Pillar II: Piloting innovative approaches to support academic startups and spinoffs

The objective of this topic is to strengthen ecosystems for knowledge valorisation and innovation by supporting academic startups and spinoffs to benefit from end-user feedback and links to industry and society. The topic supports the objectives of the Startup and Scaleup Strategy[[https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/strategy/strategy-research-and-innovation/jobs-and-economy/eu-startup-and-scaleup-strategy_en.]] by fostering the market uptake of innovative solutions.

Academic startups and spinoffs need access to excellent support services to commercialise their research and bring their innovations to market. Beyond technology validation, there is a need to test the desirability of their products and services with a broader public, learn from citizens’ feedback, and adapt and improve their value propositions to improve their prospects for collaborating with industrial partners, attracting investors, and growing locally and internationally.

A variety of organisations – such as science parks, technology parks, living labs, hubs, and practitioners in citizen engagement for knowledge valorisation – engage societal actors in experimentation practices that aim to support, at an early stage, the market uptake and growth of university spinoffs and startups. To be effective, such practices need to align with the fast pace of innovation and integrate skills and methods from different areas, drawing also from the social sciences and humanities, and the arts and design. To achieve the expected outcomes, proposals should address the activities outlined below and propose any additional, complementary activities:

• At least 20 pilot actions across Europe enabling university spinoffs and technology startups to link up to end-users, societal actors, industry, and other stakeholders to boost market uptake and growth.
• Development of guidance and services, including methodologies and best practices to support spinoffs and startups, where testing and validating their innovative solutions to better fit society and the market is important.

Proposals should describe their target group in terms of its scope and size. A wide geographical coverage, inclusivity, broad participation, and accessibility should be ensured. In project activities, particular attention should be paid to promoting inclusive gender equality and addressing gender-specific challenges.

Projects are expected to contribute to the EU Knowledge Valorisation Platform, which highlights best practices for knowledge valorisation. Additionally, projects are expected to establish synergies with ongoing projects under the topic “Experimentation and exchange of good practices for value creation”[[ Funded under HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ERA-01-03 and HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-ERA-01-05.]], taking their results into account.

Expected project duration is up to 2 years without prejudice to a longer duration if justified.