Event venue

Milan Chamber of Commerce
Via Meravigli, 9 - Milan

Target audience

All interested SMEs

Description of content and objectives

The pilot project "Pitch Boarding Pass: for your winning European project" has been designed to address the need to educate and train businesses on the importance of delivering a professional verbal presentation in English, capable of conveying the message to evaluators in a direct and clear manner, regardless of the applicant's language proficiency.

Assolombarda, in collaboration with Confindustria Lombardia, an EEN network partner, and Innovhub SSI Apre Lombardia Desk, offers companies in the Milan, Monza Brianza, and Lodi areas the opportunity to undertake a training programme that will enable them to approach international investors with greater confidence.

The training programme is divided into two "stops":

• 1st "stop": informing participants about the characteristics and techniques for writing a winning proposal for the EIC Accelerator (formerly the SME Instrument).

At the end of the meeting, there will be a further in-depth assessment of project proposals via remote sessions and individual interviews with selected companies. This phase is preparatory to participation in the 2nd "stop".

• 2nd "stop": supporting participants through a verbal and non-verbal communication programme to ensure success during interviews with evaluators in Brussels;
• Destination: EIC Accelerator.

The workshop programme will be published shortly.

Submission of applications

Interested companies must complete the online project idea collection form BY CLICKING HERE. Forms must be received no later than 22 November 2019.

Evaluation criteria

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria, with the final decision being at the sole discretion of the organisers:

Excellence

• innovative, high-risk/high-potential idea. High potential for novelty with high potential for success;
• realistic description of the development stage (TRL**);

• highly innovative solution that goes beyond the state of the art, compared with existing solutions;
• clearly identified objectives.

Impact

• a compelling description of the market potential, including demand (willingness to pay);
• a compelling description of the target customer/user;
• a realistic and relevant analysis of competitors;
• a description of the innovation's scalability potential;
• team;
• the European dimension of the innovation.

Timeline

The project idea submission form must be completed online no later than 22 November 2019

By 29 November 2019, companies will be informed of the evaluation outcome and, where applicable, invited to attend the 1st "boarding" session, which will be held on 5 December 2019 at 14:00 (places limited to 25 companies).