnovFin products sharing information and practices on financial instruments for R&I across researchers, SMEs and ARF national communities; setting the ground for the new generations of financial instruments including the EIC Pilot and the ones expected under the next Programming Period ; Fostering the cross-border access to risk finance for specific high potential businesses actors participating or emerging from EIC calls (WP5).

Enhancing the outreach of this Network through strategic information, communication and dissemination activities to maximize the impact of its activities, services and results to a wider audience of clients and stakeholders and avoid overlapping with further initiatives in those areas (WP6).

Partners

ACCESS2EIC is the network of 15 partners of who share the common purpose to work as a network of EIC (FET and SME) and ARF NCPs supporting national applicants and raising the quality of applications submitted under the enhanced EIC Pilot 2019-2020.

1. AGENZIA PER LA PROMOZIONE DELLA RICERCA EUROPEA (APRE), Italy
2. CENTRO PARA EL DESARROLLO TECNOLOGICO INDUSTRIAL (CDTI), Spain
3. OSTERREICHISCHE FORSCHUNGSFORDERUNGSGESELLSCHAFT MBH (FFG), Austria
4. INSTYTUT PODSTAWOWYCH PROBLEMOW TECHNIKI POLSKIEJ AKADEMII NAUK (IPPT PAN), Poland
5. NATIONAL TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AUTHORITY (IIA), Israel
6. DEUTSCHES ZENTRUM FUER LUFT – UND RAUMFAHRT EV (DLR), Germany
7. Innovasjon Norge (IN), Norway
8. BPIFRANCE FINANCEMENT SA (BPIFRANCE), France
9. IDRYMA TECHNOLOGIAS KAI EREVNAS (FORTH), Greece
10. ENTERPRISE IRELAND (EI), Ireland
11. ANI – AGENCIA NACIONAL DE INOVACAO, SA (ANI), Portugal
12. GIS-TRANSFERCENTER FOUNDATION (GIS-TC), Bulgaria
13. CENTRUM VEDECKO TECHNICKYCH INFORMACII SLOVENSKEJ REPUBLIKY (CVTISR), Slovakia
14. NEMZETI KUTATASI FEJLESZTESI ES INNOVACIOS HIVATAL (NKFIH), Hungary
15. TECHNOLOGICKE CENTRUM AKADEMIE VED CESKE REPUBLIKY (TC CAS), Czechia