There were a number of positives from the project:
There is increasingly good cross-over between COSME and H2020 programmes, for the benefit of SMEs. Using KAM and EIMC staff, who are actively involved in the COSME programme at operational level, means that opportunities are maximised for participating SMEs.
A good example from KAM work is the company HPNow - It was EEN work under the COSME programme that got them involved in innovation funding for their new biocide, which led to successful SME Instrument projects in phases 1 and 2. The EEN helped the coach and company through the process, which led to a 20% stake from German corporate investor Evonik, guaranteeing sufficient capital to the company to scale up and commercialise the technology.
Under EIMC, a good example of this cooperation is the company Phidan Engineering, which is a small Danish engineering company developing smart ideas and equipment in the agricultural sector. The process started with an idea owner Kim Krongaard had for a mechanical system for weeding root crops. During 2017, EEN provided the company with a full Innovation Health Check and subsequent coaching support under the Horizon 2020 contract, including a series of EEN facilitated internal innovation workshops, where key staff members evaluated the company’s innovation culture, business model, strategy, structure, capacity, resources and innovation processes. The EEN then followed up by providing the company with advisory services on financing, which led to a successful start-up grant of 460.000 kroner (ca. € 62.000). A second lead from the EEN led to a commercial contract for a further 390.000 kroner (ca. € 52.000) which allowed the company to complete their design. In December 2018, the machine was launched at Agromek, the largest agricultural trade fair in Northern Europe, where it was awarded one of the top 3-star news awards, guaranteeing publicity and the EEN is helping follow up on commercial opportunities.
Another positive change in the 2017-2018 programme, was the concept of running joint workshops for smaller groups of SMEs as part of the recruitment process. Rather than selling the concept of Innovation Management to companies individually, it proved better to run joint first workshops together, allowing companies to encourage each other to participate and overcoming any reservations. This was followed up by internal, more traditional workshops in the companies on an individual basis, but it was a good way to start and increase the ratio of companies going forward with an innovation management course.
A final positive gain from the project was the concept of running financial workshops for the benefit of small, innovative companies. It is well known that small spin-out companies have a good understanding of their technologies, but are often commercially weak, but a common thread is also that there is a poor understanding of business economics and finances. As a result, Agro Business Park organised a series of joint workshops for EIMC clients, allowing them to learn basic business finance structures. The courses were taught by Kurt Ebbe Knudsen, the financial controller for Agro Business Park, and have since been made into a series of online self-help videos. The films in Danish can be seen on
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kek+talk+-+det+økonomiske+(öffnet in neuem Fenster) and include separate short sections on basic understanding of financial control, investment calculation, unit costing, operational budgets, liquidity, financial planning, risk analysis, putting a value on a company and the financial life cycle of a start-up. It is foreseen to make versions with English subtitles available during the course of 2019 in order to share them with a wider audience, since this is now considered a standard and basic part of a small business business process.
