PAXIS Peer Review

The START network

Edinburgh, 7th October 2005

Irma Priedl (network coordinator) Regional Government of Lower Austria

Veronica Lynch Scottish Enterprise & Lothian

European PAXIS / Start network

Partnering regions & organisations

• Vienna Region (Lower Austria/Vienna-City) Regional government of Lower Austria (department of economy and technology)

• Edinburgh Region Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh & Lothian (local government agency)

• Greater Copenhagen Region Greater Copenhagen Authority (HUR) (regional government)

• Veneto Region Veneto Innovazione (regional agency for innovation)

• Hamburg Metropolitan Region IZET (technology and start-up centre for innovative high-tech-companies)

Content of the PAXIS start-up process

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Spin-off sectors in new growth sectors

Awareness raising & entrepreneurial education

Feasibility of start-up mobilisation

Preparation of the foundation

Preparation of the company

Support of start-ups

Content of Start

Facilitation & mobilisation

Business planning

Early stage financing

Interna- tionalisation in growth phase

monitoring of start-up process – service and financing

The challenge

• Strive for a Quick learning curve simple key transfer processes based on workshops and regular exchanges

• Transfer takes time it is a process: achievements could be measured through different milestones

• Define common themes of high priority

• Involve experts and program manager together from the very beginning

Transfer is a process

• Understanding of Role of partners in the region

• Understanding of regional context

• Exchange of experience and knowledge transfer

• Inputs for own region and workshops with experts

• Pilot actions to ensure quick results and show practicability

• Adaptation

• Implementation in regional (funding and support) process

Tangible results / Results in figures

 

 

 

tools and transfer facilitation &

mobilisation

monitoring

spin off mechanism in

new growth sectors

business

planning

early stage

financing

internatio-nalisation in

growth phase

presentations 7 14 7 11 30workshops and study visits 1 1 1 2 2cross networkconferences / meetings 1 1 2 2 4experts 7 17 6 16 46GP examples 3 9 4 11 14transferred ideas 5 7 6 4 13transfers / manual 1 1 2 1 1common project ideas - - - 1 2

Intangible results

• exchange network with complementary expertise in which we know who knows what - address book

• Understanding of different regional approaches and settings

• acknowledging those different strategies for solving problems

• more indepth knowledge to create success

• awareness raising for innovative start-ups

• using wider PAXIS network to develop projects and ideas

Added value for Partners & EC

• The PAXIS Label

• Learn from the best

• New crossnetwork activities for important topics

• Common projects with Paxis partners and other regions on EU-level (Projects developped/in pipeline)

• PAXIS community: development of common actions and European positioning around the 2 themes

– financing

– Internationalisation

Transfer of good practices

• Inventory of transfers of good practices including

– practices from other regions that were integrated into a practice in your own region

– practices from your own region that were transferred to other regions, within or outside the START network.

• A practice was considered to be adopted if action and work on the practice was integrated in the operation.

Transfer of 4 good practice cases based on partner experiences

In the field of…

• … Internationalisation – Growth Toolkit

• … Early Stage financing – Proof of Concept

• … Facilitating the process in new growth sector – IT Growth House

• … Easy access to good practise cases – Monitoring Tool

Internationalisation - Growth Identification Tool

• Paper based toolkit – can be delivered in 15 mins

• Assesses the growth potential of companies

• Scoring criteria between 0 and 15 to indicate company’s growth potential

– Ambition

– Capacity

– Opportunity

• Enables growth segmentation of potential clients prioritising 1:1 adviser assistance

Internationalisation - Growth Identification Tool

• Objective – Prioritising impact on the regional economy

• Delivery mechanism – Business Adviser

• Impact achieved – higher than average turnover and employee growth

• Transferability Medium – knowledge and judgement of the business adviser key

• Main challenges – policy change required

• Critical success factors – skilled advisers with strong business backgrounds

• Resources – opportunity to generate resource efficiencies

• Impact in implementing regions – higher economic impact

Financing Early Stage - Proof of Concept

• Objective – Supporting early stage research ideas from unis

• Delivery mechanism – 100% funding tool of €80-250k over 2 years

• Impact achieved – after 4 funding rounds - 146 projects funded, 340 jobs created.

• Transferability medium – only public sector will intervene as no ROI available at this stage in development of research

• Main challenges – funding the right projects with commercialisation potential. Monitoring of projects up to 10 yrs.

• Critical success factors – creating availability of funding, stakeholder panel and appraisal and assessment panel, Project Management Group

• Resources – funding, people and stakeholder support

• Impact in implementing regions – opportunity to create more spinout companies through fund. Significant economic impacts.

The IT Growth House in Copenhagen

The IT Growth House opened the 3rd of March 2005

An innovative environment of 3500 m2 allocated at the 5th floor of the IT University of Denmark

4 elements:

•A Spin-off Experimentarium, where students and researchers are guided in the test and development of business ideas;

•A Growth Environment, where start-ups and established companies can rent a place close to the attractive IT research and education environment of the University;

•Projects of cooperation between University researchers and companies;

•Activities of Demonstrations and Exhibitions, showing innovative technologies to a broad target group.

The IT Growth House in Copenhagen

• a unique environment for students, spin-offs, start-ups, companies and researchers with an interest for and a focus on Information Technologies

• offers service, consultancy and an environment of growth being stimulating and inspiring for development and research at a high level

• encourage private companies and university researchers to work together in a multi functional environment

• has attracted both start-ups, students, researchers and established companies as Microsoft Technology Lab DK

• the creation of an innovative space for everybody working with Information Technologies

IT Growth House in Copenhagen

• Objective – supporting SMEs and spin offs in ICT

• Delivery mechanism – space and services in the university

• Impact achieved – after 1/2 year 80% of the space is rented, innovation and know how in one place

• Transferability low – complex nature of the process

• Main challenges – achieve the agreements between national and regional partners involved

• Critical success factors – percentage occupancy, number and survival rate of start-ups in IT sector, co-operation between science and companies

• Resources – public funding (mix of national and regional), private partners

• Impact in implementing regions – creating critical mass in clusters with positive economic impact, stronger link between science and companies

Monitoring tool for easy access to good practise examples

• Objective – easy access to good practice examples along the start up process

• Delivery mechanism – excel tool and indicator explanation

• Impact achieved – self assessment, knowledge of the region in start-up sector, good practice cases

• Transferability high – transfer of excel tool, qualitative and quantitative indicators, quick assessment

• Main challenges – inclusion of all the relevant partners

• Critical success factors – availability of data

• Resources – minimum time resource

• Impact in implementing regions – knowledge about strengths and weaknesses in the region, easy way to identify and present good practice cases regarding specific topics and phases of the start-up process

Monitoring tool for easy access to good practise examples

Vienna Region - min/max

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6,0

1. Aw areness rais ing andentrepreneurial education

2. Mobilisation

3. Preparation of a foundation

4. Foundation of the com pany

5. Support of KBSUsduring the ir firs t 5 years

6. Coordination of regional servicesand regional s tart-up s trategy

MIN VR

MAX VR

VR - Wien

VR - NÖ

Vienna Region indicators min/mean/max

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1,0

2,0

3,0

4,0

5,0

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9,0

10,0

1.1 Information events/days 1.2 Promotion campaigns

1.3 Integration of entrepreneurship in education 1.4 Establishment of new entrepreneurial research andstudies

1.5 Regional climate of entrepreneurial culture

1.6 Regional legislative, administrative and tax f ramew ork

1.7 Degree of aw areness about creating the ow n start-up asopportunity and realistic alternative to employment

2.1 Business idea competition

2.2 Technology & business idea scout

2.3 Initial consultation

2.4 Start-up hunting

2.5 “First proof ” of business ideas

3.1 Prof iling

3.2 Idea and Partner matching

3.3 Training & individual consulting

3.4 Prototyping Clinics

3.5 Business plan development

3.6 Market & competitor analyses 3.7 Patenting & licensing

3.8 Entrepreneurship on probation 3.9 Investment Opportunity Forum

3.10 Cultivation of industrial and f inancial relationships

3.11 Ratio of public and self f inanced money to total budget forthe preparation step

4.1 Mentoring of foundation

4.2 Providing inf rastructure w ith basic services for newcompanies

4.3 High technology venture capital investment (‰ of GDP)

4.4 Activity index 1: Number of KBSUs per 100.000 inhabitants

4.5 Activity index 2: Number of new start-ups in innovationrelevant areas per 100.000 inhabitants

5.1 Continuous coaching

5.2 Advanced training and qualif ication

5.3 New products competition, innovation aw ard

5.4 Financial support (Grow th capital)

5.5 Sustainability index: survival rate af ter 7 years

5.6 Grow th indicator 1: job creation af ter 5 years

5.7 Public amount spent for every job of a start-up

5.8 Leverage ef fect of public seed capital

5.9 Revenue f rom young start-ups for public funding (Degreeof self f inancing)

6.1 Existence of a regional start-up/spin-of f strategy 6.2 Coordination of the regional support services

6.3 Monitoring of services and support for KSBUs

VR - NÖ

VR - Wien

MEAN VR

Visibility of results

• List with absolute figures & explanations and graphs

Recommendations How to make know-how practicable

• experts knowledge exchange and experience

users and clients benefit most from real expert experience - less lost steps

• from general aspects to concrete activities

policy makers have to provide quick facilitation of results and know-how by implementing projects - to integrate pilot projects into mainstream programs

Support ofstart-ups

• Key successes in a short period – generating knowledge exchange through experts

• Transfer takes time

• Process - orientationNo single/isolated activities

• Practice and Policy should co-operate

Conclusions regarding the transfer process

After PAXIS

• The network has value now

• PAXIS is a sound basis for developing further common projects particularly in the field of „Internationalisation“ and pre-seed funding

• List of 20 possible project ideas for the follow up of PAXIS

– Cluster and platform development

– Regional innovation excellence

– Identify and fund international growth

– Uncovering new ventures

– Technology transfer excellence