Nearly 100 Defence experts and company representatives from across the EU gathered on Thursday in the Czech capital of Prague to attend the European conference dedicated to Defence Innovation.
The event was co-organised by the European Commission (DG DEFIS) and the Defence and Security Industry Association of the Czech Republic in the context of a conference cycle promoted through the European Network of Defence-Related Regions (ENDR).
New funding opportunities for defence companies in the EU
Companies had the valuable opportunity to hear about the new funding opportunities offered by the EU’s defence R&D programme, the European Defence Fund (EDF), and its defence entrepreneurship initiative to support start-ups and SMEs, known as the EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS). In particular, participants were given an overview of the recently published EDF calls for proposals that allocate 1 billion euro for collaborative defence R&D projects in 2023 and fund support measures for defence innovation.
The event also allowed companies that already participate in EU defence programmes to explain their “hands on” experience on what it takes to become a successful applicant, especially for the EDF. A prime company, INDRA, and an SME specialising in data processing, TOVEK, gave the audience a practical perspective.
Pitches, demos, and B2B meetings
ENDR conferences are also about creating a matchmaking and networking environment for companies across Europe to connect and build consortia needed to apply for the European Defence Fund calls.
10 companies, including SMEs, MidCaps and RTOs, pitched their projects having practical applications for defence. In total, 150 Business-to-Business meetings took place throughout the course of the event.
Stay tuned on the endr.eu website and subscribe to the ENDR newsletter to receive updates about upcoming conferences!
Details
- Publication date
- 21 April 2023