“Funding for BioTech SMEs: The Do's and Don'ts " in BioTech Forum 2009 - Stockholm - 25 November 2009
KAPPA-Health organised a one-day training for SMEs and SMEs support organisations together with the "SMEs go Health" initiative at the occasion of Biotech Forum in Stockholm.
From 22 countries, 55 participants, including 26 SMEs representatives, 14 academics and 11 SMEs support organisations were trained on public and private funding and how can private enterprises access public funding and make co-operation projects with academic partners a success.
The workshop provided an overview on current public funding programmes and access to private investors, together with discussion and practical tips on how the get the best out of participation in public funded research programmes. A panel discussion with SMEs support services has been held on with assessment of key success factors identified by SMEs participating in EU research projects.
Evaluation of the workshop by participants ranked high and most attendees highlighted the well structured presentations of funding sources provided by KAPPA-Health partners. SMEs were not often aware of different sources of private funding and how to address it, particularly for Venture Capital possibilities.
SMEs consider that participation in smaller European research projects can be more successful in terms of benefits and offer more possibility of product development. Aspect concerning shared intellectual property rights on research results were discussed and appeared to be more easily addressed in smaller consortia. Type and examples of research consortia agreements was also a theme that SMEs would like to be presented in future workshops.
KAPPA-Health enquiry results were presented and discussed with bio-entrepreneurs. The criteria and factors that affect the success of a research project were ranked and corresponded to those that had been identified by the KAPPA-Health project in its initial enquiry. This workshop has been held in collaboration and with the participation of SMEs go Health project's partners.
Check the presentations of the morning session of the workshop (SMEs go Health session)
Public funding: How can private enterprises access public funding and make co-operation projects with academic partners a success?
Dr. Andrea Degen, MD (CEO of http://www.eurelations.com/ )
Public funds are available for the BioTech industry to co-operate with academic partners. Some of the most successful BioTech companies profited from these funds in the past and we asked them about how these funds contributed to their success. In this session the knowledge about successful co-operation publicly funded projects will be transferred to the participants. At the same time an overview on current public funding programmes will be provided together with a step-by-step approach to access public funding.
Private funding: How SMEs can find the right investor and the do’s and dont’s when they present themselves in front of investors.
Dr. Patrik Frei (CEO of www.venturevaluation.com )
Essentially no BioTech company can prosper without private investors at one stage or another during its lifetime, in particular in the early stages of an SME. In this session the participants are informed about the different types of private investors ranging from the early “Family, Friends and Founders” to venture capital and bank credits with an inside view on their respective mind sets. Practical tips are provided on how to present oneself in front of potential investors.