EU-LAC Digital Accelerator Launches the Second Open Call for Digital Business Parnterships

EU-LAC Digital Accelerator launches the second Open Call for European, Latin American, and Caribbean Digital Business Partnerships

• EU-LAC Digital Accelerator’s Open Call supports Digital Business Partnerships, with a specific focus on Cleantech and Smart Production areas.
• EU-LAC Partnerships must include one corporate and one startup from the following regions: European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Selected candidates will receive the accelerator’s in-kind services, valued at up to €30,000, or €40,000 if a Caribbean partner is involved.

EU-LAC Digital Accelerator continues supporting cross-regional partnerships between Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean to develop digital businesses. The accelerator launches the second Open Call for EU-LAC Partnerships focused on Clean Technologies, running in parallel with the first opportunity area in Smart Production. Selected candidates will receive in-kind acceleration services valued at up to €30,000, or €40,000 if a Caribbean partner is involved. These services that the program provides to the partnerships are detailed in a Catalogue and include a customised acceleration roadmap, design and implementation of a proof-of-concept, validation of its business model, and assessment of its investment and scaling readiness.

In this second Open Call, EU-LAC Digital Accelerator will accelerate EU-LAC Partnerships involving a corporate facing a digital challenge, mainly focused on Cleantech and/or Smart Production area and a startup or innovative SME providing a digital solution from a different region. The accelerator’s experts will support these partnerships until they reach an investment-ready stage.

Supporting corporates and startups to build Digital Business Partnerships

EU-LAC Digital Accelerator’s Open Call is an opportunity for corporates and startups looking to expand internationally by developing business collaborations. To facilitate business connections and generate eligible EU-LAC Partnerships of corporates and startups – following an open innovation approach – the accelerator offers a Matching Platform accessible on its website. By now, this platform gathers a community of over 1,000 stakeholders, including corporates, startups, SMEs, business organisations, accelerators, and public bodies across Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

To participate in the second Open Call, corporates willing to transform their products, processes, and services can register on the platform and start sharing their digital challenges, preferably on Cleantech and Smart Production areas. In turn, startups and SMEs with digital innovations can create their profile and match their value proposition with the corporate challenge. Once these connections are established and meet the criteria, the generated EU-LAC Partnership can apply for the Open Call and, if selected, embark on an open innovation journey with EU-LAC Digital Accelerator.

The accelerator also encourages EU-LAC Partnerships that are already collaborating to apply for the Open Call if they meet the eligibility criteria.

Open call: How to apply?

To qualify for the EU-LAC Partnership acceleration services, such a partnership must consist of at least one corporate and one innovative startup or SME, both from different eligible regions (European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean). To demonstrate their partnership, the partners must have signed a formal agreement.

Interested EU-LAC Partnerships can submit their application form via the ‘Open Call’ website, where they will find the Guidelines for Applicants with all the necessary documentation.

For more information, contact the EU-LAC Digital Accelerator team.

About EU-LAC Digital Accelerator

EU-LAC Digital Accelerator is funded by the European Union and the Global Gateway initiative under the EU-LAC Digital Alliance framework. With five years of duration, it focuses on fostering multi-stakeholder and private sector collaboration, competitiveness, digital skills and innovation by establishing a regional EU-LAC Digital Accelerator. TECNALIA leads the initiative and involves the participation of major international benchmarks in entrepreneurship and innovation from the EU-LAC regions, such as IESE Business School, WAYRA Hispam, European Business and Innovation Centre Network (EBN), European Business Angels Network (EBAN), Expertise France, OCTANTIS, Inter-American Development Bank BID-Lab, TECNALIA-Colombia and Caribbean Export Development Agency.

Contact

Paco Prieto Diez  paco.prieto@octantis.es

Disclaimer

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Neighbourhood, Development & International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI-Global Europe). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them