BSR Innovation Express call results in 28 international collaborations

July 11, 2013

The BSR Innovation Express call resulted in 28 new international collaboration projects, involving more than 900 SMEs in the Baltic Sea Region. The call, that closed on 31 May, attracted 47 applications from cluster organisations and business networks in the six funding partner countries. Of these, 40 have been approved – directly engaging 923 SMEs in international innovation collaboration activities.

23 applicants from funding partner countries have teamed up in 11 joint projects – receiving funding from both their home countries and top-up funding from the Nordic Council of Ministers. In addition to these joint projects, 17 more projects have been approved – resulting in a total of 28 new international collaboration projects (see overview of projects).

Project partners come from a range of business sectors including healthcare/medical devices, energy and environment, new materials, construction, and agro-food, as well as maritime and ICT. Many projects combine partners with expertise in different business, service or research sectors.

Although the call was open to proposals for developing international collaboration in all countries, the overwhelming majority targeted partners located within the Baltic Sea Region.

Most applicants aimed to develop international collaboration bilaterally. A smaller group of applicants have targeted partners in 2 or 3 other countries. Only one of the 40 approved applicants has targeted partners in 4 or more countries.