Available courses

Providing clusters’ trainers with a practical approach for identifying their SME members’ needs, as well as a solid understanding of the types of tools available for identifying these needs. Methods for the identification and assessment of these needs will be presented, tips regarding when and how those tools can/should be used will be highlighted, which will help the trainer have a clearer picture of its market potential and also a clear vision about the innovation strategy.

Understanding the needs of your members

An interactive session focused on soft skills development, addressing the specific needs of clusters’ trainers. The training is designed to improve clusters’ trainers soft skills, with a special focus on the ones needed to enhance the quality and effectiveness of their collaboration with their member SMEs.

Transversal competencies and skills

The training session aims at giving an overview of the market trends for bio-based products/processes, the growth prospects and development trends, including challenges and opportunities for the establishment of bio-based value chains. Cluster representatives will be able to comprehend and understand the bio-based market trends, the characteristics of a product/process to overcome the so-called “valley of death” and the characteristics of a business model to satisfy the market needs and requirements.

Planning for future growth: understanding market trends in bio-based value chains

An introduction to the MPowerBIO platform and step-by-step guidance for applying to the platform, with the help of a pre-recorded video guide. The goal is to explain how the MPowerBIO platform works and how to navigate it, explain the profile requirements and demonstrate how the assessment tools are used.

Overview of MPowerBIO SME assessment tools

This training session aims at giving clusters a concrete tool to customize services for start-ups and SMEs according to the technology readiness level of their products/services. It will help clusters improve their operational skills by providing an evaluation model of the innovation based on the TRL as a decision-making tool for the SMEs technical and financial viability assessment.

Mapping innovation using Technology Readiness Levels

The goal of the training is to provide guidance to the associated clusters in helping SMEs to seize international market opportunities, address all ‘drivers’ and ‘barriers’ for internationalization and facilitate access to various sources of financing. This training will upskill the clusters’ ability to deliver support to the associated SMEs in the form of facilitating access to funding sources. The session is based on the currently present issues that SMEs in the bio-based industry face.

Internationalization and access to finance: the power of SME networks

An overview of how to measure your product’s fit into a demanding target market successfully – providing SMEs with theoretical and practical knowledge on how to assess the degree to which their product satisfies a strong market demand, and how to improve it if necessary. With this training, the SMEs will be provided with all concepts necessary in order to be able to self-conduct a product-market fit analysis and be able to identify shortcomings effectively, through both theoretical knowledge and real-life scenarios.

Finding a product-market fit

Sharing the experience of some EIT food partners active in the Bio Based Industries sector. Explaining how EIT food supports innovative entrepreneurial initiatives through its educational programmes and its business creation activities. Explaining the policy and the financial framework in which EIT food operates – The EU Green Deal and the Farm 2 Fork Strategy, Circular Food Systems, Challenges and priorities.

EIT Food Innovation Model and fostering collaboration across the entire food system

The main goal of the session is to introduce clusters and SMEs to a variety of open financing opportunities across the national and European funding landscape, making it much simpler for SMEs to grow and scale up their business. The aim is to raise awareness on financial mechanisms available to SMEs across the bio-based industry, explain how different financial mechanisms work and how they can be approached, and help SMEs decide on the most appropriate funding sources in line with their specific needs and goals, including learning when NOT to apply for a funding mechanisms that is less suitable for their phase and offers.


Demystifying the funding landscape - sources of investment for biobased SMEs

Introducing participants to the concept of break-even analysis and explaining how this tool can be utilised for identifying at what point their company, new product or service will become profitable. The training aims to clarify the break-even point – the level of output at which the revenues generated by a project equal its costs. In line with this, the session will demonstrate to SMEs how they can compare variable and fixed costs with the sales revenue to determine their own break-even point.

Break-even analysis: How long does it take for bio-based SMEs to be profitable?

Description:

The aim of this session is to help founders understand the value the team brings to the equation and why this is important when seeking private investments. Once the participants have completed this training, they will know what an investor is looking for in the team and which competencies are needed in the different stages of scaling up.

Agenda:

  • Why the team is one of the most (if not the most) important factors when it comes to raising capital?
  • What investors look for in the team, and how you present the team?
  • Which competencies are needed in the different stages from idea to scale up: When is it time to realize that your company is best off with you in a different role than CEO?

The important role of a strong & complementary team

Description:

This session will enable bioeconomy SMEs to spot relevant opportunities and avoid irrelevant/lower chances. The session will provide participants with up-to-date applicable knowledge considering EU funding opportunities and the company’s growth.

Agenda:

  • Overview of EU funding opportunities
  • Criteria to judge how a grant is or is NOT suitable for the specific case
  • Criteria to decide how and if to partner up with other parties, or how and if to lead bid alone
  • How to best position your organisation toward a specific bid

How to strategically match your company growth and EU funding opportunities

Description:

This session aims to guide new entrepreneurs through a series of simple steps on how to communicate their products or services to potential customers. The training sets out to explain exactly how a small business can benefit from PR and it offers a variety of choices on different PR tools and services that fit the needs of SMEs. The main goal of the session will be to help SMEs align their PR activities with their growth plan so that they can create measurable results.

Agenda:

  • The basics of Inbound PR
  • How PR fits with the overall marketing strategy
  • Buyer personas and social listening
  • Useful Inbound marketing tools
  • Tips for generating a good PR strategy
  • Best practices

PR for SMEs & Scale-ups with case studies

Description:

This session will provide SMEs with valuable advice, as well as some useful tips and tricks, on how to prepare and deliver a memorable pitch presentation to potential investors and secure funding for their business. The training will explain to SMEs what the purpose of a pitch is, what are the most important do’s and don’ts of pitching, and how to address a unique set of challenges that many SMEs face on the road to capturing investments. The aim is to help SMEs put together a strong, compelling story of who they are and what they are good at, and convince investors to back their idea.

Agenda:

  • Pitching basics
  • How to create a memorable pitch deck
  • Pitching DOs and DONT’s
  • Pitching tips and tricks
  • Elements of presenting - how to perform a convincing pitch
  • Online pitching
  • Common questions from investors
  • Handling feedback

How to create and deliver a compelling investor pitch deck

Description:

This session will enable SMEs to identify the need for capital, choose the right source of financing that fits their needs, requirements, and complies with risk willingness and timeline. The training will provide hands-on tools to identify the capital need and an overview of the different sources of financing. It will also verify or challenge the company’s current plans for funding and give practical advice to secure the needed financing.

Agenda:

  • Identify your capital need through financial planning in a basic way
  • Navigate between the different sources of financing: equity-based, lending and soft funding
  • Identify the right type of financing for the activity: analysing the risk, the gain, pros and cons
  • Become instrumental in the basics of raising different types of funding for the company

Financial planning and how to extend your runway through access to finance

Description:

The goal of this training service is to explore the potential of crowdfunding to empower entrepreneurs with both financial capital and social capital. The training intends to introduce to participants the various types of crowdfunding options and give them practical advice on how to successfully create their own crowdfunding campaign. SMEs will be able to understand the ways in which crowdfunding can be used as an alternative source of financing innovation and how it can be complementary to traditional financing sources.

Agenda:

  • What is crowdfunding and how does it work?
  • Different types of crowdfunding
  • Choosing the right crowdfunding platform
  • Keys to a successful crowdfunding campaign
  • Intro to crowdfunding models and choosing the most suitable model for a specific SME
  • Overview of the crowdfunding market
  • Crowdfunding side-effects
  • Crowdfunding vs. traditional financing

Crowdfunding Guide

Description:

This training session will provide attendees with proper background knowledge for identifying their customers, or potential customers, and understanding what they want. It will also introduce them to a spectrum of available tools and techniques which SMEs can use to make connections and build strong relationships with their customer base. After the completion of this training, the participants should be able to use the knowledge obtained to properly determine customers’ needs and develop the right products, services, and solutions in order to meet them.

Agenda:

  • Why recognising customers’ need is important
  • Methods and tools to accurately identify customers’ pain points
  • Identifying the main types of customers
  • Identifying the common needs and expectations customers have
  • Presenting products, services, and solutions that meet those expectations

Customer needs

Description:
 
This session will provide insights to companies in their relevant finance round on the way valuation needs to be properly managed. The desired outcomes of this presentation are for the entrepreneurs to learn how to engage investors more effectively and how to properly manage their expectations. Furthermore, the entrepreneurs will learn how to better manage any possible misalignments in their company valuation and how to proceed if their company doesn’t have revenue yet, but needs investment.
 
Agenda:
  • Company valuation
  • Investor readiness
  • Investor engagement
  • Managing company valuation expectations

Traction and Valorisation/Company Valuation

Description:
 
This session will provide SMEs with general and practical knowledge about the legal aspects of investing in venture capital from an international point of view. The participants will have a general overview of the main aspects to take into account in the negotiation of a funding round and the types of legal documents to subscribe.
 
Agenda:
 
  • The construction of a partnership agreement for a venture capital operation.
  • Economic agreements. Usual clause.
  • Control pacts. Usual clause.
  • Remaining agreements.
  • Preferential rights.
  • Transfer to statutes of the shareholders' agreements.

The Process & Phases of Raising Capital - Main steps including legal specifications

Description:

This session aims to provide SMEs with general and practical knowledge about the reporting methods and exit strategies in relation of a company with venture capital. By means of theoretical knowledge and practical examples, the session will give an overview of the main exit strategies (both direct sale to the market and stock market) and the usual reporting methods.

Agenda:

Reporting methods. Formal and informal.

Exit strategies.

A. Direct sales to the market.

  • Trade sale: Sale to a strategic investor.
  • Secondary buy out (SBO): sale to another venture capital entity.
  • Buy back: Sale to former owners.
  • Operations with management teams (“managers”):
    • TOUR: Levereged buy out (LBO).
  • Management buy out. (and Employees buy out).
  • Management buy in.
  • Management buy in / buy out.
    • Write-off: Mere liquidation.

B. Stock market. Initial Public Offering (IPO).


Reporting & Exit Strategies - Life with an investor

Description:

This session will give SMEs theoretical and practical knowledge about the most pragmatic and recurrent sales and marketing channels within the business world, to be included in the SME’s current sales strategy for the target market addressed. It will also provide SMEs with the essential tools to successfully address the key points within their sales strategy, and consequently perform effective go-to-market analysis.

Agenda:
  • General and Specific considerations to Sell a Product: Differences between a Sales and Marketing Strategy and main challenges.
  • Channel types & selection
  • Challenges of channel marketing
  • Strategic decisions about your product: 4P’s Marketing Mix.
  • Channel Distribution Landscape and analysis.
  • Customer Relationship Management: Know your Sales Funnel.

Sales & Marketing Channels

Description:

This introductory session will provide SMEs with general and practical knowledge of key aspects to consider when validating their business idea in the process of testing how relevant a product or concept is by conducting research. The training will give SMEs a general view and will empower them to generate their own go-to-market strategies and viability plan when entering potential markets of action.

Agenda:

  • Introduction to market validation
    • Write down hypotheses
    • Assess market size and share
    • Research search volume of related terms
    • Customer validation interviews
    • Testing your product
  • Key points and considerations when addressing your target market
    • Acknowledge your target audience
    • Determine criteria for consumer identification
    • Identify what customers want from you
    • Best communication channels
    • Measure results
  • Different business methods applied to real case studies (examples).

Market Validation

Description:

The goal of the session is to provide SMEs with theoretical and practical knowledge on how to address potential and currently existing competition, considering both internal and external factors within the environment. The session will also provide SMEs with tools which will help facilitate the identification and assessment of competitive advantages at sectoral and industry level, as well as to perform an efficient competitive analysis for a specific target market.

Agenda:

  • Prepare the ground: how to carry out an external and internal company analysis: PESTEL and SWOT.
  • Porter’s Five Forces Analysis
  • Know your positioning: Positioning Map and Relevance in the Market.
  • Real case-scenario

Competitor Analysis