Action 6
1. Action Title (in all partner languages?)
Soft-Landing/ Co-incubation
2. Background & Rationale/justification for the action, including the precise needs being met.
Globalisation, new technologies and growth in the service sector are all being combined to
quicken the pace of change today. In the knowledge-driven economy large and small
organisations have begun to re-evaluate their products, their services, their processes and
even their corporate culture. Companies need to be able to face an increasing competition
from developed and developing countries and to get opportunities into new markets.
International activities enhance growth, competitiveness and support long term
sustainability of companies. This is imperative in the attempt to maintain their
competitiveness in the global markets of today’s highly competitive climate.
In this context, some international co-incubation schemes seek to help enterprises gain
access to export markets. We refer at these schemes as Soft Landing services. Such services
are already offered by EBN and INI-Novation GmbH, the leaders of this action. , as a new coincubation service for innovation led companies that wish to explore new market.
In this pilot action, selected companies will be invited to visit incubators in TESLA partner
regions to receive softlanding and co-inbuation support. The individual activities are closely
co-ordinated with the Action 4 “Internationalisation (led by CIT). The host incubator’s
knowledge, contacts, expertise and networking skills will make the market entry process for
visiting companies in another region easier and faster. The transnational added value of this
action will be built on the ability for partners to send a client company to a “trusted friend”
in another country who through his/her established business contacts, can propose tailormade business support packages to meet that visiting company’s needs.
3. Specific objectives of the action (the changes that the action will bring about)
Companies identified through the TESLA project will be given the opportunity to choose
from a wider range of potential host locations participating in the EBN Soft-Landing scheme,
with 15 host incubators in the NWE Region.
The profiles of the so called “host incubators” shall be available on the TESLA web platform
Moreover, partners will jointly identify relevant networking/trade events for client
companies to attend either in their regions or in the destination countries to increase
transnational linkages and attract companies to participate.
4. Precise definition of who the intended beneficiaries will be
The intended beneficiaries will be companies and SMEs, represented by their business
managers and business advisors, interested in internationalise their market, with high
potential to do this, needing support in setting up market strategy and relations out of their
country. They will be selected by the process illustrated below; their support needs will be
assessed by experts, and support measures will applied according to the individual
company’s needs.
5. Detailed Action Plan
Within this action a support process will developed, which consists of the following steps:
- Activities to identify target companies and beneficiaries, e.g.
o Fairs, trade events, matchmaking events;
o Awareness raising
o Need and Readiness Assessment
o Generation of firm profiles
o Identification of Mentoring and Coaching support
o Training courses for incubation managers and business advisors
o Softlanding on-line platform
o Handbook to document the action and to illustrate the services
Since a variety of support measures exist and will apply within this action line, there will
be a close collaboration with other TESLA actions as highlighted below.
-
-
What supports will be offered
Initial transnational training courses on co-incubation for host and sending incubator
managers and/or business advisors in the participating regions will be held.
Regular calls for expressions of interest will be issued.
International readiness assessment of companies will follow an individual approach and
take into account each applicant firm’s ability, product and markets.
A firm profile and co-incubation request, to be prepared by client company and sent to
the host incubator in order to prepare the visit.
With the need assessment and firm profile developed this action will feed information
also for the other complimentary actions, especially internationalisation, mentoring+,
Innovation Outreach and Financing. At the end, and integrated internationalisation
support package will be offered to the target beneficiaries, as illustrated in the following
chart:
ACQUISI
TION
Awareness
VALUE GENERATION
Evaluation, Selection and
Mentoring
Startups
and
SME
s
Asse
ssm.
Evalu
ation
of
Conce
pts
of
Need
s
Exploit
ation
Transfer
Develop
ment
of
Strategi
es
Mento
ring
Internationali
sation
Coopara
tions
N
O
N
O
Support Tools to be created Further
Coaching
Collaboration with Networks
and Partners
Finan
cing
o
o
o
o
o
Need and Readiness assessment;
Firm profile;
Soft-Landing online platform;
Soft-Landing Handbook;
Softlanding Training Courses.
-
Timeframe for delivery of key stages of the action Partners Involved & Roles
July/September 2012: collecting information about networking and trade events for
client companies’ participation. The list will be updated all along the duration of the pilot
action.
July/December 2012: development of structures and guidelines for the transnational
training courses for incubation managers and business advisors.
January 2013/October 2014: delivery of the training courses, updating modules
according to the experiences gained.
July/December 2012: development of the template for firms profiles, co-incubation
requests and matrix illustrating the soft landing services available in the partnering
regions and corresponding to the requirements.
January 2013/September 2014: publication and uploading the aforementioned
templates on the online platform.
July/December 2012: development of a concept to identify potential client SMEs and of
an “expression of interest” template.
January 2013/September 2014: after the identification of the participating SMEs
partners will apply the service.
Please compare TESLA Action 6 Time-line in attachment 1.
-
Partners Involved & Roles
EBN: has designed and coordinates the SL programme and is responsible together with
INI-NOV for this pilot action. EBN will promote the awareness rising of this initiative and
will lead on quality control.
INI-NOV: will be co-responsible of this pilot action playing a key role in the promotion of
the awareness rising, in developing the need assessment forms and the softlanding
handbook, as well as in choosing criteria at the basis of the selection of participating
companies.
LIONRA, CIT and LMT: collaborating with the two co-leading partners, will select host
incubators and business advisors taking part to the scheme and related companies; will
deliver training courses and will identify networking and trade events interesting for the
participants.
-
Locations for delivery
Ireland, Belgium, Germany, France plus host incubators regions.
6. Selection Process (for Experts / Beneficiaries)
On the basis of the results of the need assessment and the selection criteria chosen, once
received need assessment application forms completed by potential participants, action
partners will proceed to the selection and notice to selected practitioners the scheduling of
the next steps to be taken. This information will also be communicated to all TESLA partners
toallow their support measures to be integrated into a complimentary service system.
7. Promotion to Potential Beneficiaries
Once the selection criteria are defined and the application form is designed, action partners
will select target group in their regions. This will also be supported by awareness raising
activities. Once reached the target group, partners should highlight the importance of
participating in this pilot action, based on the importance of the access to international
market in a “privileged way”. Besides that, it’s important to make clear the sustainability of
this action in the future creating trusted relations and finding potential customers that will
ensure the growth of the participant company.
8. Format of the application form to be used
After selected SMEs filled the Need Assessment Form, the partners# experts will assess the
companies and support profiles will be generated, including specific recommendations for
support services (please compare TESLA Need Assessment form in attachment 2), It is
required to highlight the core business and sector focus and feelings about market of
operations.
The company’s information and needs as well as the services offered will be documented in
the so called TESLA SME data pool.
The support services to be applied will also be co-ordinated and complimented with the
other TESLA actions, according to their procedures and requirements.
9. Selection Criteria / transnational Screening of applicants
Selection criteria will be decided among partners and the final screening will be based on
these. The first formal screening is being accomplished by the need assessment forms filled
by the applicants and the evaluation (“need assessment”) provided by the experts involved.
This initial screening will lead to a recommendation for futher support actions and be
followed by an interview with the applying SMEs to commonly decide on the specific
support measures to be taken.
10. Conditions of Participation / Eligible Costs that will be covered
11. Indicative Action budget by partner
Partner Name
Budget
EBN
119.033 €
INI-Novation
78.979,81 €
LIONRA
40.000 €
LMT
€ 70 047
CIT
12. Expected Outputs & Results (with reference to the approved TESLA application)
INI-Nov
Lionra
CIT
LMT
TOTAL
3
2
2
2
16
N. of host incubators or
business advisors
12
10
10
4
36
N. of companies taking
part in the scheme
30
12
30
9
81
N. of networking & trade
events identified
10
10
10
10
40
Tasks
Partners
EBN
Design of Softlanding
Programme
X
Management of
SoftLanding Platform
X
Promotion of SoftLanding
Initiative
X
X
Quality Control
Transnational SoftLanding
& CoIncubation training
courses
7
13. Complementarities with other Initiatives (TESLA and others)
Concerning other TESLA initiatives, this pilot action could work in complementarity with:
 Action 4, Internationalisation,
 Action 6, Soft-Landing,
 Action 7, Mentor Plus,
 Action 3, Innovation Outreach
 Action 9, Financing
 Action 10, Procurement
Pilot actions listed before strengthen the concept of internationalisation of high export
potential of selected enterprise.
14. Transnationality (frontline partners and other partners) in design, development, decisionmaking, implementation and dissemination
Frontline partners, working closely will ensure the respect of transnationality principle.
Besides that the inner characteristic of internationalisation of enterprises is the meeting
place of different actors and stakeholder from different places.
15. Potential for Continuation / Mainstreaming
It is encouraged to create trusted relations among participant companies and between them
and host incubators, in order to share services and goods provided and implement long term
commercial exchanges.