Month: February 2018

Following a competitive selection process, 20 Application Experiments (AE) will be selected and conducted to demonstrate the transfer of flexible electronics technologies into new products, processes, business models and business opportunities.

Apart from a range of technical services, which will be provided by SmartEEs competence centers – CEA, CPI, TNO, VTT, EURECAT, FRAUNHOFER FEP, and IMEC, each selected Application Experiment will benefit from a set of non-technical services. These services will be provided by SmartEEs innovation and business developers – BLUMORPHO, EBN and AMIRES. The three partners will work together with the selected companies on product development, ensuring business support, and access to finance in order to prepare the companies for a smooth transition from the product development towards market supply.

Meet the SmartEEs innovation and business developers.

The BLUMORPHO team has been working in innovation for more than 20 years. BLUMORPHO is operating at the major critical steps, when the technical differentiation must absolutely be demonstrated, the market must be educated, and revenues are not yet generated. These early steps are indeed perilous, and BLUMORPHO engages with the entrepreneurs and innovators in reaching their objectives and generating value.

EBN is the European network of innovation comprised of more than 150 qualified Business Innovation Centers and incubators and other 70 organizations as clusters, universities, and national networks.

EBN is a large community of professionals that support the development and growth of innovative entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs all over Europe. For this, EBN contribution to SmartEEs acceleration program will be focused on Business development support to the selected companies and projects.

With its members, EBN will provide advisory and guidance in development strategy, market studies, access to market, financing, marketing, IP, internationalization. Through its network and partners, EBN will also provide preferred and fast track access to qualified contacts as potential partners, clients or investors. Finally, through its business and innovation focused international events, EBN will bring constant visibility to all the companies and projects.

AMIRES is a dynamically growing innovation consultancy primarily focused on business innovation of SMEs. Its unique strength lies in impact-oriented activities, leading to product development in partnership or in cooperative projects. AMIRES applies SME-MPOWER methodology for business innovation coaching and is part of platinn – innovation network in Switzerland. The support includes benchmarking, idea and prototype conceptualization, market identification and segmentation, product idea validation by pilot customers and development roadmap.

AMIRES has been successfully supporting companies to prepare portfolios of product ideas and projects for integration of TOLAE components, to develop new medical devices combining discrete components, printed electronics and large volume surface structuring. AMIRES assisted in development of product strategy and commercialization of chemical analysis tools, consumer products as well as innovation in service providing enterprises. This consulting, assisting and coaching experience in the industry will be offered to the winners of the SmartEEs Call for Application Experiments.

The SmarEES marketplace is a collaborative environment which provides a wider access to the flexible electronics technology through linking technology and business suppliers with technology users and investors. The platform will broker technology/business services crucial to the development of flexible electronics-based businesses and innovative companies (SMEs/Mid-caps) that are interested in developing innovative products.

Currently, our marketplace offers innovating companies the possibility to explore more than 35 innovative technologies based on flexible electronics. These innovative technologies correspond to the state-of-the art applications in Organic Photovoltaics, Flexible Displays, OLED Lighting, Electronics & Components and Integrated Smart Systems. Moreover, the Marketplace offers companies the possibility to consult different products by application domain. Available domains comprise applications for automotive, buildings, consumer electronics, energy, lighting, logistics, medical & pharmaceutical, packaging, graphic arts and textile sectors. In detail, we offer the possibility to explore innovative flexible electronics technology dedicated to organic solar cells, stripes and buttons for textile integration, smart labels, stretchable electronics, smart blisters or even technology that merge biology and design. So, do not lose the opportunity to explore all products we offer!

 

The Marketplace will be live within and beyond the project, permitting the innovating companies to contact different Digital Innovation Hubs and discover their flexible electronics technologies. We also offer innovation companies the possibility to include in the Marketplace their products developed as a result of the applications experiments from different calls, or to expand the community, and their products. Hence, do not miss SmartEES opportunity to develop innovative products.

In conclusion, the Marketplace is a place to raise broader awareness, actively scout for new business opportunities with flexible electronics technologies, connect supply (partners and external service providers) & demand (SMEs, Mid-caps), and facilitate the promotion of innovative products.

It is our pleasure to introduce Mr Jérôme Gavillet, the SmartEEs coordinator. In this interview he will be elaborating on the flexible electronics technologies and on priorities and challenges of the SmartEEs project.

 

1. What is SmartEEs about?

SmartEES is the European acceleration program supported by the European Commission and dedicated to help Innovative Companies (ICs) access new markets and grow their business by integrating flexible electronics into products and services.

2. How did you come up with the idea for the project?

The idea has been matured amongst a group of European research organisations active in the field of printed and organic electronics. In the years 2011-13, we set up and led the COLAE collaborative project that was aiming at the commercialisation of organic large area electronics. After this successful first experience of bringing awareness of flexible electronics to the EU industry, came the opportunity to pursue the same initiative but with a larger ambition, thanks to European H2020 funding.

3. The project is based on international cooperation between different types of institutions. What do you think about this cooperation?

Indeed, and as an example, we have planned to share experience with our US counterparts from FlexTech Alliance who have been set a similar mission to promote a fast industrialisation of flexible electronics bringing engineering and business forces together. The outcome of this cooperation will be the exchange of best practice for our mutual benefits.

4. Who are the major target groups of the SmartEEs project?

Our major target groups are SMEs, start-ups and Midcaps, that can be tech (innovative companies) or non-tech (traditional industries) companies from the following activities fields: automotive, building & architecture, consumer electronics, energy, lighting, logistics, medical & pharmaceutical, packaging, printing & graphic arts, textile and fashion, etc.

5. Tell us about the technologies that you will be offering through SmartEEs. What kind of opportunities will be given to Innovative Companies?

SmartEEs promotes four types of flexible technologies that can be found by visiting our showroom on the website. These are:

• Organic and flexible photovoltaics
• OLED displays
• OLED and novel lighting
• Electronics & Components and Integrated Smart Systems

6. What are your priorities for the upcoming period?

Our open call for European Innovative Companies is now open and we are expecting to receive and evaluate promising applications at five cut-off dates (March 2018, July 2018, November 2018, April 2019 and September 2019).

Our short-term priority is to outreach good candidates and guide them through a successful application process in order to launch our first Application Experiments. After that, helping our first Laureates to go through a unique and useful experience towards innovation and market entry will be our main priority.

7. What do you envisage the major challenges of the SmartEEs project will be?

The challenge will be to launch and complete the set objective of 20 high-quality Application Experiments and ensure that the twenty funded innovative companies will get the most out of SmartEEs services and obtain results that will truly accelerate their ideas towards promising markets.

8. In what ways would the SmartEEs project eventually benefit the EU industry?

SmartEEs being an acceleration program, it essentially aims at easing and fastening the nucleation, growth and translation of ideas into products. In that sense, it fully benefits to the industry and especially to the non-tech companies which don’t have access to technologies and related services in their ecosystem.

9. What would be your message to our readers and other interested parties?

We are calling for candidates to run Application Experiments, but we are also growing up a public/private community of stakeholders around the topic of printed electronics. Our aim is to build a community and to consolidate our process so that the project is set on a long-term perspective. This community will be structured and animated inside our Marketplace and each one will find its interest there searching for technology providers, users, investors, etc. So, the message to our readers is clearly to spread the word around in order to bring wide awareness about SmartEEs opportunities and promote its uptake!

Please note that the updated versions of the SmartEEs Open Call for Application Experiments documents have been published on the website in line with the Corrigendum No. 1.

The major change of the SmartEEs Call refers to the eligibility criteria which have been extended from EU-VAT registered companies to all companies established in any of the countries eligible to receive funding through Horizon 2020 Programme.