Cascade financing, also known as Financial Support to third parties, is a mechanism of the European Commission to distribute public funds in order to create new companies, increase their scalability, SMEs and / or mid-cap companies, in the adoption or development of digital innovation.
These opportunities are especially beneficial for SMEs, startups and entrepreneurs, as they allow them to easily access to finance and free support services, as well as to obtain relevant contacts with whom to establish alliances. But it is not always easy to keep up to date with new opportunities.
Coming up this year, Zabala Innovation Consulting participates in different cascade funding initiatives, supported by the European Commission, aimed at promoting the innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe.
Which are these programmes?
Fostering entrepreneurship and startups across Europe under ICT applied to different verticals Industry, Energy, Transport, Logistics, Environment, Health, Media, Smart Cities, etc.
DATA MARKET SERVICES
• What does it offer? Free support services in acceleration, fundraising, standardization, legal, IP, promotion and data skills
• Who is it for? All oriented to data-centric SMEs and startups all over Europe.
• Date calls: 2020 call (from March to May).
• Find more info: https://www.datamarketservices.eu/
BLOCKCHERS
• What does it offer? The opportunity to facilitate the use of distributed accounting technologies (DLTs) in traditional SMEs, possibility of accessing the first DLT network legally created by ALASTRIA, backed by large corporations and public administration.
• Who is it for? SMEs
• Date Calls: 2019-2020
• Find more info: www.blockchers.eu
EDI
• What does it offer? Data challenge solving incubation programme. Through the actions of the project, companies and start-ups will be helped to avoid the obstacles they encounter when they try to develop strategies for the use and exploitation of data.
• Who is it for? SMEs, startups and entrepreneurial teams focused on Big Data in Europe.
• Date Calls: Call for start-ups will open in March 2020, although a call is currently open to suppliers that want to participate in the selection of start-ups and take advantage of investment opportunities.
• Find more info: https://edincubator.eu/
NGI Explorers
• What does it offer? Fellowship programme with top US entities. Sponsor top EU researchers and innovators to enjoy a unique deep dive in the US market.
• Who is it for? EU researchers and innovators.
• Date Calls: Next call will be open in the first quarter of 2020
• Find more info: https://explorers.ngi.eu/
DAPSI
• What does it offer? Focuses in funding initiatives that support the right to data portability, one of the priorities of the European Commission. DAPSI will support researchers, SMEs and new or innovative companies across Europe with a 9-month incubation program. SMEs, startups, research centers, universities and individuals are eligible.
• Who is it for? SMEs, startups, research centers, universities across Europe and individuals that develop projects focused on data portability.
• Date Calls: The project has just started in November and will run until 2022. The first call is estimated to open in January 2020.
• Find more info:
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/225826/factsheet/en?WT.mc_id=RSS-Feed&WT.rss_f=project&WT.rss_a=225826&WT.rss_ev=a
DIGIFED
• What does it offer? Encourage the adoption of advanced digital technologies by EU SMEs with a focus on non-digital businesses provided by a complete innovation ecosystem (RTOs, large groups, clusters, innovation experts, universities and public bodies).
• Who is it for? SMEs, clusters, innovation experts, Universities and Public bodies
• Date Calls: The project has just started in January 2020 and will run until december 2022.
• Find more info: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/872088
What’s in them for me?
Each programme can be a direct or indirect opportunity. Check the following table:
