innovation support services handbook - inclusilver · effectively. this is especially critical...

© INCluSilver 2017

The project “INCluSilver” has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 731349

Innovation Support Services Handbook

for SMEs and Entrepreneurs

Innovation in personalised

nutrition for the silver

population

© INCluSilver 2017


INCluSilver | Innovation Support Services Handbook

Introduction

The INCluSilver project aims at supporting cross-border and cross-sectoral collaboration

between actors from agri-food, health, ICT and creative industries. Its goal is to create the right

conditions and foster the development and validation of innovative ideas, in the field of

personalised nutrition for the silver population, which demonstrate significant market potential.

INCluSilver targets the development of new cross-sectoral/-cluster/-border industrial value-

chains, including in particular SMEs, to foster the development of “personalised nutrition for the

silver population” in Europe and expand to the world. This pursued development is based not

only on the establishment of new value chains, but also on the reconfiguration of existing ones

driven by the integration of new technologies and expertise.

The present handbook aims at providing potential beneficiaries, entrepreneurs and SMEs with a

comprehensive and exhaustive list of Innovation Support Services – ISS offered by INCluSilver

partners within the framework of their efforts to align all available capacity across Europe for a

common goal. It is interesting to note that all of the listed Innovation Support Services will be

offered free of charge to entrepreneurs and SMEs, complimentary to the Innovation Voucher

Scheme - IVS.

The ISS aim at offering innovation support to the participants of the different IVS calls for

proposals launched during the project, and therefore bridge gaps between high and low-

performing serviced participants. In this respect, Innovation Support Services will consist of a first

step for assessing and redirecting new cross-sectoral and cross-border innovative projects in

order to boost their potential. INCluSilver will provide applicants with a first basic level of support,

aimed at providing innovation support services to entrepreneurs and SMEs to assess the potential

and pave the way for a further development of their innovative ideas or business projects in the

main INCluSilver areas of intervention through IVS.

Furthermore, the ISS target the enhancement of entrepreneurial and innovation skills and the

provision of professional training and expert services to the larger European SME community,

and mostly to those SMEs that belong to the direct outreach of INCluSilver partners (cluster

members or SMEs being in the close network/communication channels of INCluSilver partners).

The ISS are provided by the INCluSilver partners. INCluSilver partners are representatives of

regional clusters and business and innovation support organizations. To this extent, clusters act as

springboard for the promotion of innovation, as well as catalysts for regional innovative projects

and regional innovation and competitiveness.

INCluSilver SMEs helpdesk

Expertise services provided by partners will be available to SMEs. The need for these services

could be requested formally by the SMEs through an Expression of Interest-EoI or identified by

the innovation officers appointed to the successful IVS applications. All innovation officers will

form the INCluSilver SMEs Helpdesk, which will be coordinated by Corallia and Clusaga. Services

offered by the helpdesk are free, beneficiary SMEs must be either cluster members or IVS

beneficiaries that are being supported by the INCluSilver partners.

© INCluSilver 2017


Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management Webinars & “How to” Toolkit

SMEs will be contacted through the dissemination channels of consortium partners and will be

invited to participate to training sessions (webinars) providing them the opportunity to highly

benefit from free innovation support primarily addressing the basic concepts and introduction to

marketing and branding strategy, business plan creation, business plan commercialisation etc.,

thus providing them a stable basis for development.

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation management training material along with the organisation

and delivery of the training sessions (webinars) will be directly developed and provided by the

INCluSilver consortium. In addition, a “How to” guide/toolkit with a cross-sectorial approach will

be developed and provided to the SMEs assisting them on how to communicate with the other

sectors. Both outputs will be uploaded on INCluSilver’s website and will be freely available to the

entire European SME community.

Overview of the Innovation Support Services

The main themes covered by the Innovation Support Services are listed below, along with the

names of the INCluSilver partners* that offer them:

Branding & PR: Danish Food Cluster, SFIN & Corallia

Business Model: SFIN, Clusaga & Corallia

Fundraising/ Access to Finance &

Pitching Investors: Corallia & D.A.Re. scrl

Internationalisation: Clusaga, Innoskart, Agropolis & Corallia

Incubation / Co-location: Surrey University, Clusaga & Corallia

* Service provision leading partners appear first in light blue bold font

Service provision model:

The services will be offered in two stages:

Firstly, there will be a training session through five consecutive webinars, one for each service,

which will be then repeated in given time and in sync with the evaluation process of the IVS. At

the same time, video presentations of those sessions will be uploaded and available online.

On a second stage, a dedicated consultation between subject matter experts (reps. from each

partner) and interested SMEs will take place. This consultation will be under the format of open

office hours, during which SMEs will be able to seek advice on concrete matters. The meetings

can be physical or online via eg. Skype and must be pre-arranged.

© INCluSilver 2017


01 Branding & PR

A specialised Helpdesk service offering online support and guidelines on matters

related to branding & public relations (of the project/ product/ service) including:

pamphlets/ flyers, online presence including social media, press kit preparation

and events.

#1 Service Description:

Branding & PR service is about

understanding the basics in building a

branding and PR plan and/ or strategy for

SMEs to support their products, services and

company.

Many businesses and not only the healthy

food business companies realise that their

brand is one of the greatest assets they can

have. They need to establish their products’

or services’ identity in the marketplace by

having a good reputation. However, many of

them undervalue the importance of

branding, and fail to market their companies

effectively. This is especially critical within

the food industry struggling with low

consumer trust and a lack of connection with

main stakeholders such as food bloggers

and the complex regulations regarding

health claims.

The process for establishing a strong brand

name is fundamental to any small business

in order that it may compete and grow. The

services provided by INCluSilver partners

need to be mainly focused on fully

understanding the relationship and

importance of effective branding and value

creation as well as on presenting the

principals of effective public relations and

communications activities, which will make

SMEs more visible to the community, and

increase awareness of, and enhance their

image.

The service will be focusing on the different

aspects in using the different online tools

eg. website, newsletter and social media.

The different platforms have strengths and

weaknesses and by knowing these, SMEs

can build a more focused branding and PR

strategy.

#2 Main Service TakeAway:

SMEs will be ready to build or support their

existing branding and PR strategy. They will

get guidelines for making a content plan for

the different online media as well the

required tools and insights to monitor online

activities; all given in a simple guide.

#3 Service Providers:

Danish Food Cluster (DFC) is a

membership organisation for businesses,

research institutions, and public authorities

working within the food and agriculture

sector. Communication, dissemination and

promotion is a vital part of DFC,

through different channels (website, events,

social media, press, newsletter etc.). Hence,

it will bring knowledge on using the

specific tools and build a branding

strategy for the participating SMEs.

#4 Link with IVS:

Branding & PR Service can be beneficiary,

especially in relation to the following PIVs:

Scalability and Internationalisation,

Demonstration, Technology Transfer

Voucher and 2IV: Ideas Innovation.

© INCluSilver 2017


02 Business Model

Assessing business models and business plans and recommendation for

improvement.


The building of a coherent business model is

of vital importance for all startups as well as

for growth companies. A business model is

the method by which an organisation utilises

its resources to deliver value to customers

while maximising profits and growth. The

model provides a structure or framework for

delivering products or services to an

intended audience. INCluSilver partners will

provide the principles of evaluating and

improving the business model to ensure that

the current model will support SMEs’ plans

for growth.

This service will cover the following areas:

Establish and secure market position

How to secure knowledge of the market and

consumer trends that the company is

supposed to do business in? Try to establish

potential positions that are available or

possible to establish. That means research

in terms of market data etc. But also be

prepared to test ideas - most interesting

services and products are not necessarily

known to the market as it never be

introduced before. Analyse all other

parameters that will influence the intended

business - legislation, trademarks,

distribution, potential production partners

etc.

Formulate & execute business plan and

organise team

How to formulate a business plan. Vision,

mission, objectives, strategy. And as a result

of that process - how to organise (building

teams), manage and finance the company.

Emphasise the need to be customer focused

and committed to really try to understand

the need of the customer, which is not

always known.

Build and maintain a network of partners

and expertise

How to build a relevant network of partners

and expertise that can support the business

in respective areas not available in-house

(Patent Consultants, lawyers, bankers, PR

and branding consultants, web specialist, IT

support, accountant agency etc.) It’s also

beneficial for startups to try to join a

business incubator in order to meet with

other SMEs and receive assistance from

coaches often available.

This service will also be provided to

companies which need to accelerate their

business. It will cover the following areas:

SMEs that have been around for a while

often know most of the things mentioned

above. Their challenge is more likely how to

accelerate their business. Some incubators

provide accelerator programs that can be

useful to participate in. Other challenges are

financing the growth of the company - the

need for finding investors accelerate.

Production and distribution often need to be

addressed and also how to export your

business proposals etc. These are areas that

will also be covered in the service.

#2 Main Service Take-Away:

SMEs will understand the principles of

business model design and will gain

significant and valuable insight, via practical

advice as to how, when & why business

model matters for their business; all given in

a simple guide.

© INCluSilver 2017


#3 Service Providers:

Skåne Food Innovation Network (SFIN) will

offer its most experienced team members –

both in work and academic environment – in

Business Administration, in order to provide

skillful insight to SMEs in all related matters.

In addition, SFIN will exploit its

comprehensive experience in business

incubation services and investment in order

to present an all-inclusive, yet complete

guide in business modeling to SMEs.

#4 Link with IVS:

Business Model Service can be beneficiary,

especially in relation to the following PIVs:

Scalability and Internationalisation,

Economic Feasibility Analysis and 2IV: Ideas

Innovation.

03 Fundraising/ Access to Finance & Pitching Investors

Support acquisition of access to funding and other fundraising

opportunities for SMEs, including detailed information and consultancy

on related opportunities at regional, national and EU level, financial

brokerage and consultancy to successfully contact VCs, BAs and training

to sharpen investment readiness, at all levels, particularly designed to

meet the needs of the participating SMEs.


Broadening the funding opportunities

available and accessible to SMEs from the

food industry is a key challenge in quest of

fostering their development and sustaining

the most dynamic ones. It also represents a

long-term challenge to improving the SMEs’

capital structure and investment capacity,

and decreasing their over-reliance and

vulnerability to the traditional lending

channels.

The focus here is placed on broadening the

finance options available to SMEs by

improving understanding about the full

range of financing instruments they can

access in varying circumstances and by

encouraging discussion among stakeholders

about new approaches and innovative

policies for SME financing.

In addition, investment readiness and

investor awareness training is needed to

attract private investment, especially in

emerging industries. Thus, entrepreneurs

from the project may need to pitch to

investors to raise capital or use pitching

techniques when, for example, they take part

in a trade show etc. Many entrepreneurs are

inexperienced at making such presentations.

The focus here is placed on providing basic

pitching guidelines and highlighting things

to avoid.

As part of this service, SMEs will receive

support on early stage financing. More

specifically, they will gain knowledge on:

(1) available capital sources, namely:

- Independent Investors (Institutional

Funds, Venture Capitalists, Business

Angels, etc.)

- European Investment Funds - loans and

venture capital supported by the

European Union (The European

Commission uses financial instruments

and helps EU companies get access to

loans and guarantees, venture capital,

business angels, growth stock markets,

crowdfunding.)

- European Programmes & National and

Regional Programmes in partners

countries

(2) the process to access the above-

mentioned funding means. Through this

service, SMEs will obtain practical know-

© INCluSilver 2017


how in order to address these sources

(they will learn how to pitch investors,

when to decide to raise capital, etc.).


Key questions that will be answered

include:

- When to raise outside capital? What area

of the company or what stage of the

company do you want to find investors

for?

- What kind of investors invest by stage

and where to find them?

- What are the fundraising options? How

to raise outside capital?

- What are the key components of the

term sheet and how can they read one?

- How to perform company valuations?

And how can they value the investors’

companies? How will investors value

their company (Due diligence main steps

and metrics)?

- How to pitch to investors?

- What techniques help the entrepreneur

‘get to the close’?

- How to apply for an EU funding

programme?

- How to apply for an EU loan?

- How to assess the proposal

consistency/quality? (tech. readiness

level, KETs they can use or address, the

societal challenges met, the value-chain

to be built or started up, the staff’s

know-how and the need of collaborative

researches, the need of a demonstrator).

#3 Leading Service Provider:

Corallia has accumulated more than 10 years

of experience in supporting SMEs and

entrepreneurs in their efforts to get access

to finance and raise money through public

or private funding sources, with many

success stories among its members,

including the acquisition of several regional,

European and national funding tools.

#4 Link with IVS:

Fundraising/ Access to Finance & Pitching

Investors Service can be beneficiary,

especially in relation to the following IVs:

Scalability and Internationalisation Voucher,

Demonstration Voucher, Economic

Feasibility Analysis Voucher, IPR Innovation

Voucher.

04 Internationalisation

Assessing opportunities for internationalisation and recommendations.

Identifying the most suitable markets, trade missions and exhibitions.


Internationalisation opens up new markets

for SMEs and has the potential to boost SME

competitiveness and growth considerably.

Internationalisation results in gaining

competitiveness as a company which may

ultimately translate into upgraded economic

performance at local and European level (EC,

2010, p 57). Internationally active SMEs,

therefore, are more competitive than their

local counterparts (EC, 2010, p 70). Food

industry has a long tradition and the new

tendencies and the future of food industry is

going towards functional, healthy and

personalised food for the consumers inside

and outside of European Union. Small

businesses operating in the food industry

face many difficulties in trying to broad and

expand to new market, that is why these

companies are a key innovation and they

© INCluSilver 2017


have done many breakthroughs in the food

industry as well.

On this foundation, the INCLuSilver partners

will provide the basics and principles for the

SMEs to facilitate the use of possibilities

offered by the national agencies supporting

the international development of the

European countries, as well as promoting

and facilitating international investments;

the development of international

partnerships so that SMEs have easier access

to global value chains, develop strategic

alliances with research organisations, expand

SMEs commercial activities both inside and

outside of European Union, and obtain

appropriate skills and tailored professional

advice (EC, 2011 (2), p 13) in order to help

them grow and survive ion the global

market.

The service aims at encouraging the growing

tendency of cooperation between SMEs (and

clusters) across national boundaries.

We are focusing on business development

to make SMEs able to operate in different

cultures and languages easily.

Areas covered in SMEs’ competency

development:

- why internationalisation? (advantages

and threats of stepping out to the

international market, etc.)

- how to identify SMEs’ opportunities in

international markets? (trainings/

motivation, within the company)

- what are the needed steps to go

international? (strategic planning,

international marketing strategy, proper

human and financial resources, validated

and competitive products, services and

business model, etc.)

- how to collect relevant business/

technology information from abroad?

(market research and networking)

- how to search international business or

project partners? (B2B and C2C actions).


Internationalisation is a challenge but brave

organisations often win. The service is

excellent for providing learning by examples:

SMEs are supported in their decisions, good

and bad examples are presented, and if it

seems that the SME is not ready for

internationalisation, further support will be

offered.


Galicia Food & Drink Cluster (Clusaga) has

been developing different activities of

international promotion with the aim of

improving the positioning of its member

(food) companies in international markets. In

this area, Clusaga has been actively involved

and is broadly experienced in defining

international strategy (providing companies

with qualitative information on target

markets, market trends or most demanded

products) up to detecting of opportunities

and potential buyers through target trade

missions and organisation of other events.

#4 Link with IVS:

Internationalisation Service can be

beneficiary, especially in relation to the

following IVs: Scalability and

Internationalisation Voucher, Technology

Transfer Voucher, Economic Feasibility

Analysis Voucher, IPR Innovation Voucher.

© INCluSilver 2017


05 Incubation / Co-location:

Assessing opportunities for incubation and redirection to the right

incubation programme.


Small healthy-food businesses face

numerous challenges such as: absence of

managerial skills, lack of financial support,

access to markets, usable technology and

services, lack of interest by employees, and

inadequate institutional support. As the

small and medium sized businesses

increasingly become a major feature of

economic development policy, the business

incubation is now observed as dynamic

hybridised economic development facilities

that combine features of entrepreneurship,

business facilitation and support

mechanisms for economic growth on the

global scale.

The INCluSilver service focuses on helping

SMEs to access the nurturing environment

needed to develop and grow their

businesses, offering everything from virtual

support, rent-a-desk through to state of the

art laboratories and everything in between

(such as: direct access to hands on intensive

business support, access to finance and

experts and to other entrepreneurs and

suppliers) to really make businesses and

entrepreneurs to grow. The goal is to

increase the chance that a start-up will

succeed, shorten the time and reduce the

cost of establishing and growing its

business.


Participating SMEs will have the chance to

use, for 2 to 3 days a dedicated office space

area in close proximity with cluster members.

Office spaces are fully equipped with state-

of-the-art connectivity systems

(telecommunication), including optical fibre

to meet the high demands in data (media,

sound, and graphics) transmission.


Surrey University is a founding member of

the SETsquared Partnership of five

research intensive institutions in the south

of England. The University supports and

grows businesses from across a number of

key technological areas. Since 2002 our

enviable track record of success

in supporting and accelerating 165+ early

stage, high-growth technology businesses

speaks for itself, with 75% still trading and

over 90% surviving more than 3 years.

#4 Link with IVS:

Incubation / Co-location Service can be

beneficiary, especially in relation to the

following PIVs: Ideas Innovation Voucher,

Demonstration Voucher, Technology

Transfer Voucher, IPR Innovation Voucher.

innovation support services handbook - inclusilver · effectively. this is especially critical...

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