internationalisation, news
Entering the Chinese Market
As part of the TESLA Initiative, a workshop entitled “Entering the Chinese Market” was held on Friday June 21st in the Rubicon Centre CIT, Cork.
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EU Innovation Conference
A high level EU Innovation conference attended by over 300 delegates in Cork today heard how Interreg funding is being used to support the export development and Internationalisation plans of small firms across Europe.
Kieran Moylan, Assistant Director of the BMW Regional Assembly gave an overview presentation of the TESLA project and the constituent pilot initiatives which are currently being delivered in the partner regions in Germany, Ireland, Wales, Belgium, the Netherlands and France. TESLA is a €3.8m three year transnational Project part funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Interreg North West Europe Programme. Speaking at the event Mr. Moylan added that:
“The TESLA project will have a positive impact at very local level in the partner regions. Early stage technology based firms both within and outside the campus business environment are benefitting from practical joint transnational schemes aimed at providing key information on accessing new markets in Europe, accessing new finance opportunities and developing new products. In recent weeks , he added, companies in the BMW region and south west region of Ireland accessed key market intelligence on German market entry with the help of an Internationalisation expert from Germany. These continued supports to small firms will help them gain a competitive advantage in the market place and at a broader EU level – help to raise levels of innovation in Europe”
Mr. Moylan also delivered an overview of an Audit of Innovation and Knowledge Intensive Services which was conducted in the BMW Region in 2011 as part of the EU Atlantkis project. This report will help to identify innovation priorities for the region and shape Ireland ‘s Smart Specialisation Strategy for the 2014 – 2020 Funding Period.
The EU Week of Innovating Regions (WIRE) Conference is an annual event hosted by the European Commission. The 2013 conference was held in University College Cork on June 6th and 7th as part of the Irish Presidency of the EU. The Conference was opened by EU Commissioner For Research, Innovation and Science, Maire Geoghegan – Quinn who also visited the TESLA Project exhibition at the Conference.
internationalisation, news
Tesla Workshop – Entering the German Market
Entering the German Market a Tesla Project Workshop moderated by Dr. Wolfgang Kniejski, Chairman INI-Novation GmbH and hosted by Lionra in the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.
Download the presentations
TESLA Training Program 1 _ Aspects of Starting a Business
TESLA Training Program 2 _ How to finance a start-up business
innovation, news
Supporting SMEs though Campus Incubators
The importance of Ireland’s Campus based Business Innovation Centres to our economic recovery was emphasised today by Minister for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock, T.D., at the launch of EU funded pilot initiatives to support the export plans of new business ventures emerging from the higher education environment.
Addressing the launch of the TESLA Pilot Innovation Initiatives at the Rubicon Centre in Cork Institute of Technology, Minister Sherlock welcomed the support from the EU Interreg North West Europe Programme to help grow and develop early stage technology based businesses and assist their export plans into Europe and beyond. The Minister added that the potential of the firms engaging with the third level sector is crucial to new job creation in Ireland. Representatives from Enterprise support agencies, Industry and the higher education sector heard that: –
“Encouraging, promoting and developing growth and export potential of our SMEs in Ireland and Europe is crucial for our economic recovery and future growth at both a national and European level.”
The TESLA project is a three year EU Transnational project which is assisting early stage technology based firms to grow and develop through a programme of innovation supports designed to help firms internationalise more quickly and access new EU markets. The project involves eight partners from six EU member states – Ireland, Wales, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. TESLA is made up of Universities & Higher Education Institutes, Business and Innovation Centres and a public sector Regional Assembly. The total value of the project is €3.8m. The BMW Regional Assembly is the Lead Partner for the project. The Rubicon Centre at CIT and Lionra, (the Regional Higher Education Network for the BMW region) are also partners in TESLA and will together deliver five of the ten project actions.
BMW Regional Assembly Director, Mr Gerry Finn added that the TESLA project is providing important supports for the development of high potential, high tech, early stage business ventures throughout the EU. He continued: –
“The strength of the TESLA brand is the Transnational aspect of the project. Each Partner brings distinctive and extensive knowledge and expertise to the table across a wide range of business areas such as Business Finance, EU Procurement and EU Market intelligence for the benefit of small business growth. From a broader EU perspective the project will contribute to the objectives of Europe 2020, especially the Innovation Union Flagship Initiative.
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CIT Promote the TESLA Project at Cork Meet
CIT had a stand at the Cork Meet event which was used to promote the Rubicon Centre and the TESLA Project.
See http://www.corkmeet.ie/ for more details on the event.
The Photos show Paul Healy – Rubicon Centre Manger (Left) and George Bulman – Rubicon Operations Manager (Right)
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Official Launch of Tesla Project Website
The Tesla Project Website was officially launched at the Laval Virtual Exhibition by Fleur Pellerin, French ministry in charge of SMEs, Innovation and digital economy, Guillaume Garot, French ministry for the Food Industry and Christophe Cleregeau, vice-president in charge of economical development, Region Pays de la Loire.
Photograph courtesy of JC Druais / LMT
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Fourth TESLA Project Partner Steering Committee Meeting
The fourth TESLA Project Partner Steering Committee meeting was hosted by Laval Mayenne Technopole in Laval, France on March 19th and 20th 2013.
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Third TESLA Project Partner Steering Committee meeting
The third TESLA Project Partner Steering Committee meeting was hosted by INI-Novation in Darmstadt on December 11th and 12th 2012.
Good progress was made on the further development of the transnational actions which are now close to the roll out stage.
internationalisation, news
Awareness Raising Workshop in Darmstadt
On November 6th INI-Novation organized an awareness raising workshop in Darmstadt under the project initiative TESLA.
Goal of the workshop was to inform SMEs from the region about the services they can benefit free of charge. Interested companies will get access to experts from the partnering countries Ireland, Wales, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands who will support their internationalization efforts offering softlanding services, market intelligence and business development support.
During the event together with the project partners, Dr. h. c. Wolfgang Kniejski, (Chairman of INI-Novation GmbH) introduced the innovation support services and the procedure to request and to obtain them. In order to benefit from the various internationalization support in the field of marketing and sales, market entry preparation, business planning, investment and market assessment, the companies need to fill in a so called ‘Needs assessment form’ and send it to info@ini-novation.com. The form will be assessed by the project experts and the requested support will be provided by a project partner with the appropriate know-how.
Dr. Frank Zimmermann, Managing Director of cesah GmbH, presented the ESA Business Incubation Centre that cesah successfully manages. cesah GmbH is the incubation centre for Satellite Navigation applications. As a highlight of the day, Dr. Zimmermann offered a professionally guided tour through ESOC and its facilities.
Representing EBN (European Business and Innovation Centre Network), Laura Lecci introduced softlanding services provided by the network. Furthermore, the innovative start-up companies can also benefit from the transnational placement actions, by visiting another region (e.g. in France) and learning from their experience. Laval Mayenne Technopole, France is coordinating this initiative that was introduced by Valerie Moreau.
Background information
The INI-Novation GmbH was founded in 2004 and developed on the basis of proven processes, individual approaches to identification, evaluation and commercialization of technologies. INI-Novation GmbH has a successful track-record in technology transfer, entrepreneurship education, training and coaching. Successfully identifying, commercialising and transferring innovative technologies in Europe, USA and Asia, INI-Novation opens new markets, creates new jobs and contributes to regional development.
TESLA (Transnational Ecosystem Laboratory & Actions) Project. The overall objective of the project is to support the growth and development of early stage High Potential Start Up (HPSU) companies in Ireland, Wales, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands through a programme of transnational pilot innovation and business support actions. The project consists of ten targeted initiatives which will be delivered through the Higher Education Institutes and Business Innovation Centres in the North West Europe Programme area. These are aimed at helping HPSUs internationalise more quickly by assisting them in accessing key export market intelligence in the European Union and beyond, identifying new product development opportunities, and (with the support and expertise of the partner network) identifying new sources of finance for HPSU development.
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Second Project Partner Steering Committee Meeting
The second TESLA Project Partner Steering Committee meeting was held in the offices of EBN in Brussels on September 11th and 12th 2012.
Agreement was reached on the further development of the proposed transnational pilot actions and it is envisaged that these pilot actions will be rolled out in 2013.
