SmartX is a cascading funding project funded under the EU’s HORIZON 2020 Programme, call Innosup-01-2018 for cluster facilitated projects for new industrial value chains.
Smart Textiles, defined as textiles with integrated electronic functionalities, represent an emerging market which according to various international studies has the potential into growing into a multi-billion Euro opportunity over the coming years. An estimate produced by EURATEX - the European Apparel and Textile Confederation pegs the value of this market in the EU alone at € 1.5 billion in 2023.
Europe is in a world-leading position in terms of textile research, technology development and industry innovation and also has a highly sophisticated and innovative microelectronics, IoT and software sector. Smart textile products are expected to be able to provide high added value solutions for consumers and professional customers in a broad range of end markets such as healthcare, sports & protection, defence and transport, construction and interiors and others.
Realising a true market breakthrough for smart textiles requires collaboration between researchers, technology developers, manufacturers, service providers and end customers from many disciplines. In addition the current smart textile innovators are scattered across Europe, often start-ups or SMEs with limited internal resources, need to build innovation and business development partnerships across borders and along the value chain. A specific problem is the lack of industrial manufacturing capacities for smart textiles due to the highly complex nature of multi-material joining and assembly and the currently too small volumes of smart textiles.
The SmartX project contributed to overcoming these challenges by selecting, funding and coaching a portfolio of 25 high-potential SME-led projects innovating in the field of smart textiles addressing the health and well-being, sports, protection or industrial end markets.
A specific emphasis was put on projects which favourably impacted the emerging industrial manufacturing value chain for smart textiles in Europe.
A special role was played by the cluster organisations making up a significant share of the SmartX consortium. They were instrumental in identifying and reaching out to promising SMEs, coaching them during the project application and implementation work and helping them to valorise their results through exploitation coaching and dissemination activities.
