“The Ideon Science Park team went to Skåne Innovation Day, ‘Invest in innovation” to meet with our partners and ‘our’ companies. One of the key take aways from the day was that applying for EU-funding is trickier than one might think: it is a skill in itself.
If you know that you are eligible for EU funding; that your solution is innovative and impactful (it either addresses economic development, climate change, or new technologies or health), has reached the required maturity, and that you have demonstrated products or services in a feasible environment, and know that you need funding for a new idea based on current features then – go for it.
Before applying it is often recommended that you can visualize your business operations after 100 M euro in funding.
Before applying for funding from EU, says Ideon-company’ Sensative, CTO Mats Pettersson, be prepared that it takes a lot. He shared his personal experiences from applying for EU-funding during Skåne Innovation Day.
The key take aways:
- Applying for EU funding is a skill.
- Applying takes months. Get a clear overview of what amount of documentation that is needed and what level of admin will be involved.
- Be stubborn and meticulous in regards to the administration.
- Partner up: Get help from professionals and trust their advice. Which consultants to choose? Go for recommendations from people you trust
- Stick to your strategy and your business model. Don’t let yourself be led astray. Focus.
- Don’t let up. It will be worth it.
Other thoughts from the day
“Look for support! Install yourself in an incubator and get support from organisations that provide business development assistance and access to investors. When I started my company, I knew nothing at all about what to do. My product was poor, I made all the wrong moves, but I knew my idea was really good. I am incredibly happy that I reached out to Minc and Almi, where I found a network, support, friends, help in developing my product, learned about investments, received pitch training, and assistance in building an excellent team. With the strong support from Minc and Almi, and my new capable team, I gained the confidence needed to attract investors. Entrepreneur, Nicolina from ”ommej”
“Seek funding before you really need it! Apply on a regular basis. There is capital available for investment in a similar range as a few years ago, and many new funds have been started in recent years. There is a trend indicating that obtaining investment is more challenging now, but entrepreneurs just need to work a bit harder and persevere to secure funding.” Investor and business angel Johan Billgren
