Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
The Single Market Programme (SMP) covers the single market, competitiveness of enterprises, including small and medium-sized enterprises, the area of plants, animals, food and feed, and European statistics. Specifically, the programme brings together aspects in order to streamline, exploit synergies and provide a better flexible, transparent, simplified and agile framework to finance activities aiming at a well-functioning sustainable internal market.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
In line with the EU Industrial Strategy, EU SMEs strategy10 the action will contribute to supporting creative industries and their SMEs. It will contribute to the objectives of the Single Market Programme and in particular to strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of enterprises, particularly SMEs, and supporting their access to markets. The general objective of this call for proposals is to enhance the competitiveness, sustainability, and innovation of European design-intensive creative and lifestyle industries (particularly, in sectors like fashion and home decoration). This will be achieved by reinforcing the sector capacity and fostering transnational cooperation between creative professionals, designers, SMEs and technologies providers. This call for proposals aims to support entrepreneurship and drive the green and digital transitions within the creative and lifestyle industries.
The current topic is focused on home decoration (including furniture, home accessories, interior design and architecture).
Detailed Call Description
This topic supports transnational business partnerships (‘partnerships’) between SMEs (e.g. manufacturers, crafters, tech-providers) on the one hand and designers or other creative professionals on the other. Throughout the incubation and acceleration process, these partnerships work to develop innovative, design- and creativity-driven products, processes or services with high value-added helping them either embark on a sustainable business path or enhance their competitive position. Support to selected partnerships in the targeted creative sectors will be provided by the projects selected under this call through: direct financial support to the partnerships, tailor-made mentoring programmes (coaching and strategic advice tailored to meet the specific needs of partnership), general training courses (e.g. marketing, business planning or IPR protection), as well as visibility and networking opportunities for the partnerships. In particular, the mentoring programmes will support partnerships to:
- define and develop their business idea; ii) define their market positioning;
- showcase their prototypes or proof of concept during relevant trade shows;
- define their Intellectual Property Rights strategy;
- define their strategy to attract investors and to access markets, including public procurement markets where possible.
More specifically, the WORTH Partnership Project III will promote:
- The integration of creativity, design and advanced technologies (including digital) within SMEs, driving the development of innovative, high-added value products, processes and services.
- The cross-Union cooperation, businesses cross-fertilisation and knowledge sharing between SMEs, designers and other creative professionals.
- The market uptake and commercialisation of innovative business ideas within the creative and lifestyle industries.
- The green and digital solutions’ uptake by SMEs operating in the creative industries and beyond.
The WORTH Partnership Project IIIrd edition remains the Europe-wide incubation programme providing direct support to partnerships between SMEs (e.g. manufacturers, crafters, tech-providers) on the one hand and designers or other creative professionals on the other, during the entire process from idea generation to prototype design as well as product manufacturing and commercialisation, based on tech-driven or green business solutions.
The project proposals shall overall support designers and SMEs in developing innovative products, services and business ideas responding to the most pressing challenges such:
- Circular economy and resources efficiency.
- High-value added solutions for attractive growth markets.
- Advanced digitized manufacturing, value chains and business models.
- Smart, high-performance materials.
- Rethinking social innovation and inclusion.
- Reinvention of craftsmanship and heritage preservation.
Topic 2: SMP-COSME-2024-WORTH-02 — Boosting Competitiveness and Innovation Capacity of SMEs through creative partnerships – WORTH partnership project – Home decoration: The project proposals submitted under topic 2 will cover support to partnerships in the Home decoration sector, including furniture, home accessories, interior design and architecture. Home decoration, interior design and architecture are among the design-intensive industries. They are present in the everyday life of millions of people, and they can convey values such as culture, creativity, innovation, and craftsmanship. Europe’s is home to many design brands and talented designers in this sector. In line with the EU Green Deal objective, the New European Bauhaus and digitalisation shift the sectors related to home decoration, home accessories, interior design and architecture play an important role in the economy and peoples’ daily lives innovating on sustainable solutions, innovative materials, waste reduction or use of smart digital technologies. Also WORTH contributes to innovation and sustainability in the home decoration and architecture sector, incubating new design-driven solutions and business ideas as well as promoting transnational cooperation.
The project proposals shall overall support designers and SMEs in developing new innovative products, services, and business ideas in the sector of home decoration industries, including furniture, home accessories, interior design and architecture. In terms of priorities (scope), the proposals for WORTH Partnership Project – Home decoration must:
- Propose a clear vision and implement robust scheme to support and facilitate the formation of partnerships in the area of home decoration. The application must describe how the project intends to first help identify and reach out to potential partners for partnerships, (see section on partnerships below), with potential to participate in the WORTH incubation programme. The application must describe how a matchmaking scheme to gather expressions of interest and support formation of partnerships will be set to bring forward the most promising and innovative ideas addressing the challenges set in this call, in line with WORTH’s objectives and the relevant EU policies.
- Develop and implement a relevant and robust business support and incubation scheme for supported partnerships. It must include:
- tailor-made mentoring programmes – coaching and strategic advice tailored to meet the specific needs of each of the partnerships.
- general training courses and workshops on e.g. marketing, brand building, business planning, readiness to market, access to markets including public procurement markets where possible, IPR protection, certifications, or financing.
- Develop a relevant and robust system of financial support to partnerships as detailed in the section on Partnerships below (direct financing – Third party direct financial support).
- Promote creative entrepreneurship and innovation in design-intensive creative and lifestyle industries, through:
- developing and implementing knowledge sharing and networking activities as well as business links for supported partnerships;
- organising annual events showcasing the role of creativity and design in innovating entrepreneurship.
- fostering the emergence of new ideas and collaborations and facilitating the exchange of good practices.
- Develop communication/promotional actions about the project, its activities and the results achieved by the partnerships.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
The costs will be reimbursed at the funding rates fixed in the Grant Agreement (100% for the costs for providing financial support to third parties and 75% for all other cost categories).
Project budgets (requested grant amount) are expected to be €2.250.000 per project.
This does not however preclude the submission/selection of proposals requesting other amounts.
The grant awarded may be lower than the amount requested.
Thematic Categories
- Culture
- Industry
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Small-Medium Enterprises and Competitiveness
- Trade and Commerce
Eligibility for Participation
- Businesses
- Chambers
- Educational Institutions
- International Organisations
- Legal Entities
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs)
- non-EU countries:
- listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Single Market Programme (SMP) (list of participating countries)
Legal entities (forming a consortium) may include the following (the list of type of entities is not exhaustive):
- Non-profit organisations (private or public) specialised in business and entrepreneurial support and/or creative industries.
- ‘Public bodies’ specialised in business support for SMEs and/or creative industries.
- Research centres, universities or educational institutions.
- European umbrella organisations of industrial/sectoral associations.
- Business support organisations including business incubators and accelerators, local economic development agencies, entrepreneurial hubs.
- Business development organisations, including business labs, chambers of commerce and industries, trade associations, industry-specific organisations.
- Business Networks and other professional associations.
- Organisations providing specialised communication services (such as communication agencies).
- Providers of sustainable solutions, including recycling centres.
- Profit making entities specialised in business and entrepreneurial support and/or creative industries.
- Financing bodies and/or providers of financing solutions.
Consortium composition
Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least three applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities), which complies with the following conditions:
- minimum three and a maximum of eight independent entities from minimum three different eligible countries
- From the entities above:
- at least one (1) business support organisation or legal entity with proven capacity of knowledge transfer to, and training of SMEs, such as university, training centre or research centre;
- at least one (1) legal entity specialized in communication and dissemination.
Eligible activities:
- Financial support to third parties is allowed for grants or similar forms of support under the conditions set out in section 2.
- Financial support to third parties will be accepted to support partnership concepts or ideas.
- Your project application must clearly specify why financial support to third parties is needed, how it will be managed and provide a list of the different types of activities for which a third party may receive financial support. The proposal must also clearly describe the results to be obtained.
Geographic location (target countries): Proposals must relate to activities taking place in the eligible countries.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry
Industry and Technology Service
Address: 1421, Nicosia, Cyprus
Email: sit@meci.gov.cy
Contact Person:
Spyros Triantaphyllidis
Telephone: 22867333
EU Contact Point
For help related to this call, please contact: EISMEA-SMP-COSME-ENQUIRIES@ec.europa.eu