|
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.
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.
|