Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EU-India InnoCenter (EU-India Innovation Center)
Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2022-06-30
The EU-India Innovation Center prepares European tech companies to launch and expand their activities in India, supporting their market entry strategies and creating a solid local network. The project provides tailored and personalised assistance at every stage of their journey to India – from discovering business opportunities to creating a solid expansion plan and finding local customers and partners.
The EU-India Innocenter activities are built on a 4-phase approach, based on the companies’ readiness level. By dividing activities into different phases, we reduce the risks for companies and maximise their chances to succeed in the Indian market.
> DISCOVER THE MARKET. An introductory session where European companies can learn the most important aspects about international expansion and get an overview of the Indian market.
> PREPARE TO EXPAND. 2 sessions to learn what constitutes a market opportunity and what to consider when building an international expansion strategy.
> EXPLORE & VALIDATE. 8 weeks programme aimed at exploring the Indian market to validate the product with customers and partners and localise the offering to meet local needs. Each cohort is thematic and follows the verticals/sectors previously defined (Sustainability, Mobility and Logistics, Health and Life Sciences and Deep Tech).
> ENTER & SCALE. A 3-month cohort based programme that takes a tailored one-on-one approach to help startups enter and localise their businesses in India, with personalised advice, continuous support and guidance via online/hybrid channels.
The EU-India Innocenter also acts as a flagship to position the EU as a global science, technology and innovation leader. The long-term objective of the EU-India Innocenter is to build a center that will, in close cooperation with local technology and innovation structures in India, guide European innovators on their journey to India, stimulate constructive co-creation, build an ecosystem of stakeholders and bolster a two-way technology and knowledge transfer.
The EU-India Innocenter activities are built on a 4-phase approach, based on the companies’ readiness level. By dividing activities into different phases, we reduce the risks for companies and maximise their chances to succeed in the Indian market.
> DISCOVER THE MARKET. An introductory session where European companies can learn the most important aspects about international expansion and get an overview of the Indian market.
> PREPARE TO EXPAND. 2 sessions to learn what constitutes a market opportunity and what to consider when building an international expansion strategy.
> EXPLORE & VALIDATE. 8 weeks programme aimed at exploring the Indian market to validate the product with customers and partners and localise the offering to meet local needs. Each cohort is thematic and follows the verticals/sectors previously defined (Sustainability, Mobility and Logistics, Health and Life Sciences and Deep Tech).
> ENTER & SCALE. A 3-month cohort based programme that takes a tailored one-on-one approach to help startups enter and localise their businesses in India, with personalised advice, continuous support and guidance via online/hybrid channels.
The EU-India Innocenter also acts as a flagship to position the EU as a global science, technology and innovation leader. The long-term objective of the EU-India Innocenter is to build a center that will, in close cooperation with local technology and innovation structures in India, guide European innovators on their journey to India, stimulate constructive co-creation, build an ecosystem of stakeholders and bolster a two-way technology and knowledge transfer.
The main achievements of the EU-India Innocenter cover a vast network of stakeholders, mentors, ecosystem builders and ambassadors established, as well as companies trained in the Innocenter phases:
> Over 300 companies have entered the Startup Journey:
>>DISCOVER THE MARKET: 280+ companies
>>PREPARE TO EXPAND: 64 companies
>>EXPLORE AND VALIDATE: 31 companies
>>ENTER AND SCALE: 3 companies
>38 ecosystem builders across EU as our ambassadors - Startup accelerators, investors and tech clusters;
>29 mentors guiding our companies in their specific sectors.
One of the first priority of the EU-India Innocenter is to attract startups with the highest probability of succeeding in the Indian market. Within the first period of the project, the Innocenter has hosted Internationalisation Crash courses for 286 companies, received 91 applications to its programmes, and currently has +3.000 companies in its pipeline of startups. To attract these companies, the EU-India Innocenter team has implemented intensive communication activities that made it possible to reach 488 000 people with the message of the Innocenter.
The following „Prepare to Expand“ is an integral part of the journey of startups and ties into all project phases by building awareness and interest amongst European startups about business opportunities in India. By July 2022, 8 cohorts with 64 startups from 18 different European home markets have finished the training successfully. The training is rated with an average rating of 8.9/10 and 84.2% of participants have experienced increased knowledge about the Indian market after participating in the training.
During the Preparation training startups formulate assumptions about the Indian market. These assumptions, company’s product portfolio and fit to Indian market are then validated in the „Explore and Validate“ programme phase. 4 cohorts of “Explore & Validate” programmes have been completed, with a total of 31 startups participating until August 2022. 85% of participants claimed the programme helped them develop new partnerships and obtain business leads.
The “Explore and Validate” phase enables startups to take further expansion decisions and potentially benefit from scaling services offered in the “Enter & Scale” phase. It offers a 12-week acceleration programme, which includes topical sessions, bringing experts as mentors to help the founders, making qualified warm introductions to prospects and helping the startup localise product/service and communications. The team has successfully conducted the programme for 3 startups in cohort that evaluated programme with a 95% satisfaction rate.
Beyond providing a wide-range of services, the Innocenter begins to establish itself as a self-sustaining organisation, collecting references and further building visibility and brand identity.
> Over 300 companies have entered the Startup Journey:
>>DISCOVER THE MARKET: 280+ companies
>>PREPARE TO EXPAND: 64 companies
>>EXPLORE AND VALIDATE: 31 companies
>>ENTER AND SCALE: 3 companies
>38 ecosystem builders across EU as our ambassadors - Startup accelerators, investors and tech clusters;
>29 mentors guiding our companies in their specific sectors.
One of the first priority of the EU-India Innocenter is to attract startups with the highest probability of succeeding in the Indian market. Within the first period of the project, the Innocenter has hosted Internationalisation Crash courses for 286 companies, received 91 applications to its programmes, and currently has +3.000 companies in its pipeline of startups. To attract these companies, the EU-India Innocenter team has implemented intensive communication activities that made it possible to reach 488 000 people with the message of the Innocenter.
The following „Prepare to Expand“ is an integral part of the journey of startups and ties into all project phases by building awareness and interest amongst European startups about business opportunities in India. By July 2022, 8 cohorts with 64 startups from 18 different European home markets have finished the training successfully. The training is rated with an average rating of 8.9/10 and 84.2% of participants have experienced increased knowledge about the Indian market after participating in the training.
During the Preparation training startups formulate assumptions about the Indian market. These assumptions, company’s product portfolio and fit to Indian market are then validated in the „Explore and Validate“ programme phase. 4 cohorts of “Explore & Validate” programmes have been completed, with a total of 31 startups participating until August 2022. 85% of participants claimed the programme helped them develop new partnerships and obtain business leads.
The “Explore and Validate” phase enables startups to take further expansion decisions and potentially benefit from scaling services offered in the “Enter & Scale” phase. It offers a 12-week acceleration programme, which includes topical sessions, bringing experts as mentors to help the founders, making qualified warm introductions to prospects and helping the startup localise product/service and communications. The team has successfully conducted the programme for 3 startups in cohort that evaluated programme with a 95% satisfaction rate.
Beyond providing a wide-range of services, the Innocenter begins to establish itself as a self-sustaining organisation, collecting references and further building visibility and brand identity.
In the next 18 months, the main objectives of the project are three-fold:
>To increase project‘s visibility and general public awareness, as well to ensure the attraction of companies‘ to the programmes;
>To continuously fine-tune the programmes of the Innocenter adapting them to the startup needs and providing tailored and personalised assistance;
>To prepare a ground for the EU-India Innocenter establishment as a self-sustaining organisation, executing business model validation and commercialisation activities.
To increase the project‘s visibility, a new version of the website will be released with the new narrative and optimising its usability to convert more startups into applicants. Also, different approaches to acquisition channels will be continuously tested to ensure a higher conversion rate and lower acquisition cost of startups.
In regards to the planning for programme phases, the team will aim to train in total 117 startup participants (Prepare to Expand – 64 companies; Explore and Validate – 33; Enter and Scale – 20) and organise a programme for ecosystem builders. Also, the Explore and Validate and Enter and Scale phases will include the in-country activities. The next period of the project will focus also on creating post-programme support and setting up an alumni network.
As the programmes‘ contents and startup acquisition strategies are set in place in 2021 and first half of 2022, the second half of 2022 and the last year of the project will be devoted to the business model validation and commercialisation of activities. During the validation phase, the EU-India Innocenter will gain a critical understanding of the needs of different stakeholders interested in the adoption and commercialisation of European technologies in India and gauge potential direct and indirect revenue opportunities. The core goal is to define and select the most competitive and scalable business model or combination of business models for commercialization of EU-India Innocenter’s services.
After finalising the business model, the EU-India Innocenter will focus on the execution of the commercialization phase. This will include attraction of potential customers and / or investors, establishment of locality, legal form and governance structure and identification of the key stakeholders and members of the team. Branding and marketing strategy will also be important areas of focus during this phase as they will contribute to commercialization efforts of the EU-India Innocenter.
>To increase project‘s visibility and general public awareness, as well to ensure the attraction of companies‘ to the programmes;
>To continuously fine-tune the programmes of the Innocenter adapting them to the startup needs and providing tailored and personalised assistance;
>To prepare a ground for the EU-India Innocenter establishment as a self-sustaining organisation, executing business model validation and commercialisation activities.
To increase the project‘s visibility, a new version of the website will be released with the new narrative and optimising its usability to convert more startups into applicants. Also, different approaches to acquisition channels will be continuously tested to ensure a higher conversion rate and lower acquisition cost of startups.
In regards to the planning for programme phases, the team will aim to train in total 117 startup participants (Prepare to Expand – 64 companies; Explore and Validate – 33; Enter and Scale – 20) and organise a programme for ecosystem builders. Also, the Explore and Validate and Enter and Scale phases will include the in-country activities. The next period of the project will focus also on creating post-programme support and setting up an alumni network.
As the programmes‘ contents and startup acquisition strategies are set in place in 2021 and first half of 2022, the second half of 2022 and the last year of the project will be devoted to the business model validation and commercialisation of activities. During the validation phase, the EU-India Innocenter will gain a critical understanding of the needs of different stakeholders interested in the adoption and commercialisation of European technologies in India and gauge potential direct and indirect revenue opportunities. The core goal is to define and select the most competitive and scalable business model or combination of business models for commercialization of EU-India Innocenter’s services.
After finalising the business model, the EU-India Innocenter will focus on the execution of the commercialization phase. This will include attraction of potential customers and / or investors, establishment of locality, legal form and governance structure and identification of the key stakeholders and members of the team. Branding and marketing strategy will also be important areas of focus during this phase as they will contribute to commercialization efforts of the EU-India Innocenter.