INDUSAC’s main objective was to develop and validate an Industry Academia collaboration (IAC) mechanism for quick, challenge-driven, human-centred co-creation, and facilitate a simple, user-friendly co-creation process developing solutions addressing the needs and interests of companies, students, and researchers in the EU, with special attention to widening and associated countries. INDUSAC was based on two pillars: (1) a methodology developed by applying human-centred design principles and (2) an online platform connecting stakeholders from the industry-academia ecosystem and supporting them throughout their co-creation journey. The methodology provided the guidance and tools needed to power the process, whilst the platform represented a networking space for the methodology’s operational support. Through the experience of enabling publication of around 250 industrial challenges and supporting around 160 international co-creation teams throughout the project’s lifetime, the INDUSAC mechanism and its two key components were successively improved until the project end, and delivered a tested mechanism ready for replication and upskilling. INDUSAC also created a community of industry-academia stakeholders, including more than 270 companies, 180 researchers and 950 students, and having reached out to more than 28,000 companies and 550,000 students and researchers.