Commission approves EUR 4.4 million for innovative SME platform.
The European Commission has given its green light to aid for Investbx, an innovative platform which will raise capital for growing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK's West Midlands region.
The company Investbx aims to bridge the gap between investors and ambitious SMEs in the field of private equity by providing between €0.7 and €2.9 million to companies looking to expand.
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said: 'This aid will help growing SMEs get access to capital. Improving information transparency on the risk capital market will attack the very source of the market failure. I appreciate in particular that all equity investment at Investbx will be provided by private investors. Investbx is a very innovative project, which may be a valuable precedent for other Member States.'
The innovative idea behind Investbx is to publish on its website a detailed analytical research report about each SME seeking investment, a move usually reserved for institutional investors with larger stocks of shares.
Furthermore, Investbx will provide an online auction-based platform for trading shares of SMEs. The advantage of this system compared to established marketplaces should be to eliminate the spread between the bid and the offer price.
Investbx will receive a €4.4 (GBP 3 million) grant to offset its initial losses during an initial period of up to five years. If the project is successful at the end of the trial period, Investbx will be sold to private investors. If not, it will be closed.
Contact person: For further information, please visit: http://www.investbx.com/
More than 50 SMEs attended the workshop organised by Cartif about Research, Development and Innovation Opportunities in Europe.
More than 50 companies from different Spanish regions attended this workshop about Research, Development and Innovation Opportunities in Europe, that was organised by Cartif Technology Centre. Most of the attending companies were from the Agro-food and ICT sectors. Moreover, diverse representatives of Universities and Technology Centres joined this workshop that took place in the Boecillo Technology Park on December 15th .
The workshop was led by recognised speakers representing the Spanish National Contact Point (CDTI), the Castilla y León regional innovation agency (Fundación ADEuropa) and the project IPR-Helpdesk. Besel and Cartif presented the SPAS project as a reference for SMEs to obtain support for SMEs participation in the VII Framework Program. SMEs showed special interest in getting support for taking part in Technology Platforms.
Commission announces date for first FP7 calls
The European Commission has announced the date of the opening of the first calls for proposals under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).
With FP7 reaching the end of its adoption process (the European Parliament expected to give its green light on 30 November), the European Commission has announced 22 December as the day when the first calls for proposals will open.
The Director General of DG Research, José Manuel Silva Rodríguez, made the announcement at a briefing session on the biggest EU Research programme to date. 'Tomorrow's answers start today with the Seventh Research Framework Programme,' he said.
He also outlined some of the new elements in the €53 billion programme, which will bundle all research-related EU initiatives together under one roof.
Mr Rodríguez explained how the objectives of FP7 have been grouped into research themes; Cooperation, Ideas, People and Capacities. He went on to explain how the programme will develop research that will meet the needs of European industry through the work carried out by Technology Platforms and the new Joint Technology Initiatives.
The Director General finished on a high note by stating that all procedures would be simplified. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) would be actively encouraged to get involved and the newly established European Research Council (ERC) would fund the best of European fundamental science.
The Seventh Framework Programme will be fully operational as of 1 January and will expire in 2013.
For more information, please visit:
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7
http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/home_en.html
Data Source Provider: CORDIS News attendance at FP7 press briefing
Source: CORDIS News - 24/11/2006
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