South3E Project – Invitation for Research Teams, Startups and Small and Medium Enterprises

The Southern European Entrepreneurship Engine (South3E) project has opened the first invitation meant for research teams, startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The South3E project is an initiative that is supported by the European Commission within the SCALEUP invitation of the European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE), which aims to upgrade deep tech projects and research, which could have a positive impact on social development and economic growth, in order to secure a sustainable future.

– South3E is the first in a range of invitations, opened within the segment dedicated to the development of growth mechanisms, which will improve the connections and the efficiency of enterprise ecosystems in the countries of southern Europe. Within this invitation, South3E will develop disruptive solutions built around unique revolutionary discoveries, products, processes, or services, which have the potential to meet the needs of the market. This new mechanism will engage the unused innovative potential in the deep tech sphere of southern Europe, with special focus on scientific and technical excellence in the fields of agriculture, natural sciences, healthcare, engineering and technology – it has been announced on the website of the Chamber of Commerce of the Una-Sana Canton.

The invitation is divided into 3 types of services, which are adapted to the various level of maturity of the potential applicants (early phase, growth phase, scaling phase).

• S3E Start: for research teams and offices for technology transfer, S3E offers a practical training program for the perfecting of their commercial skills and the securing of early development financing.
• S3E Charge: for mature startups, S3E provides mentorship and networking for the purpose of the development of a business plan ready for investments and facilitates access to sources of finance.
• S3E Reverse: for the scaling of startups and SMEs, S3E will establish the so-called Open Innovation Ecosystem for the mediation, connecting and networking of corporations with startups in the scaling phase, under the challenge-solution duality principle.

The invitation is open for the countries of southern Europe – Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Cyprus, Romania, Slovenia and Spain, as well as for associate members – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.

The South3E invitation application deadline is February 10, 2023, at 5 PM.

For more information about the project and the open invitation, view the official web page.