Tales from the MedSpring brokerage event
Within the framework of MedSpring project, MHESR (Egypt), DLR (Germany), CIHEAM-IAMB - (Italy), ANIMA Investment Network (France) and MCST (Malta) organized the first MedSpring Brokerage event on Research and Innovation.
For two days (12th-13thFebruary 2014) 15 Mediterranean young entrepreneurs and researchers gathered together in Cairo to present their innovative ideas and had the opportunity to find away to concretize them by attracting financial as well as technical and networking support. Around 50 people participated in the event, among them both idea-carriers and interested investors.
On average, each idea-carrier had the opportunity to engage in fruitful discussion with 10 potential collaborators and partners for investment or technical and scientific support.
The brokerage event opened with a brief presentation of the main coaching actors participating in the event, among them the European Investment Bank, the Central Bank of Egypt, Anima Investment Network, Nile Capital, Flat6Labs, and many others. The opening session was followed by a five minute pitching section in which all the idea-carries made a brief but appealing presentation of their projects.
The challenge was to condense very complex projects in a short time while attracting the interest of potential investors and technical partners. The following step was a coaching section in which all the idea-carriers received advises and comments on their project's plan by a group of international experts .
The section was organized in “face-to-face” bilateral meetings and each of the idea-carriers had the opportunity to speak with each of the coaching experts in the brokerage event.
Some of the projects are still in their inception phase, others have a more consolidated structure. Individual face-to-face meetings aim at addressing this diversity. In the afternoon of the first day, idea-carriers were asked to report the comments and advises they have received and to present their project in front of a bigger audience of interested stakeholders.
This opened the ground for the matchmaking meetings in the last section in which idea-carriers had the opportunity to meet face-to-face their potential partners and discuss on opportunities for cooperation partnership , investment and fund raising.
The atmosphere was very vibrant: the coffee break became another informal occasion for idea-carriers and interested stakeholders to continue to discuss on opportunities for cooperation.
From “solar cookers” and “hybrid wave-wind energy” to “food platform” and a “machine for raising water”, MedSpring project brings together the private sector with researchers and investment institutions to give sustainable projects the chance to start and grow.
The second day, during a session opened to wide public, some experts (from DLR, ZENIT and EIB) held speeches on funding opportunities for SMEs under H2020 programme, self-assessment tools for SMEs and approaches to foster Research, Development and Innovation in the frame of European Investment Bank opportunities.
Here is a short video showing some interviews, keywords and challenges: see you and your project next time?
