S3E Reserve Program to help scaling Start-ups and SMEs

S3E Reserve is designed to help scaling start-ups and more mature SMEs gain market traction through a pan-European brokerage program that will connect them with corporates with certain challenges, which they can work together to solve.

The program starts inviting larger companies, corporations and public organisations (Challenge Organisations) to submit a challenge through their Open Call Mechanism. The procedure to submit a challenge is easy and straightforward, the corporate should notify its interest to the S3E team and they will support them with the challenge definition and assign a Broker who will review and provide business support to the challenge definition process.

What they offer?

• Challenge Organisations
  • Direct access to innovative companies that could potentially help them address their problems and challenges
  • Technology Brokerage: One-to-one Technology brokerage sessions with a tech broker that will evaluate the challenges identified and match them with one or more scale-ups to work on the challenge. Their Tech brokers will support this process helping the organisations formulate their problems and linking them with scale-ups that could provide a solution
  • Training in public procurement, including Pre-Commercial Procurement and Public Procurement for Innovative solutions (PPIs) that will introduce them to innovation procurement principles
• Scaling Start-ups and SMEs with deep tech projects and solutions from all Southern Europe
  • A fully customized programme that can contain one or more of the following services based on the needs of the company. This programme will provide the scope and the effort that will be offered to the company.
    • Mentoring (Business & Innovation experts) based on an Assessment of the company that will help the scale-up identify any weak points of problems in their growth scale. The mentors supporting the S3E Reserve edition are individuals who are somehow connected to the area of deep tech and entrepreneurship, and who are prepared to help the scale-ups solve problems that arise throughout the program.
    • Coaching (Sustainability experts) will support the company in identifying business cases and potential applications based on their portfolio that could provide solutions to address sustainability challenges related to the UN SDG of the call.
    • Training in public procurement, including Pre-Commercial Procurement and Public Procurement for Innovative solutions (PPIs) that will help scale-ups access bigger projects and clients.
    • Masterclasses with established experts in their field in topics such as ESG compliance, leadership, onboarding new personnel, customer acquisition, company culture).
    • Networking with industry leaders and showcase opportunities at the S3E Open day.
    • Technology Brokerage: their technology brokers will help the SMEs and startups prepare their technical offer and match them with the challenge organisations in need.

Who can apply?

• Challenge Organisations
  • Big companies, SMEs, corporates and public organisations that have one or more challenges to contribute.
  • Any kind of public or private organisation can participate as long as it is established in any country eligible for the Horizon Europe program including associated countries.
• Scaling Start-ups with deep tech projects from all Southern Europe
  • With at least 2 years of operations.
  • Established in any country eligible for the Horizon Europe program including associated countries.

(For the scope of S3E, Southern European countries include the following European countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Cyprus, Romania, Slovenia and Spain. And the following Associated countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.)

For more information, visit S3E – Southern European Entrepreneurship Engine Consortium.