http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/fast-track-innovation-pilot-2015-2016

Claire SkentelberySkentelbery & Sons

www.skentelbery.comclaire@skentelbery.com

Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) pilot is testing a new approach to give the development of innovations the last push needed before their introduction to the market. It is the only bottom-up measure in Horizon 2020 promoting close-to-market innovation activities and open to all types of participants.

FTI projects must be business-driven and clearly demonstrate a realistic potential for quick deployment and market take-up of innovations.

What it looks like

Intends to fund last stage close to market Increase SMEs and first time participants Stimulate private investment Proposal starts at TRL 6 (System/subsystem model or prototype

demonstration in a relevant environment) 3-5 partners (2 SMEs in gp of 3 or 4, 3 SMEs in gp of 5) €1-3 million; 70% funded for industry, 100% funded for non-profit.

Minimum 60% budget to industry TRL 9 by project end (Actual system proven through successful

mission operations) 12-24 month projects, max 36 Maximum time to market 36 months from start of grant

Eligible activities

Validation in end environment Pilot phase Business model determination EU quality level Standards setting

Deadlines and requirements

April 29, September 1, December 1 30 page proposal (Impact, science, implementation) Needs to include:

Market relevance and positioning/IPR position Financing requirements Return on investment Demonstrate that project is significantly beyond the state of the art

Evaluation

4 independent reviewers (commercial & financial expertise) No joint discussion Aggregation of results Thresholds; 12/15 overall and 4/5 for Impact Further evaluation on: Value of impact Size of budget to SMEs First time participants Industry participants Gender balance Rapid feedback on below-threshold proposals Longer time for proposals being ranked

Comments

Pilot phase will fund 50-70 applications with 100 million in budget Likely to be high competition Sensible to wait until September to understand proposals selected

– apply to be evaluator In life sciences, will get many ‘mid-stage’ technologies Need greater differentiation A clinical trial will not win any prizes – many proposed elsewhere,

hard to stand out Proven delivery of platforms? Late stage diagnostics? Specific

technology with value in market, cross sector?

Next steps

Look into your own business models What do you have that would benefit from short, late stage

development? 70% funding so industry partners need to have interest in

exploitation e.g. large company service provider Should be short, sharp and focussed, all major risks already

addressed – risk associated with final validation, scale up, commercial implementation