SME Instrument is a very business friendly and effective tool developed by the European Commission for supporting innovative SMEs from the EU and third eligible countries to bring their business ideas to international markets.
The scheme offers support in three (3) Phases:
- In Phase 1, SMEs are supported with a lump sum of EUR 50.000,00 in order to prepare an elaborate business plan.
- In Phase 2, SMEs may receive up to EUR 2,5 million (max 70% of total project costs), in order to implement their business plan and bring their innovative ideas to market.
- In Phase 3, SMEs receive networking services and further non-monetary support, to improve their market reach
A short description of the scheme, currently renamed EIC Accelerator, is presented here.
SME Instrument is open for proposals with specific cut-off dates 3-4 times yearly. Given its attractive features, SME instrument is perhaps one of the most competitive schemes in the EU for innovation support. It is estimated that only a 6-7% of total submitted proposals are approved in each round of evaluations.
However, with one more Phase 1 proposal approved in the latest SME Instrument round of evaluations, respective success rate of SME Instrument proposals elaborated by TRIAENA Synergies Management and personnel currently stands at >70%. Overall, it is estimated that our team has contributed to the submission and implementation of ≈10% of all successful proposals submitted by Greek innovative SMEs in the scheme.