IASP members join forces to support innovative SMEs

Four IASP members are collaborating on the European project ‘Innoinvest’ to support SMEs who are launching innovative products or technology (R&D) by improving the investment process, especially by facilitating cooperation with corporates.

The project consortium is formed by Málaga TechPark (Spain), Poznan Science and Technology Park (Poland), Berlin Adlershof (Germany), and Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol (Estonia), all IASP members. They will act as innovation agencies for their companies, working on the development of support tools for internationalisation and capital investment for SMEs with innovative technologies/solutions to ensure the best quality in the selection of the SMEs and their management staff and proposals.

Innoinvest is following the TWINNING+ methodology of peer learning for innovation agencies to enhance their capacity to deliver effective support at a macroeconomic level. Four peer review sessions are scheduled to analyze the current partner practices, tools, resources and plans regarding investments process, to reduce the risk and improve the quality of professional services for SMEs.

As innovation agencies, the four IASP member science parks involved in the project will pay close attention to how to choose the best-qualified and experienced experts to evaluate ideas. The focus will be on the validation process, to ensure the SMEs get feedback from potential business partners, help them cooperate with corporates, and acquire long-term capital from business and financial partners to enhance growth and competitiveness.

This isn’t the first time these STPs have collaborated on a European project: Malaga Tech Park, Poznan Science and Technology Park and Tehnopol worked together last year on the ‘Target SME’ project, promoting the development of SMEs in European innovation spaces through marketing tools.