Summary
- Profile Type
- Research & Development Request
- POD Reference
- RDRAT20250414016
- Term of Validity
- 14 April 2025 - 14 April 2026
- Company's Country
- Austria
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
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General information
- Short Summary
- The business promotion agency, based in southern Austria is interested in submitting a proposal for an upcoming Horizon Europe call with the aim of providing an overview of current funding handling systems used by various agencies. Systems involved in the awarding of funding should be reviewed to identify best practices in providing support to businesses. The Austrian agency seeks other funding agencies with expertise in EU funding programmes to join the consortium and to act as coordinator.
- Full Description
-
The regional business development agency based in southern Austrian is wholly owned by the province and as such has strong ties with the local government on a policy level. The agency itself is an independent company with some 90 staff members tasked with implementing regional government strategy in order to fulfil the objectives of the local government departments and to devise the most suitable and effective measures to:
• strengthen and grow the regional economy
• support start-ups and scale-ups
• foster cooperation between science and industry
• create jobs in the region
• remain well networked with all the key stakeholders in the regional innovation ecosystem (including universities, research institutes, competence centres, incubation centres, clusters etc.)
Supporting individual regional companies by awarding public funding for their planned projects is the main expertise of the agency and significant experience has been gained in granting funds to companies from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as well as the newly established Just Transition Fund (JTF). The organisation also includes a finance team which supports innovative SMEs with silent partnership and venture capital instruments.
The region itself is a hotspot for healthtech, greentech and mobility and enjoys one of the highest R&D rates in the EU.
The agency is also the regional contact point for the Enterprise Europe Network and Horizon Europe and has significant business support experience on a regional, national and European level. To date the team has been involved in a number of Erasmus, Leonardo and Interreg projects and is currently active in a DeepTechValley project.
The new European innovation agenda aims to strengthen innovation systems and to bridge existing innovation gaps within the EU. Programmes such as Horizon Europe play a crucial role in connecting regional innovation ecosystems and directing investments to where they can unleash the greatest growth potential. As part of the Horizon-EIE-2025-03-CONNECT-02 call, the organisation seeks to contribute to the call's goal by attracting venture capital (VC) to Styria and supporting Styrian start-ups and scale-ups on their growth path.
The business promotion agency does not wish to take the lead in the project, but would rather participate as an implementation partner, bringing its regional expertise and network to further strengthen Styria as an innovation hub.
The call focuses on improving the connectivity of innovation ecosystems in Europe and mobilising investments for less-developed regions. The agency aims to examine and actively support the following aspects:
• Enhancing the visibility of Styrian start-ups for international investors through targeted networking initiatives and strategic partnerships.
• Facilitating market entry for foreign investors in Styria by providing information on regulatory frameworks, incentives, and market opportunities.
• Promoting international investment flows into Styria, particularly in later-stage funding for scale-ups.
• Developing and implementing best-practice approaches to improve access to finance for companies in 'emerging' and 'moderate' innovator regions.
• Supporting Styrian start-ups in their international market entry by connecting them with investors, accelerators, and networks in 'strong' or 'innovation leader' regions.
Additionally, the project aims to identify existing challenges and innovation barriers to devise strategic recommendations for policymakers and funding institutions.
The agency seeks partners with experience in connecting innovation ecosystems and fostering investment including:
• Consortium leaders with experience in Horizon Europe projects
• Investor networks and business angels looking to expand into new European markets
• Accelerator programs, technology transfer organisations, and innovation hubs
• Regulatory authorities and policymakers interested in reducing investment barriers and improving growth conditions. - Sustainable Development Goals
- Not relevant
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
- A project coordinator and other project partners are sought.
- Type and Size of Partner
- Other
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
Call details
- Framework program
- Horizon Europe
- Call title and identifier
-
EIE-2025-02-CONNECT-01
- Coordinator required
-
Yes
- Deadline for EoI
- Deadline of the call
- Horizon Europe
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 11004 - Technology, Society and Employment
- 11001 - Socio-economic models, economic aspects
- Market keywords
- 09003007 - Other services (not elsewhere classified)
- Targeted countries
- All countries