Coach service

IT’S TIME TO BOOST YOUR IDEA AND GROW

 

The FAN-BEST Coach Network is designed to provide support to SMEs that carry out innovative projects within the Blue Economy sector, making possible the start and scale-up phase. No matter if you are an entrepreneur or an already existing SME, this program is for you.

There are two main factors that undermine the innovation capacity of the SMEs that mainly compose the Blue Economy sectors in the Atlantic Area:

 

  • Disconnection between the business environment and the innovation system.
  • Difficulty for the companies linked to the maritime economy to access external financing.

 

Break down those walls through the coaching provided by the FAN-BEST partners!

Why apply?

The main objective of the FAN-BEST Coach Network is to select, coach and monitor at least 7 innovation projects from the Atlantic Blue Economy sectors, so that the technologies and innovations “made in Atlantic regions” can reach the market turning into successful business projects. All the FAN-BEST partners will collaborate with this program, being in charge of the selection process and providing the coach to the beneficiaries, monitoring the whole process.

 

Some of the main tasks to be carried out is to provide information, advice and coaching to SMEs so that they can learn more about all key strategic aspects concerning the project as IP, marketing, commercial, technological, financing and human resources, as well as the available financing opportunities, which are the instruments and grants more suitable among all the wide landscape of programs and instruments from local to international level, in order to help them to achieve the appropriate financing.

Benefits for participants

Two kind of services will be provided to the beneficiaries:

 

  • Group sessions: where the selected participants will meet all the partners and the rest of beneficiaries, creating synergies between the entities. Also, there is foreseen the participation in EU Blue Economy events during 2021-2022.

 

  • Individual sessions-contact: each beneficiary will have assigned one partner to provide the coach service through interviews, face-to-face meetings, webinars and a fluid communication. The coach plan will be adapted to the needs and timing, in agree between each beneficiary and partner. These individual sessions may cover an analysis and preliminary assessment of the innovation project, a personal interview with the promoters for the evaluation of their business profile and spirit, a training and preparation of the promoters’ management team and supporting and providing advice during the steps necessary to access to funding.

Requirements to be beneficiary

The programme is addressed to persons with a company already created or not, such as potential entrepreneurs, start-ups, scale-ups and other existing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with an innovative idea to contribute to a EU sustainable Blue Economy, marketable innovation solutions and ambitions to scale up.

 

It targets any SMEs (established or expected), including entrepreneurs, start-ups and scale-ups from Blue Economy sectors. In addition, the project to be submitted has to be located in any of the regions of the Atlantic Area Cooperation Programme.

How to apply

If you want to participate in the selection process, you have to fill the Annex 1 – Application Form and send it to coach@fanbest.eu until 30th October.

Each partner will pre-select some proposals based on the location of the project and the score assigned. Companies that pass the initial selection stage, will be invited to pitch their idea, project or service (the pitch will have a maximum duration of 7 minutes, covering not only the technical part but also the project key aspects as the team capabilities and the business plan) in front of a panel of jury experts for Q&A during 7min more. This jury will be made up by members of each FANBEST partners’ teams. The pre-selected applicants have the option of sending a video recording instead making a live on-line pitch presentation. This second process complements the existing paper-based assessment in order to take full account of the personal qualities and motivations of the applicants.