1. SME Participation in Horizon 2020
Including SME Instrument Phase 1
DG Research and Innovation, Unit B.3 SMEs, Financial Instruments and State NCP Training October 7, 2014

2. Horizon 2020 for SMEs Collaborative Projects 13% SME Instrument 7%
Eurostars II
Enhancing Innovation Capacity
InnovFin – EU Finance for Innovators
& accompanying measures
Fellowships
(Access to Skills)
20 % budgetary
target in LEITs (IL) & SC*
'Innovation in SMEs' (IL)
'Access to Risk Finance' (IL)
MSCA (ES)
*= ~ EUR 9 billion of direct SME support. over the period

3. Horizon 2020 Global View – SME participation in the 3 Pillars (excl
Horizon 2020 Global View – SME participation in the 3 Pillars (excl. 'Innovation in SMEs' & 'Access to Risk Finance')
An Encouraging Start

4. An Encouraging Start!
9 months into Horizon implementation. SMEs represent…
1/4 of applicants (24.82%)
1/5 of beneficiaries (19.55%)
1/6 of budget allocation (16.18%)
What about the target (set by Council and EP) to allocate 20% of the budget for Societal Challenges and LEITs to SMEs?
For Societal Challenges. we are at close to 12% (11.98%)
For LEITs. we are at about 21.4% (21.46%)
For both together we are currently at 18.12%
This while the full impact of SME instrument funding has not kicked in yet (no phase 2 yet)
On the basis of an extrapolation taking into account the full impact of SME instrument phase 2, it can be assumed that the target will be exceeded by 2-3% for

5. SMEs in Excellent Science: A Mixed Bag
Two sections out of four with high relevance for SME participation:
Future and Emerging Technologies (FETs)
Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
For FETs: suboptimal results, given relative attractiveness of the topics for SMEs (esp. start-ups):
7.4% of all applicants are SMEs
4.2% of all beneficiaries are SMEs
5.4% of the budget goes to SMEs
12.09% of SME applicants are successful (vs % of all applicants)
For MSCA: first information confirms that SMEs have found their way to this scheme:
11.76% of applicants are SMEs
13.77% of beneficiaries are SMEs (// close to 15 % in FP7)
10.31% of the budget goes to SMEs (// close to 11% in FP7)
19.27% of SME applicants are successful (vs % of all applicants)

6. SMEs in Excellent Science – applicants and budget *
SME applicants in the selection
Requested EU financial contribution to SME applicants in selection
Priority Area
Eligible Proposals
Retained Proposals
Success Rates
Eligible Proposals (in million EUR)
(in million EUR)
European Research Council 2
0.00%
0.21
FETs 91 11
12.09%
344.13
1.91
5.55%
MSCA
1308
252
19.27%
317.87
48.16
15.15%
Research infrastructures
 Total: Excellent Science
1401
263
19%
352.5
50.07
14%
* As available in CORDA on 25/9/2014

7. SMEs in LEITs: Clear Chemistry
Most interest (in absolute terms) for:
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) [4198 SME applicants = 29.84% of total]
Advanced Manufacturing and Processing (AMP) – [1336 SME applicants = 30.72% of total]
Nanotechnologies. Advanced Materials and Production (NMP) [692 SME applicants = 44.85% of total]
Space (SP) [639 SME applicants = 25.58% of total]
Biotechnology (Biotech) [74 SME applicants = 100% of total*]
Overall, reassuring figures for all LEITs:
30.65% of all applicants are SMEs
25.29% of all beneficiaries are SMEs
About 1/9 of SME applicants are successful (vs % of all applicants)
234.2 million EUR of the billion EUR (21.46%) allocated so far went to SMEs
* Only SME instrument (phase 1)

8. SMEs in LEITs – applicants and budget figures*
SME applicants in the selection
Requested EU financial contribution to SME applicants in selection
% of budget allocated to SMEs
Priority Area
Eligible Proposals
Retained Proposals
Success Rates
Eligible Proposals (in million EUR)
(in million EUR)
ICT
4198
429
10.22%
130.54
10.99%
19.48%
NMP
692 58
8.38%
164.38
22.11
13.45%
30.86%
Biotech 74 3
4.05%
3.7
0.15
100%
AMP
1336
165
12.35%
476.26
58.19
12.22%
25.58%
Space
639
111
17.37%
149.69
23.23
15.52%
19.47%
Advanced Materials
 Total: LEITs
6941
766
11.04%
1982.3
234.23
11.82%
21.46%
* As available in CORDA on 25/9/2014

9. SMEs in SC: More Highs than Lows
Most interest (in absolute terms) for:
Health, Demographic Change and Wellbeing [1163 SME applicants = 22.1% of total] – SC1
Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy [959 SME applicants = 30.92% of total] – SC3
Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials [665 SME applicants = 31.49% of total] – SC5
Smart, Green and Integrated Transport [342 SME applicants = 48.24% of total] – SC4
Inclusive, Innovative and Reflective Societies [226 SME applicants = 16.78% of total] – SC6
Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, Marine, Maritime and Inland Water Research [190 SME applicants = 100% of total*] – SC2
Secure Societies [47 SME applicants = 100% of total*] – SC7
Overall. OK. yet budget going to SMEs should be increased (what will happen in any case with SME instrument phase 2):
28.04% of all applicants are SMEs
19.57% of all beneficiaries are SMEs
About 1/10 of SME applicants are successful (vs. 14% of all applicants)
71.4 million EUR of the million EUR (11.98%) allocated so far went to SMEs
* Only SME Instrument (Phase 1)

10. SMEs in SC - applicants and budget*
SME applicants in the selection
Requested EU financial contribution to SME applicants in selection
% of budget allocated to SMEs
Priority Area
Eligible Proposals
Retained Proposals
Success Rates
Eligible Proposals (in million EUR)
(in million EUR)
SC1
1163
116
9.97%
371.22
29.7
8.00%
12.17%
SC2
173 10
5.78%
8.65
0.5
100%
SC3
959 63
6.57%
231.69
15.32
6.61%
8.33%
SC4
342 40
11.7%
31.37
3.88
12.36%
16.61%
SC5
665 85
12.78%
137.03
16.88
12.32%
14.87%
SC6
226 24
10.62%
56.60
4.83
8.54%
16.03%
SC7 47 6
12.77%
2.05
0.3
14.63%
 Total: SC
3575
344
9.6%
838.61
71.42 9%
11.98%
* As available in CORDA on 25/9/2014

11. Horizon 2020 for SMEs = Collaborative Projects 13%
Integrated & Complimentary Support
20 % budgetary
target in LEITs (IL) & SC*
Collaborative Projects
13%
Eurostars II
Enhancing Innovation Capacity
Debt & Equity Facilities
& accompanying measures
Fellowships
(Access to Skills)
'Innovation in SMEs' (IL)
'Access to Risk Finance' (IL)
MSCA (ES)
*= ~ EUR 9 billion of direct SME support, over the period

12. Implemented centrally by one agency (EASME)
Implementation
Implemented centrally by one agency (EASME)
Continuously open call with around 4 cut-off dates per year
2014
2015
Phase 1
18/06/2014
24/09/2014
17/12/2014
Phase 2
09/10/2014
18/03/2015
17/06/2015
17/09/2015
16/12/2015

13. 2% budget
10% budget
88% budget

14. SME Instrument – Phase 1 - Submission
1st Cut-off date 18 June 2014:
2662 proposals
2503 single company applications. 119 consortia with 2 SMEs. 34 with 3 SMEs. 6 with 4 SMEs
Italy was the country with the highest number of proposals submitted (436), closely followed by Spain (420), UK (232) and Germany (188), France (167) and Hungary (166)
The Open Disruptive Innovation (ODI) topic attracted by far the highest number of applications with 885. followed by low carbon energy systems (372). nanotechnologies (305) and eco-innovation/raw materials (241)
2nd Cut-off date 24 September 2014:
1944 proposals
The ranking by country remains the same as in June. with Italy in the lead in terms of number of applications (351). followed by Spain (283), United Kingdom (149), Germany (128), France (93) and Hungary (91)
Open Disruptive Innovation (ODI) attracted again the biggest number of proposals (608), also followed by low carbon energy systems (268), nanotechnologies (234) and eco-innovation/raw materials (199)
No further information yet on applicants
SME Instrument – Phase 1 - Submission

15. only countries with submissions are shown

16. Number of proposals submitted by topic for the 2 cut-off dates:

17. SME Instrument – Phase 1 – Evaluation / Funding after First Cut-Off Date
Out of the 2602 eligible applications received, 317 (12%) were evaluated above threshold.
The budget available for this cut-off would allow to fund 169 companies (Phase 1 project). Based on the positively evaluated applications per topic 155 projects could be funded (6%).
49% of applications above threshold will be funded  every second "good" proposal is funded.
105 out of 155 (68%) of the SMEs reportedly are newcomers to Framework Programmes.
Countries with highest success rate are: Ireland (20%), Austria (15%), UK (11%), Israel (10%) and Spain (9%)
Company statistics:
58% of funded SMEs have between 6 to 50 employees, 30% of SMEs micro-companies with up to 5 employees, and 11% have more than 50 employees.
25% of funded SMEs are consolidated companies with more than 11 trading years, 39% with 4 to 10 years, and 36% with up to 36%.
36% of funded SMEs have a turnover higher than €1M, 35% between €100K-€1M, 28% less than €100K.

19. The 5 highest "country success rates" are:
Ireland: 20%
Austria: 15%
United Kingdom: 11%
Israel: 10%
Spain: 9%

20. Analysis of received and selected proposals per topic – 1st Cut-off
evaluated
Max. project fundable
above
% positively evaluated
"Success rate" %above threshold and funded
ICT 37: Open Disruptive Innovation Scheme
886 30
107
12%
28%
NMP 25: Accelerating the uptake of nanotechnologies, advanced materials or advanced manufacturing and processing technologies by SMEs
310
15+2 29 9%
59%
BIOTECH 5: SME boosting biotechnology-based industrial processes driving competitiveness and sustainability 74 3 8
11%
38%
LEIT Space-SME 61 4 7%
100%
PHC12 :Clinical research for the validation of biomarkers and/or diagnostic medical devices
208 44
(20%) 24
Fairly high number of proposals above threshold
High number of ineligible or wrongly submitted proposals: 66
Fewer than possible projects positively evaluated

21. Analysis of received and selected proposals per topic – 1st Cut-off
evaluated
Max. project fundable
Proposals above
% positively evaluated
"Success rate" %above threshold
SFS8: Resource-efficient eco-innovative food production and processing
BG12: Blue Growth 
125 48 7 3 29 6
23%
12%
24%
50%
SIE 1: Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon and efficient energy system
374
22+1 46
IT.1: Small business innovation research for Transport
227
24+2 26
100%
SC-5-20: Boosting the potential of small businesses for eco-innovation and a sustainable supply of raw materials
248
11+1 32
13%
38%
DRS17-Protection of urban soft targets and urban critical infrastructures 41
15%
Many proposals above threshold

22. First analysis of reasons for unsuccessful phase 1 proposals:
Too much project focussed, not enough business opportunity oriented
Description of company not convincing (why would this company succeed and not the competitor?!)
No information on competing solutions
Innovation content too low; product exists already on the market (just incremental improvement)
Just ideas, no proof of existing commercialisation concept (TRL far too low)
Just trying one's luck

23. Lessons learned and aspects for improvement:
Submission process not yet optimal (85% of the submitted proposals arrived within the last 48h prior to the cut-off date).
Presentation of the call at proposal submission level is not yet optimal (70 proposals had to be transferred from one topic to another upon request by the applicants, with the majority of the cases due to misinterpretation of the applicant).
Level of feedback from evaluation to applicants will be improved, yet speed (short time-to-grant) will remain the most important preoccupation.
Pool of evaluators will be broadened from current to about 1000 (more business, financial profiles!)

24. Your reaction, feedback based on your contacts with stakeholders
Your reaction, feedback based on your contacts with stakeholders? Are there any specific issues that need to be better explained/clarified to potential proposers? Questions?