CALL FOR INNOVATIVE STARTUPS AND SMEs
TO MATCHMAKING WITH LARGE COMPANIES
IN CLEANTECH SECTORS
Europe is changing fast towards a greener future and innovations are key factors to that change. Without them sustainability of our future is at stake. And these are often startups and SMEs that lead on the path of both breakthrough or incremental innovations. Their much-wanted inventions can help to create a better, cleaner tomorrow for us and for our children. But for that purpose, leverage is needed. It can be offered by large corporations that operate in the market of energy and environment related markets. They are open for new solutions and for undertakings that offer them.
Therefore there is a potential for synergies between the inventors and innovation-seeking large companies in the cleantech sector. The potential for mutual benefits that we now open right for you.
- If you are a team of motivated people, or a startup or SME located in Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia or Slovenia,
- If you feel that you have an interesting, innovative idea in cleantech sector,
- If you look for a large, reliable and well-established partner – a corporate in cleantech sector located in Central Europe,
- Just fill in the enclosed application form for the Matchmaking Acceleration Programme of the InNow project. This can be a start of new perspectives right for you, boosting your business to new frontiers.
What we offer:
- Possibility to work with one or more of large companies in the cleantech sector from project’s area;
- Mentoring and support during the acceleration process
- Business development trainings and coaching.
What’s important: it’s all FREE!
So don’t wait and apply now!- If you are a team of motivated people, or a startup or SME located in Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia or Slovenia,
This call objective is to offer SME and start-ups in the field of green technology the opportunity to work with a large company from Central Europe region, and thus accelerating their business growth, in the form of MATCHMAKING ACCELERATION PROGRAMME.
One of the following LARGE COMPANIES CAN BE YOUR COOPERATION PARTNER:
- Veolia Group (Poland) in Poland has been a reliable partner of cities and industry throughout the country for 25 years. Veolia constantly looks for innovative solutions in areas such as decarbonization, energy efficiency, e-mobility, indoor air quality and energy balancing.
- ZSE (Slovakia), a provider of electricity distribution in the Western Slovakia to more than 1 Million supply points and supplier of electricity and gas to households and companies. The company provides additional services and complete solutions to energy customers aimed at using renewable energy sources and technologies for intelligent households. ZSE Group has been part of the German energy Group E.ON since 2002.
- BPT d.o.o. (Slovenia), established over 60 years ago, is visited by 21 million customers yearly. The history of the company is characterised by two things: space itself and goods. From a storage space, initially serving only shops in Ljubljana, it has developed in time into the largest inland terminal in South-East Europe and gradually created an urban area, BTC City. This is the place where a series of bold projects has been realised, on a large scale and with a vision– projects reflecting the creative vitality, tremendous enthusiasm for work and fresh creativity.
- Tungsram Group (Hungary), with main activities in manufacturing, a company with 125 yrs tradition in manufacturing and innovation. They are interested in extending their product portfolio.
- HEP ESCO d.o.o. (Croatia) is specialized for financing and implementation of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources and energy management projects.
You can also apply without specifying the company you want to work with. In this case, the InNow consortium will decide on the best fit (Please find more about the Large Companies in the annex 1 to this call).
To be considered eligible entity for the programme, you must state in the application form:
(1) that you are a start-up – meaning a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable economic model of an innovative idea;
or an SME - according to the EU definition (if you are not sure, check HERE);
(2) that you are or will be active in one or more regions of the eligible programme area: Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Applicants from: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and Italy may also apply, but priority will be given to the first pool of countries. Please note that only some areas of Germany and Italy are eligible. Check Interreg Central Europe website for details.
(3) that you want to work in at least one of the following GreenTech fields:
- Energy efficiency
- Sustainable use of resources
- Environmental protection activities
- Recycling
- Reuse/ Circular economy
- Smart and efficient buildings & cities
- Smart electric grid
- Green transport & mobility
- Renewable energies
- Green Chemistry
- District heating
- Energy storage (especially heat storage)
- Energy generation
- Other fields, related to Cleantech and or sustainability, energy efficiency and renewable energy.
- Other fields presented by the large companies as special challenge
Your applications will be evaluated according to the following evaluation criteria:
- Clear definition of the problem that you (want to) address.
- Clear connection to the problem(s) of any of the Large Companies presented in the Open Call
- Market need for the product / service established and demonstrated by support of external sources.
- Size and skills of the team appropriate for the problem they want to address
- Scalability of the product
- Evaluators from large companies and from will be scoring your applications, awarding you a score on a scale from 0 to 5 on each criterion.
- Information on the outcome of evaluation will be communicated to the applicants after the evaluation process. The evaluation process will take place in maximum 10 working days from the deadline for submission. Information of the applicants about the evaluation outcomes will be given maximum 5 working days after evaluation closure.
Deadline for applications: 5th December 2021 (Sunday)- If you are experiencing any difficulties with the form, please contact innow@innoenergy.com
InNow (Innovate Now! Innovation Support Framework for fostering the collaboration of startups, SMEs and large companies on clean-tech projects) is a project founded by the European Union in Interreg Central Europe Programme and it aims at cooperation between start-ups, SMEs and large companies that could result in mutual synergies and an increased number of innovative solutions and products.
- To learn more about the project VISIT WEBSITE
ANNEX 1: LARGE COMPANIES PARTICIPATING IN THE CAL
ZSE (Slovakia), a provider of electricity distribution in the Western Slovakia to more than 1 Million supply points and supplier of electricity and gas to households and companies. The company provides additional services and complete solutions to energy customers aimed at using renewable energy sources and technologies for intelligent households. ZSE Group has been part of the German energy Group E.ON since 2002.
- They are looking for new technology and innovation and want to engage their employees more with start-ups and technology trends. Their main challenge, as a company, where you as a start-up can help, is new business models and opportunities, gradual transition towards higher energy efficiency and renewables. ZSE are offering you: knowledge, long term partnership, possibility of piloting your project. They are also interested in purchasing your product.
of the company is characterised by two things: space itself and goods. From a storage space, initially serving only shops in Ljubljana, it has developed in time into the largest inland terminal in South-East Europe and gradually created an urban area, BTC City.
- This is the place where a series of bold projects has been realised, on a large scale and with a vision– projects reflecting the creative vitality, tremendous enthusiasm for work and fresh creativity. A space with 475.000 m2, hosts this project in terms of shops, service facilities, business area, storage space and many others. With co-investors and long-term partners BTC has created a leading European city and by modernising its logistics services, another major business line, it became a market leader in the logistics industry in Slovenia. The urban area of BTC City has become a democratic space, open to everyone – a space of multiple identities which not only affords great development opportunities but also generates new regional and metropolitan awareness.
BTC offers companies the opportunity to demonstrate their advanced solutions and test their products and services in a real testing environment of BTC Living Lab. This is an innovative ecosystem that welcomes start-ups and large companies, and connects them to create great projects that can become even bigger success stories. It’s time for businesses to enter the transformation that will create added value. We’re proud to provide this platform as a stepping-stone to a brighter future.
When we think of the future, we imagine it to be bright and green. With every step we take forward, we strive to leave as small footprint as possible. We have put the environment at the top of our priority list. It’s about green investments and promoting green products, green values and an active awareness. Sustainability is not just another word we use, it’s something we live every day.
Topic of interest:
- Green Tech
- Energy efficiency
- Sustainable Mobility
Tungsram Group (Hungary), with main activities in manufacturing, a company with 125 years tradition in manufacturing and innovation. They are interested in extending their product portfolio. Tungsram wants to help tackle some of the pressing challenges of our time. Here we focus on liveable environments with lower energy consumption and cost. The company looks for innovations that can extend their existing portfolio and would help them with its competences in manufacturing, global distribution and engineering.
HEP ESCO d.o.o.is a state owned company, the member of HEP group, Croatia that develops, implements and finances market-based energy efficiency projects.
HEP ESCO is interested in gaining new business ideas which can result in energy savings and new business models for implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and they can offer Knowledge and Pilot Project.
HEP ESCO clients are customers of all forms of energy in the following areas: Buildings, Public lighting, Energy supply systems (cogeneration, district heating). In addition to clients from the above areas, domestic businesses, consulting and engineering firms, equipment manufacturers, installers, commercial banks and others are included in the projects by HEP ESCO. More details are available at THE WEB PAGE
