Christina NANOUPolicy Officer

DG Research and InnovationEuropean Commission

EU funding for innovationInnovation Ecosystems inPillar III of Horizon Europe

WHY?What is newin the current

period?

Innovation Ecosystems – Why?

New challenges!• Boost productivity, jobs, growth, social

welfare

• Global societal challenges:complex; not solved in isolation,impact, systemic approach

• EU strategic goals of new Commission:Climate, Circular Economy, energy, healthArtificial Intelligence, Industrial Policy

• New actors come in!(startups! Investors, Civil Society)

• Focus on radical & disruptive innovation!

RegionalInnovationEcosystem

Industry

Government

Civilsociety

R&I

Ecosystems:All actors, infrastructure, processes…..

Innovation ecosystems:Network of interactions through which information, knowledge and talentflow through systems of sustained value co-creation.

Who will lead the next wave ofbreakthrough and disruptive innovation?

electricity

semi-conductors

antibiotics

airplanecar

smart phone

internet

barcode

sea container

digital platforms

social media

GPS3-D printing

CRISPR-cas

Hydrogen fuelcells

blockchain

the cloud

internet of things

autonomous vehicles

new batteries

artificial intelligence

quantum computing

graphene

liquid biopsies

gene therapy

PC

past future ?

?

?

current

Syntheticchemicals

US leadUS lead(and Asia,

EU)

EU and USlead

telecomms

Wholeads?

Examples taken from WIPO, MIT, WEF, OECD, etc.

revolutionarydeep – tech

solutionswill impact like

never beforeon the way we

do business

Our vision:…to be

deployed bystart-ups thatoriginate and

scale up in EU…J

revolutionarydeep – tech

solutionswill impact like

never beforeon the way we

do business

Our vision:…to be

deployed bystart-ups thatoriginate and

scale up in EU…J

Big data Synthetic meat

What’s holding back European innovation?

5

World leader in science but… underperforms in innovation

Lack of breakthrough and disruptive innovations thatcreate new markets

…Lack of talents..…& entrepreneurship spirit…

Huge EU funds for innovation (2014-2020) but….

Complex landscape (many instruments)

Financing gap between R&D grants and private investmentfor scaling up innovative start-ups (“valley of death”)Lack of risk finance - systemic failure (VC in EU <1/4 of US and Asia)

Performance

Funding

EcosystemsMany national & local innovation ecosystems (hotspots)• fragmented (languages, business cultures, regulations)

• not connected at EU level

HOW?EIC &

InnovationEcosystems

The European Innovation Council - How?

Performance :One stop shop!

Funding :

Agile funding from ideato investment

• Open calls to all innovators, fields, at any time

• Highest potential innovators selected on basis of ideasand team (interviews!)

New instruments to facilitate high-risk finance

• Pathfinder grants for advanced research on emergingtechnologies (<4 € m)

• Accelerator funding for innovative start-ups (<€2.5million grant, <€15 million equity) TRL>6

• Crowding in private investment (VC, Invest EU)

Renewed R&I agenda: more varied;

• Open Innovation (infrastructure, knowledge, talent flow)

• Better framework conditions, environment, synergies

• Access to couching, mentoring, advisory services andto knowledge partners (e.g via networks, EIT)

• Prizes for breakthrough technologies

Ecosystems:

Inter-connecting

HOW?Draft

proposals

Horizon Europe proposal(pillar III: Innovative Europe):

“….to support innovation all across Europe,and in all dimensions and forms, includingthrough complementary EU and nationaland regional policies (via effectivesynergies with ERDF and smartspecialisation strategies) andresources, whenever possible.

Hence, this pillar provides also for renewedand reinforced coordination andcooperation mechanisms with MS/AC,but also with private initiatives, in order tosupport all actors of the EuropeanInnovation Ecosystems, including atregional and local level.

Innovation Ecosystems – How?

Innovation Ecosystems – How?

EIC Forum

National innovationauthorities/agencies towork on common EUchallenges & enablingframework conditions

e.g.• innovation-friendly

regulation(+public procurement)

• alignment of R&Iagendas(+EU open market &investment flows)

• coordination of R&Iprogrammes and HEactivities (+EIT)

• joint communicationstrategy

In synergy with Horizon Europe (EIC+EIT) & RIS3:

Joint programmes formentoring, coaching, technical

assistance, delivered by:• networks (NCPs, EEN, EIT/KICs), clusters ..

• pan-European platforms (Starup Europe)

• regional or local innovation actors,public & private, e.g. incubators, innovation hubs….

Data andknowledge oninnovation support

(funding schemes, datasharing platforms, etc.).

CO-FUNDING Joint innovation programmesDemand-driven (+ private entities, e.g. foundations, EU Partnerships)

Complementary to national/regional schemesTRANSNATIONAL – EU ADDED VALUE

• Interconnection of open innovation infrastructures (pilots, demos…)• Cooperation academia – enterprise• High-tech SMEs‘: collaborative R&I, technology & knowledge transfer,

early stage and feasibility study support, market analysis & developmentinternationalisation + Low-tech SME’s: digitalisation

• Joint public procurement initiatives (PPI)• Social & public innovation• Financial instruments (close to market innovations or market deployment)

Piece ofadvice

Success factors (among others…):

1. Identify priorities / needs/ challenges(societal, market)Mapping? Specialisation (RIS3)? Multidisciplinary approach?Need for reorganisation? Which areas? New trends?

2. Policy support & commitment(regulatory environment, talents, ecosystem, funding)Existing or new policies/incentives/instruments? (tax, IP)

3. Regional innovation champion(company, HEI, big event) Does the region has one?

4. Openness: All actors on-board & connected!(+ Universities, investors, societyà User-driven innovation!)All actors? Engaged? All forms of innovation?Adequate interconnection / cooperation?At all levels? (national/EU/international + Private-public)

Source: EC Policy Brief – Workshop: Mapping Innovation Ecosystems (15/3/2019)

Regional Innovation Ecosystems – How?MS and regions: co-creators and owners of their sustainable futures

Global Startupecosystem ranking

(2019)

Source: Startup Genome

What regions can do to boost regionalinnovation ecosystems? (..among others)

• Know well your ecosystems & “upscale” it”! political engagement!Startups FIRST in promising area(s)! à € will follow…“Smart” choices: NICHE? Green is “a la mode”!

• Use efficiently your resources (regulatory, talents, funding)Infrastructure counts! (physical place; connectivity, Big event!)Synergies with other EU, public, private fundse.g. support upscale of market-driven R&I projects’ outcomes (“Horizon Results Platform”),support high-tech SMEs/startups, regional hubs, clusters on disruptive innovation, SoE, ..)

• Use all available EU / EIC initiatives/programmes/strategiese.g EIC: Joint programmes (CO-FUND), Forum, Public Procurement of Innovative productsData sharing platforms, programmes for mentoring/coaching, access to R&I results,EU Observatory of Public Sector Innovation, EU Policy Support Facility (PSF)

• Inter-connect - TRAVEL!:Use networks & clusters e.g. NCPs, EEN, StartUp Europe Regions Network, ERRIN…)Create “open innovation platforms”: co-creation!

Examples

Examples - Innovation EcosystemsInitiatives

www.startupestonia.ee/

Startup VISA!

The Netherlands want to becomeNr1 EU startup ecosystem.

# 15 startup ecosystem ranking (global)

StartupDelta (Amsterdam) is an independent public-private partnership. Together with the maininnovation hubs in the Netherlands, the team workswith the ministries of Economic Affairs and EducationCulture and Science, the startup community, andother partners.

$2 billion IPOs in 2018: Adyen and Elastic, nowcollectively valued at nearly $30 billion

Finland – Horizon 2020 data (Sept 2019)

Pirkanmaa region (Tampere)

Sources: EC - H2020 country participationTampere_Situational Picture of Innovation 2018

Finland..

Future plans – “Open innovation” opportunities:

FI Station F? by 2023

Source: https://maria.io/

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"[The EIC alone will not create globalchampions. What it will do is create aEuropean Champions' League]"