Elevating the scalability potential of EU Smart Cities’ business for green and sustainable deep tech based solutions

Project Information

FINEST SCALEUP

Grant agreement ID: 101114356

DOI

10.3030/101114356

EC signature date 11 December 2023

Start date 15 March 2024

End date 14 September 2026

Funded under

• European innovation ecosystems

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 999 968,76

Coordinated by

TALLINNA TEHNIKAÜLIKOOL
Estonia

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FINEST SCALEUP (Elevating the scalability potential of EU Smart Cities’ business for green and sustainable deep tech based solutions)

Reporting period: 2024-03-15 to 2025-09-14

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The FINEST SCALEUP projects main goal is to elevate the scalability potential of green and sustainable deep tech solutions in BSR-5.

This goal is triggered by the lack of scale-up funding for startups from “Less Connected and Developing Innovation Ecosystems” (LC&D.IE) particularly women-led, and from the deep tech sector. First, deep tech startups lack investment for scaleup in LC&D.IE. Second, LC&D.IE regions are struggling with attracting foreign investors. Third, and more specifically, there is need to improve the capacity and strength of ‘LC&D.IE’ by enhancing their gender-inclusiveness, openness, competitiveness, and global potential, targeting in particular the green and sustainable Deep tech based innovations. Finally, emerging deep tech innovators and startups need dedicated and directed support to secure foreign investments in order to accelerate their growth, competitiveness and access international markets.

The FINEST SCALEUP project brings together leading research and innovation actors to establish the BSR-5 (EE, LV, LT, FI, PL) as a cross-border, inclusive and gender equal deep tech IE with the main goal to support innovators, startups and entrepreneurs to showcase innovative technologies, attract investment and reach global markets.

The project has 3 main key objectives (KO):
KO1: To improve the capacity and strength of LC&D.IE by enhancing their gender-inclusiveness, openness, competitiveness, and global potential, targeting in particular the green and sustainable deep tech based innovations.
KO2: To attract foreign investors into the FINEST SCALEUP ecosystem by raising awareness of local innovation ecosystems and deep tech startups, as well as the potential of the whole region, to capital providers from across Europe and beyond (also giving special attention to women-led investments).
KO3: To help emerging deep tech innovators and startups to secure foreign investments in order to accelerate their growth, competitiveness and access international markets.

The project´s overall scope and expected impact:
* Stronger innovation performance, increased competitive sustainability and more rapid transitions to a green and digital society and ecosystem integration to provide companies with access to new markets and customers and contribute to disruptive strategies.
* Enhanced network connectivity within IEs by reinforcing their capacity to support existing and emerging innovators and companies.
* Strengthened and expanded cooperation between IEs worldwide.
* More inclusive and gender equal IEs.

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

The project was successfully kicked off in March 2024. WP3 is successfully completed, other WPs are continuing.

WP1: Project Management and Quality Plan (D1.1) has ensured that management and coordination activities & processes are working well and meet the accepted quality by Consortium and EC. WPs, tasks, deliverables and milestones have been prepared, started and submitted in due time. Project meetings and reporting have worked well with 32 biweekly project meetings and 3 internal progress reporting & meetings (every 6 months) held. Proper Risk Assessment and Management and Ethics and Responsible Data Management are in place and ensured with the dedicated Plans that have been updated two times (D1.2 & D1.4 and D1.3 & D1.6). The Expert Advisory Board (EAB) setup and engagement has been initiated with 3 online meetings held.

WP2: Gender Action Plan has been created (D2.1) inclusiveness and gender equality is monitored regularly at 3 levels (consortium, project activities and wider IE) and updated in the GAP v2 (D2.2). Gender Task Force is in place with representatives from all Partners and part of each biweekly meeting.

WP3: LC&D.IE resources mapping and needs assessment was finalized in Summer 2024 with the published Repository and IE mapping (D3.1) and Digital Platform (D3.2). A data base of BSR-5 IE actors was created and new data on members (e.g. startups, scaleups, support organizations and investors) has been added if new knowledge has been gained through activities and events done under the WP4-WP7. Main outcomes are the extensive information and data bases on BSR-5 deep tech IEs and the digital platform under which the collected and analyzed data is shared.

WP4: Capacity building and Enhancing LC&D.IE innovation ecosystems connectivity, resources and competitivity is ongoing with the ‘BSR-5’ Cross-border Partnership Action Plan (D4.1) created and 6 events organized with approx. 195 participants in total (of which 105 women) and 6 trainings coming.

WP5: Attracting Investors and Deep Tech innovators & startups is ongoing with the Digital orientation program for investors (D5.1) created and 13 events organized with approx. 420 participants in total (of which 140 women) and 15 coaching & mentoring sessions coming.

WP6: Matchmaking and deal making support to innovators, startups and investors and support organizations is ongoing with the Consolidated access to existing peer-matching tools (D6.1) provided and 7 events organized with approx. 270 participants in total (of which 70 women) and 27 matchmaking sessions coming.

Under WP4-WP6, 3 joint events have been organized with approx. 120 participants in total (of which 40 women).

For managing the extensive number of events, a unified event calendar was created for WP4-WP7 in the beginning of 2025 to better coordinate the events and consolidate similarly focused ones (same target group, topic, timing).

Under WP7, a framework for monitoring project results, outcomes and impact has been created and implemented. First survey among the project partners has been done with main recommendation to focus more on engaging investors and enabling new investments into BSR-5 deep tech startups.

Under WP8 webpage, project support materials and toolkits have been created with the CED Plan (D8.1) and Toolkit (D8.2) in place, and first version Exploitation, Replicability and Sustainability Plan (D8.3) developed. Approx. 50 LinkedIn posts have been shared to promote WP4-WP7 events to the related BSR-5 IE-s.

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)

Database of deep tech startups, investors and support organizations in the BSR-5, Report on the BSR-5 deep tech sector and Digital orientation program for investors.
More research and analysis is need to: 1) understand the challenges of raising and securing growth funds for scaleup in the related BSR-5 IEs; and 2) to understand who are the foreign investors that have not yet but would be interested to invest into the BSR-5 deep tech companies.
More dissemination and exploitation activities are needed to utilize and operationalize the produced results, to promote the digital platform (where the data and results are shared) and project events. There are too many of these platforms already existing and events organized. It is hard to attract the sector companies. As another challenge, we need to better track the matches between innovators/startups and investors and how many of them led to real investments made.