Mutual learning and support scheme for national and regional innovation programmes

Deadline: 19 September 2024

Expected outcome:

Projects results are expected to contribute to at least four of the following expected outcomes:
  • Reduced fragmentation of innovation ecosystems and national/regional start-up support schemes;
  • Increased cooperation, learning, and exchange of knowledge between national and regional innovation support public authorities and agencies in order to ensure that their innovation funding schemes respond to the requirements of the Plug-in certification for step 2 of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator;
  • Improved ongoing and/or set up of new national and regional innovation funding programmes whose criteria are to fit to pass the certification for the Plug-in scheme;
  • The use, requirements and access to the Plug-in scheme are well communicated to the innovation ecosystem stakeholders, particularly start-ups and Small and Medium-seized Enterprises (SMEs);
  • A more homogenous, equal, and aligned approach in the evaluation process of projects under national and regional support schemes.

Scope:

Start-ups and SMEs are the primary source of innovation in the European Union (EU) and globally. However, the fragmentation of innovation ecosystems and the lack of connectedness among public national and regional agencies and innovation support schemes appear to be one of the main bottlenecks towards ensuring sufficient support of the most promising start-up and scale-up companies in the EU.