INNOVA NET call for Applicants for the Selection of 10 Business Ideas - www.innova-net.eu

INNOVA NET call for Applicants
                      for the Selection of 10 Business Ideas

TRAINING AND INNOVATION    POLYTECHNIC      UNIVERSITY
 UNIVERSITY CONSORTIUM       OF BARI        OF PATRAS

                            www.innova-net.eu     info@innova-net.eu

ARTICLE 1 – Purposes and Object

Within the INNOVA NET project, the Work Package 5 – TRIS: Projects for innovative ideas and
enterprises is aimed at “future business realities” in order to stimulate business creation and build
new business initiatives in strategic economic sectors, combining efforts of research institutions and
higher education, graduates and young managers, entrepreneurs and workers in SMEs.
The selection of 10 Business Ideas is one of the activities undertaken under WP5. It is aimed at
providing support to ten (10) mature and innovative Business Ideas (5 coming from Greece and 5
coming from Italy), so as to be fully developed and lead to the start-up of 10 sustainable, fully
operative businesses/enterprises (individual or of any other legal form). Priority will be given to
collective Business Ideas developed by two to four individuals forming an informal group, and to
transnational Business Ideas.
The support provided by the INNOVA NET project to each one of the 10 finally selected Business
Ideas will be consisted in the following:
a. tutoring for all 10 selected Business Ideas;
b. indirect financial support (services, networking, etc.) for the 6 best Business Ideas (3 from Italy &
3 from Greece).
The applicants will be young entrepreneurs or young graduates-potential entrepreneurs or anyone
else interested, who are willing to participate in a guiding procedure which will be led by expert
professionals, the tutors. The tutors will be responsible to guide the beneficiaries of the selected
Business Ideas in terms of methodologies, financial, marketing & management techniques.

ARTICLE 2 – Few words about the INNOVA NET project

INNOVA NET project stems from the previous experience of partners and from feasibility studies on
the creation of a school as part of transnational innovation produced through the INNOVA project,
funded by INTERREG Greece-Italy 2000-2006.
The Italian and Greek territories considered in the project (Apulia Region, Prefecture of Achaia,
Prefecture of Ilia, Prefecture of Arta) present a relatively similar socioeconomic background.
The project will thus form a stable network between universities, research institutes, companies and
local institutions in the territories involved, through the consolidation of skills in 4 key areas, vital to
local development in both Italy and Greece. Such a relationship should develop with the needs of
companies and the entire economic and social structure at its base, supported by innovative
projects allowing for solutions to institutional problems through a participatory approach to Greek
and Italian organizations, institutions and businesses.
In the INNOVA NET project, four (4) economic areas of great strategic importance for the socio-
economic development of both countries have been identified and treated as centers for developing
competence: Energy & Environment, Cultural Heritage & Tourism, ICT for SMEs and
Agribusiness & Mediterranean food diet.

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With a view to developing skills in these areas, the INNOVA NET project, through a transnational
approach and joint action by universities, research centers, SMEs and public authorities, aims to
strengthen the competitiveness and accelerate the process of internationalization of companies that
operate in economic fields identified.

ARTICLE 3 – Eligibility requirements

At the date of the submission of the application:
    1. The applicants must be residents in one of the eligible Greek and Italian territories, i.e.
        Prefecture of Achaia, Prefecture of Ilia, Prefecture of Arta (from Greece) and Apulia Region
        (from Italy) and must want to establish a new business in the eligible area as they have to
        mention in a signed statement of intent.
    2. The applicants must be at least 18 years old;
   3. If the application is submitted by an informal group (consisted of two (2) to four (4) people),
       each member of the group must be at least 18 years old at the date of the submission of the
       application.

In case of applications submitted by informal groups, the members of each group agree to form
themselves into a legal entity of their choice (company, association, cooperative, etc.), provided that
the legal form to be chosen will be suitable for carrying out the activities described in the submitted
Business Idea. The new legal entity will be made exclusively by the members of the informal group
submitting the application form.

ARTICLE 4 – Areas of intervention

The Project INNOVA NET supports the tutoring, development and implementation of business
ideas in the following areas of intervention:
a) Energy & Environment
b) Cultural Heritage & Tourism
c) Information & Communication Technologies for Small-Medium Enterprises
d) Agribusiness & Mediterranean food & diet.

Each Business Idea may refer to a single area of intervention. In the case of Business Ideas that
address multiple areas, the more prevalent must be indicated.

ARTICLE 5 - How to apply - Deadline

Candidates may submit their Application Package:
   • by email to be sent to info@innova-net.eu within October 24th, before midnight (for
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      technical reasons linked to the electronic mailboxes, the Application Package can be sent
      using one or more separated and numbered e-mails);

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In order to provide relevant information for effective evaluation, applicants must submit:
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    • The Application Form (Annex 1) fully completed;
    • The Business Idea Description (Annex 2) fully completed;
    • Curriculum Vitae in European format (one for each member of informal groups, if applicable)
        (Europass format)
    • A copy of an identification document (identity card or passport) (In case of informal groups, a
        copy of an identification document is required by each member).

Applications submitted in forms other than the ones annexed to the present call will be automatically
rejected.

For the Application packages delivered within deadline, an email will be registered with
acknowledgment of receipt.

ARTICLE 6 – Criteria & procedures for the selection of the best 10 Business Ideas

The criteria and the procedure for the selection of the 10 beneficiaries (5 in Italy and 5 in Greece)
that will be receive the tutoring services will be based on the documents that they will submit
presenting their Business Idea. Business Ideas will be evaluated by the Steering Committee of the
INNOVA NET project.
The assessment of the merits of Business Ideas will be through the allocation of an overall score
resulting from the sum of the scores analytical, assigned according to the following criteria:

a) Quality of the Business Idea - Clarity in the definition of the Business Idea (product or services
to be produced), how it will be produced and distributed in the market, the target group and the
market to which the product/service is directed to, the promotion strategy, financial sources and
potential income & expenses (max. 50 points)

b) Feasibility and effectiveness - Feasibility of the proposed Business Idea and presence of key-
factors that will enhance the feasibility, in relation to the constraints and problems typical of the area
of intervention. (max. 40 points)

c) Grade of Innovation - Innovative character of the Business Idea compared with the state of
knowledge, the territory in which intervenes, in the market to which it addresses (max. 40 points)

d) Sustainability – Prospects for continuity and development of the Business Idea (solutions for the
retrieval of resources, strategy for the continuation of activities), sustainability in terms of
environmental and social aspects (max. 40 points)

e) Other - Distinctive elements of the Business Idea; transnational approach, informal group
composition, overall presentation of the Business Idea. (max. 30 points)

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Each submitted Business Idea will thus be given a score from 0 to 200.

The Steering Committee will select specifically appointed requests, drafting appropriate ranking.
The Steering Committee, during the examination and evaluation of the applications, reserves the
right to contact and / or request additional information to applicants for the deepening of the
investigation. The Steering Committee’s decision is final.

ARTICLE 7 – Ranking Business Ideas

The Beneficiaries of the Business Ideas will be informed by email no later than 5 days after the
closure of the selection procedure and they will be invited to send an “Acceptance form” of
participation by email to: info@innova-net.eu.
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The selected beneficiaries will have to fully respect the deadlines and procedures specified.

ARTICLE 8 – From the selection of 10 Business Ideas to the start-up of six enterprises

The selected ten (5 in Italy and 5 in Greece) Business Ideas will pass to the next phase. In this
phase, Universus CSEI – Consorzio Universitario per la Formazione e l'Innovazione (as responsible
for Italy) and EPETANIL – Development Association of Ilia (as responsible for Greece), will assure
tutoring, training with professionals qualified and selected to give the management skills necessary
to run a business in the following areas of expertise, i.e. marketing, economic and financial
management, internationalization, management of innovation processes, the management of
human resources and time, as well as services to support further development of the Business
Ideas so as to become detailed, feasible and functional Business Plans.
At the end of this phase, the beneficiaries will present their Business Plan to a Jury Committee
appointed by the INNOVA NET Steering Committee. Based on the detailed Business Plan and a
further process of evaluation and interviewing, the Jury Committee will select the best three (3)
Business Plans from each country [six (6) in total].
The selected Business Plans will pass to the next phase, where they will receive the support by the
INNOVA NET Business Incubator.

ARTICLE 9 – Business Incubator services for the six selected Business Plans

Through a specific signed contract, INNOVA NET Business Incubator, through its branches
(Universus CSEI and EPETANIL), will offer a personalized tutoring and implementing service to
support the implementation of the Business Plans into start-up enterprises.
The potential entrepreneurs will be supported from the establishment phase to the development
phase, in particular: in solving organizational problems, in dealing with management problems, in
increasing their skills, develop synergies and partnerships within the enterprises’ territories, in
accessing services provided by public and private agencies that deal with innovation.

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ARTICLE 10 – Procedures for the selection of the best six Business Plans

The criteria and the procedure for the selection of the six (6) final beneficiaries (3 in Italy and 3 in
Greece) who will receive the indirect financial support (grant) are determined by the Steering
Committee and the Jury Committee.
Business Plans will be evaluated by the Jury Committee appointed by the INNOVA NET Steering
Committee.
The Jury Committee will select specifically appointed requests, drafting appropriate ranking. The
Jury Committee, during the examination and evaluation of the Business Plans reserves the right to
contact and / or request additional information to competitors. The Jury’s decision is final.

ARTICLE 11 – Final ranking

The selected candidates will be informed by email no later than 5 days after the closure of the final
selection procedure and they will be invited to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the
corresponding partner: Universus CSEI – Consorzio Universitario per la Formazione e l'Innovazione
(as responsible for Italy) and EPETANIL – Development Association of Ilia (as responsible for
Greece).

ARTICLE 12 – Schedule of activities

Activities will take place in the period from October 2013 to February 2014.

ARTICLE 13 – Confidentiality and Privacy

All involved entities are required to ensure full respect for the confidentiality of information to be
provided by the applicants and those to be selected and involved in the INNOVA NET Business
Incubator activities.
The INNOVA NET project declares that will treat all personal information confidentially and in
compliance with national and European laws on personal data protection as currently applied.
Personal information will not be passed on to third parties.

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