European Innovation Council's approach to enhance Innovative Public Procurement for Startups and SME

Among the various acceleration services provided by the European Innovation Council (EIC), there is also one dedicated to innovative procurement. The goal is to facilitate access of EIC innovators to this lucrative market which, while promoting public administration innovation, also represents a multi-billion funding source for innovative enterprises. The EIC innovative procurement program operates through calls and is divided into three action strands, two of which are currently operational.

As explained by the EIC, "the main goal of this program is to facilitate the access of EIC innovators to the procurement markets in Europe and globally, thus ensuring greater market opportunities for these innovative SMEs and startups, while simultaneously contributing to their scale-up."

To do so, the EIC Innovation Procurement Programme (this is the official name) is articulated in three actions. The first is the "SPIN4EIC Strategic Innovation Procurement Programme," an initiative that provides technical assistance and training on innovative procurement to both EIC innovators and innovation purchasers (both public and private).

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