Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Peer2Scale-Health (Peer2Scale-Health: Peer-learning action to improve innovation support to health SMEs in their scale-up process)
Période du rapport: 2019-06-01 au 2020-05-31
The overall objective of the Peer2Scale-Health project is the mutual learning of existing support services, the testing of them, and the delivery of optimized support tools to young health SMEs and start-ups to prepare them to the scale-up process. In the following, the term “SME” is mainly used and includes start-ups.
As a consortium, our intention was to investigate the most suitable tools and mechanisms to support SMEs in their scaleup process. We did this through the Twinning+ methodology, which encouraged us to look both at our current actions but also at the unmet needs encountered by the SMEs we are accompanying in their scale-up pathway.
The present Design Options Paper (DOP) explains the applied methodology, summarizes the results during this peer learning action, and provides need-orientated, practical recommendations to health innovation agencies, cluster management organisations, and their ecosystems on how to support SMEs.
In the following, the term “cluster” is used to include cluster management organisations, other innovation agencies and intermediaries, and related institutions.
This DOP is also an invitation to clusters and their ecosystems to conduct peer learning actions for the optimization of regional activities.
As a consortium, our intention was to investigate the most suitable tools and mechanisms to support SMEs in their scaleup process. We did this through the Twinning+ methodology, which encouraged us to look both at our current actions but also at the unmet needs encountered by the SMEs we are accompanying in their scale-up pathway.
The present Design Options Paper (DOP) explains the applied methodology, summarizes the results during this peer learning action, and provides need-orientated, practical recommendations to health innovation agencies, cluster management organisations, and their ecosystems on how to support SMEs.
In the following, the term “cluster” is used to include cluster management organisations, other innovation agencies and intermediaries, and related institutions.
This DOP is also an invitation to clusters and their ecosystems to conduct peer learning actions for the optimization of regional activities.
The first two months of the project were dedicated to the collection and assessment of information about those professional SME support programmes and tools that are currently provided by the project partners, and about the frameworks each partner operates in.
The subsequent eight months were spent organising joint thematic workshops and peer-review actions to learn how to optimize current support tools. Three workshops were organised at three different partner locations, providing a double benefit:
• Attract people and interact with the local ecosystems of each partner region, and thus with relevant stakeholders (SMEs, funding networks and investors, entrepreneurs, business coaches, etc.).
• Communicate about the project in the community to ease dissemination and future exploitation of results, and to prepare the ground for the future implementation of new support services at a larger scale.
The first step was to assess to what extent a supporting environment has an impact on the SMEs in their different development phases.
In a second step, the consortium collected feedbacks and expectations on the Peer2ScaleHealth initiative, and measured the SME satisfaction level during the implementation of the project. The survey we designed during the second step, for example, was focused on SMEs' main needs and hurdles. in which they reported on the type of support tools they found most beneficial, and which support tools they are missing.
The final part of the project was dedicated to creating this DOP.
Concerning the dissemination of the DOP and the project, the project was introduced during Lifetech.Brussels annual event, Biocat's Biodesign workshop and during the MedFIt convention in Lille.
The DOP will be available on each partner's website, and announced on the different partner's newsletters.
The DOP will be disseminated by targeted emails to the project partners network. It will also be printed and distributed during the next MedFIT convention on Eurasanté's stand and available for everyone present during this conference.
The subsequent eight months were spent organising joint thematic workshops and peer-review actions to learn how to optimize current support tools. Three workshops were organised at three different partner locations, providing a double benefit:
• Attract people and interact with the local ecosystems of each partner region, and thus with relevant stakeholders (SMEs, funding networks and investors, entrepreneurs, business coaches, etc.).
• Communicate about the project in the community to ease dissemination and future exploitation of results, and to prepare the ground for the future implementation of new support services at a larger scale.
The first step was to assess to what extent a supporting environment has an impact on the SMEs in their different development phases.
In a second step, the consortium collected feedbacks and expectations on the Peer2ScaleHealth initiative, and measured the SME satisfaction level during the implementation of the project. The survey we designed during the second step, for example, was focused on SMEs' main needs and hurdles. in which they reported on the type of support tools they found most beneficial, and which support tools they are missing.
The final part of the project was dedicated to creating this DOP.
Concerning the dissemination of the DOP and the project, the project was introduced during Lifetech.Brussels annual event, Biocat's Biodesign workshop and during the MedFIt convention in Lille.
The DOP will be available on each partner's website, and announced on the different partner's newsletters.
The DOP will be disseminated by targeted emails to the project partners network. It will also be printed and distributed during the next MedFIT convention on Eurasanté's stand and available for everyone present during this conference.
Clusters are often generalists or focusing on a specific sub-sector. A cluster consortium pools complimentary expertise, networks, and activities, providing more valuable, internationally relevant and diverse services, which meet the various individual SME needs for scaling-up. Through a consortium, clusters can share contacts, including experts, mentors and peers, who already operate successfully in a certain field, which may be underdeveloped in other regions, to facilitate the access of international SMEs to that specific (sub-)sector.
Access to accessible knowledge for effective coaching. Also taking global developments into consideration, clusters also benefit from sharing their experts with other clusters, e.g. by organising joint international trainings involving SMEs from other cluster regions, or by recommending their own experts for trainings organised in another cluster region.
To scale-up into a different (sub-)sector, SMEs also need coaching about hidden opportunities from experts who are up-to-date with global developments. For this, consortia of clusters with different sub-sector specialisations can facilitate such scale-up trainings, e.g. by providing healthIT seminars for the other clusters.
Demand-orientated cluster consortia are effective coordinators of SME funding programmes, taking the bureaucratic load of the SMEs, making funding better available for SMEs, and bringing together European SMEs with similar and complimenting interests.
Clusters might want to share investors and pitching events. The obvious benefit is the critical mass of potentially interesting SMEs for the investors. However, cluster-investor relations are based on trust with regards to the quality of the pitches and SME technologies, and with regards to confidentiality, so that investors are not overly approached by money-seeking SMEs who are not in their investment focus. Thus, joint pitching events require a careful preparation including pitch training and pre-selection of suitable pitching candidates matching them with the specific interest of each investor.
A cluster consortium can accelerate scaling-up into European markets by each partner providing certain pre-matching or soft-landing packages to the SMEs of the consortium partners’ regions. Since this is timeconsuming, it is crucial to clearly define the scope of such
services according to the specific resources available to each cluster partner. It is also important that each partner benefits from such a cooperation, i.e. that there is interest of SMEs in all partner regions to enter the other markets.
A number of such European market entry schemes and support-initiatives already exists, but they need to be mapped and made simpler to be identified and used.
Clusters often represent their region and industry sectors at international conferences – a luxury, that SMEs can only do in a limited way. Cluster consortia have thus the advantage that they can scout for and select the most beneficial events and fairs, and perhaps even join forces to take a group of European SMEs to such events, or organise scale-up sessions at large conventions.
Access to accessible knowledge for effective coaching. Also taking global developments into consideration, clusters also benefit from sharing their experts with other clusters, e.g. by organising joint international trainings involving SMEs from other cluster regions, or by recommending their own experts for trainings organised in another cluster region.
To scale-up into a different (sub-)sector, SMEs also need coaching about hidden opportunities from experts who are up-to-date with global developments. For this, consortia of clusters with different sub-sector specialisations can facilitate such scale-up trainings, e.g. by providing healthIT seminars for the other clusters.
Demand-orientated cluster consortia are effective coordinators of SME funding programmes, taking the bureaucratic load of the SMEs, making funding better available for SMEs, and bringing together European SMEs with similar and complimenting interests.
Clusters might want to share investors and pitching events. The obvious benefit is the critical mass of potentially interesting SMEs for the investors. However, cluster-investor relations are based on trust with regards to the quality of the pitches and SME technologies, and with regards to confidentiality, so that investors are not overly approached by money-seeking SMEs who are not in their investment focus. Thus, joint pitching events require a careful preparation including pitch training and pre-selection of suitable pitching candidates matching them with the specific interest of each investor.
A cluster consortium can accelerate scaling-up into European markets by each partner providing certain pre-matching or soft-landing packages to the SMEs of the consortium partners’ regions. Since this is timeconsuming, it is crucial to clearly define the scope of such
services according to the specific resources available to each cluster partner. It is also important that each partner benefits from such a cooperation, i.e. that there is interest of SMEs in all partner regions to enter the other markets.
A number of such European market entry schemes and support-initiatives already exists, but they need to be mapped and made simpler to be identified and used.
Clusters often represent their region and industry sectors at international conferences – a luxury, that SMEs can only do in a limited way. Cluster consortia have thus the advantage that they can scout for and select the most beneficial events and fairs, and perhaps even join forces to take a group of European SMEs to such events, or organise scale-up sessions at large conventions.