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European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency
  • News article
  • 11 June 2021
  • European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency
  • 1 min read

Blue Economy and upcoming opportunities for SMEs

Blue Economy and SMEs (downloaded from Shutterstock)

Blue economy? A source of opportunities for many economic actors, including small and medium-sized enterprises. Let's pay a bit of attention and we will see that SMEs can be offered concrete possibilities to put successful initiatives into practice.

In the framework of H2020-INNOSUP-1, on June 2, DigiCirc project published its second open call, by which a minimum of 15 consortia, composed of at least 2 SMEs, will be chosen to develop innovative solutions addressing predefined blue economy challenges.

This call is open until 3rd August 2021 and the selected consortia will get direct funding of up to €20.000. They will integrate an intensive 12 weeks-long innovation support programme, divided in two phases: the first one to develop their business plan and adapt their solution for the targeted area; and the second to demonstrate how their ideas work in the relevant environment and shape a commercial strategy. 

At the end of the accelerator programme, 5 consortia will receive further funding of €100.000. They will have up to 6 months to develop their prototype and make tests in operational environments in view of a commercial launch.

More information on this call is available on DigiCirc website.

Another not-to-be-missed option is provided by the last round of the BlueInvest platform Readiness Assistance, open until 30st July 2021.  

High potential start-ups and SMEs with innovative and sustainable products and solutions for the blue economy will be selected to receive coaching specifically tailored to their business objectives.

The participants will get targeted assistance from their business coach, over a 3-month period.

An email notification of the selection results will be sent to all candidates one month after the application deadline. In addition, the candidates will receive a report with a brief analysis of their investment readiness.

Click here to apply.

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