More funding for disruptive innovations

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25.04.2019
Europe

In 2021, the new EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation will replace the current Horizon 2020 programme. However, some of the new features that are particularly important for start-ups have already been introduced or will be introduced shortly. A high-level delegation from the European Commission today presented new funding instruments at an information event in Bern, and set out how Swiss research institutions and businesses can benefit, especially SMEs.

From 2021 the European Innovation Council (EIC) will form one of the three pillars of the next European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (Horizon Europe, 2021-2027) and focus on supporting innovation. At the end of 2017 the EIC was already set up on a trial basis. In March, the European Commission decided to intensify the pilot phase and set aside a budget of EUR 2 billion for 2019 and 2020. The EIC is currently touring a number of countries to present the enhanced funding opportunities. Switzerland is one of the first stops on the tour. Switzerland is associated to the framework programme, which means that Swiss researchers and companies can benefit from the program in the same way as their counterparts in EU member states.

The Enhanced EIC Pilot will pave the way to a fully-fledged EIC; it builds on the lessons learnt from the previous EIC pilot launched in late 2017. The Enhanced EIC Pilot serves as the umbrella for several EU funding instruments thus providing a 'one stop shop' for funding of breakthrough, market-creating innovation across the EU and associated countries. Most of them have already existed. Some of them will be revised and extended. The spectrum ranges from support for innovative technology research and market-oriented project funding to the provision of risk finance instruments. The aim is to ensure that innovations reach the market faster and thereby generate more growth and employment. The instruments include:

the SME Instrument,

the Fast Track to Innovation (FTI),

Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Open and

Horizon Prizes.

The most important novelty is the possibility to support innovation projects under the SME instrument not only with grants. Starting this autumn, the EIC Accelerator pilot will provide support in the form of blended finance (combining grants and equity) too. Several other changes aim to help to identify and support the most disruptive innovations with financial support, coaching and access to networks.

The information event in Bern was organised jointly by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) and Euresearch, an information and advisory service for Swiss participants in the European framework programmes. The EU delegation was led by Wolfang Burtscher, deputy director of the Directorate General for Research and Innovation at the European Commission.

More information about the EIC can be found on the website of Euresearch, the National Contact Point for Switzerland.

(Press release / SK)

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