Demystifying the funding landscape - sources of investment for biobased SMEs

Part of the MPowerBIO Capacity Building Programme.

 

Description:

The main goal of the session is to introduce clusters and SMEs to a variety of open financing opportunities across the national and European funding landscape, making it much simpler for SMEs to grow and scale up their business. The aim is to raise awareness on financial mechanisms available to SMEs across the bio-based industry, explain how different financial mechanisms work and how they can be approached, and help SMEs decide on the most appropriate funding sources in line with their specific needs and goals, including learning when NOT to apply for a funding mechanisms that is less suitable for their phase and offers.

 

Agenda:

  • Introducing different funding initiatives – grants, loans, guarantees, repayable advances etc.

  • Presenting the most valuable funding programmes for bioeconomy SMEs (Horizon Europe Bio/Food cluster, LIFE, BBI/CBE)

  • Presenting other European available financing mechanisms, blended instruments, or country-specific financial instruments.

  • Introducing elements on how to set up a funding strategy able to generate a pipeline of opportunities aligned with the specific SME needs and assets

 

Target audience: Associated cluster organisations.

 

Practical info:

Language: English

Date & Time: 06.04.2021, 10.00 - 12.00 h CEST

Presenter: Foodscale Hub (FSH) & Irish Bioeconomy Foundation (IBF)

 

About the presenter: 

IBF – Filippo Giancarlo Martinelli

Filippo Giancarlo Martinelli (Executive MBA, PDEng, MSc), started as the first full time CEO of the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation (IBF) in February 2019, and since February 2020, is IBF's European Ambassador. Prior to that he worked within PNO Consultants group of firms, moving from Consultant (2014-2016) to Pipeline Manager (2016-2017), Brussels-EU P&L unit Operations Manager (2017-2018) as well as International Sector Team Leader Agri-Food Bioeconomy.  Filippo has gathered direct technical experience within the fields of biofuels (Agroils Technologies), biochemicals (Delft Advanced Biorenewables) and bio-actives (KtedoGEN/NAICONS), as well as management consulting and project development experience for innovative projects within several other sectors such as agri-food, forestry, marine, textile and critical raw materials. His educational includes a BSc Biotechnology (2009, Parma, IT), an MSc Industrial Biotechnology (2011, Milan, IT), a Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng) in BioProduct Design (2014, Delft, NL) and an Executive MBA (2017, Rotterdam, NL).

 

Maja Žikić – Growth Lead, Foodscale Hub

Maja Žikić is a Growth Strategist and Digital Marketing Coach. She has over six years of experience working at the intersection of business and technology, helping high-potential agrifood startups and scale-ups–in blockchain and IoT to AI and EO applications and services. Maja has in-depth know-how and expertise in public-funded innovation and R&I collaborative programs. In the last two years, she has been dedicated to empowering founders and entrepreneurs to make the transition to Product-Led growth.

 

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