One-Stop-Shop Open Access to Photonics Innovation Support for a Digital Europe

Project Information

PhotonHub Europe

Grant agreement ID: 101016665

DOI

10.3030/101016665

Project closed

EC signature date 27 November 2020

Start date 1 January 2021

End date 30 April 2026

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost

€ 19 728 787,76

EU contribution

€ 18 999 931,28

Coordinated by

VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PhotonHub Europe (One-Stop-Shop Open Access to Photonics Innovation Support for a Digital Europe)

Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Photonics is essential to the functioning of new applications which are critical to our ability to fundamentally address the enormous global societal and environmental challenges of our times. Photonics is also a key enabling technology for the transformation of production methods in European manufacturing for increased competitiveness on the global stage and the boosting of Europe’s technological sovereignty. However, many European companies, the vast majority of which are SMEs, lack the expertise and resources to innovate with photonics. In order to overcome this challenge, PhotonHub Europe has been established to specifically accelerate the uptake and deployment of photonics technologies by European industry.
PhotonHub is a unique pan-European photonics innovation hub combining the broadest possible range of photonics expertise, facilities and technologies from Europe’s top existing networks of competence centres, as well as key technical, business, financial, investment and training support services across the full value chain (TRL3-8), all under one roof. The sole aim of PhotonHub is to lower the innovation barriers for European industry, in particular SMEs that are first users and early adopters of photonics, by offering a one-stop-shop solution for exploiting the power of photonics in new “photonics-enabled” products and production methods.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

PhotonHub has achieved excellent progress over this latest reporting period as evidenced by the following results for the period:
A total of 43 deep innovation support projects were granted during the second period compared to just 4 granted projects at the end of the first period, bringing the total number of granted projects so far to 47. This puts PhotonHub firmly back on track towards achieving its original ambitious target for the volume of use cases (over 100) to be supported by the end of the project.
An analysis of the 47 granted innovation projects to date also demonstrates that PhotonHub is fully on track with its other important KPIs for its innovation support services to European industry, in particular:
• The innovation projects are 100% cross-border involving supported companies from 15 different European member states.
• 93% of the supported companies are SMEs and all of the supported companies are early adopters of photonics with 15% of the companies being first-time users of photonics.
• All 6 targeted photonics-driven application domains are well-represented.
• All 8 photonics technology platforms offered by PhotonHub are well-represented.
• 35% of the granted projects are follow-on innovation projects.
• An average TRL advancement of 1,7 levels is targeted by the innovation projects.
• An average R&I expenditure leverage factor of 2,1 times on the EC financial subsidy is anticipated by the innovation projects.
Strong progress was also achieved in this period for the other key activities of PhotonHub covering:
• General awareness-building of photonics innovation opportunities within European end-user industry with large increases in the audience reach of the PhotonHub website, social media channels and promotional videos.
• Training supports to end-user industry with a strong increase in the volume of online introductory courses delivered in photonics innovation aimed at SMEs as first users and early adopters.
• Supports to find investment with over 140 additional companies in this period benefitting from intensive investment-readiness coaching and investor matchmaking support at a series of targeted European events organized by PhotonHub.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

There are two important levels on which PhotonHub expects to deliver its impact – firstly, on the end-user industry in Europe in particular SMEs, and secondly on the wider ecosystem of local digital innovation hubs and in particular the leverage factor on regional and national funding for photonics innovation and the plan for sustainability.
In terms of the impact achieved so far on the end-user industry in Europe in particular SMEs, the results to date are very strong. Based on the carefully scrutinised business plans of the supported companies, the 47 granted innovation projects are expected to deliver 390M€ in new revenues, 693 new jobs and 164M€ in new venture capital in the supported companies as a direct result of the innovation support received, meaning that PhotonHub is on track to meet and even exceed its ultimate ambitious impact objectives from the project over the remaining period.
In terms of impact on the wider innovation ecosystem and the plan for sustainability, PhotonHub has also made further strong progress during this period with the statutes of the PhotonHub Association as a non-profit entity in final preparation for the launch of the Association by the end of 2024. A total of 730 KEUR was secured through the Flemish Resilience Plan to financially support the creation of the PhotonHub Europe Association, while the core PhotonHub partners submitted a strong proposal for the new 15 MEUR Horizon Europe call for a “Photonics Innovation Factory for Europe” as an integral part of the business plan for sustainability. PhotonHub has also taken up the Secretariat of the S3 Platform in Photonics for driving increased regional collaboration and has supported the development of 4 new local photonics hubs during this period (Czechia, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland).

photonhub-horizontal-rgb-ppp.jpg